The Apocrypha are religious texts that are in some versions of the Catholic Bible Other versions omit them. The word comes from Ancient Greek ἀπόκρυφα (apokrypha). Apocrypha means those that were hidden. Generally, the term is applied to writings that were not part of the canon.
Some books were on the border to be included but were rejected with the judgement: “not holy” but good and useful to read or “heretical”. Those were called the Biblical apocrypha.
There are several reasons why these texts were not included in the canon. The texts might only have been known to few people, or they might have been left out because their content does not fit well into that of the other books of the Bible. Some of the apocrypha were written at a later date, and were therefore not included.
The Authorized King James Version called these books ‘Apocrypha’. It separated them, because the Bible said so in 2 Esdras 14:46
, But keep the seventy last, that thou mayest deliver them only to such as be wise among the people: For in them is the spring of understanding, the fountain of wisdom, and the stream of knowledge.
Roman Catholic Bibles have these books in the Old Testament. They do not call them Apocrypha. They call them deuterocanonical, which means that they belong to the second canon. Canon just means an official list of literary works accepted as representing a field. The first list is of books first written in Hebrew. This second list is of books first written in Greek.
Some say that these books were kept in Catholic Bibles because it is believed that the Bible Jesus read was a Bible that included the books of the "Apocrypha," the deuterocanonical books. It is known that the most popular Bible at the time of Jesus was the Greek Septuagint version - which includes these extra books. That is why early Church fathers quoted from Bibles including these books.
In fact, it wasn't until the very end of the apostolic age that the Jews, seeking a new focal point for their religious practice in the wake of the destruction of the Temple, zeroed in with white hot intensity on Scripture and fixed their canon at the rabbinical gathering, known as the "Council of Javneh" (sometimes called "Jamnia"), about A.D. 90. Prior to this point in time there had never been any formal effort among the Jews to "define the canon" of Scripture. In fact, Scripture nowhere indicates that the Jews even had a conscious idea that the canon should be closed at some point.
The canon arrived at by the rabbis at Javneh was essentially the mid-sized canon of the Palestinian Pharisees, not the shorter one used by the Sadducees, who had been practically annihilated during the Jewish war with Rome. Nor was this new canon consistent with the Greek Septuagint version, which the rabbis regarded rather xenophobically as "too Gentile-tainted." Remember, these Palestinian rabbis were not in much of a mood for multiculturalism after the catastrophe they had suffered at the hands of Rome. Their people had been slaughtered by foreign invaders, the Temple defiled and destroyed, and the Jewish religion in Palestine was in shambles. So for these rabbis, the Greek Septuagint went by the board and the mid-sized Pharisaic canon was adopted. Eventually this version was adopted by the vast majority of Jews — though not all. Even today Ethiopian Jews still use the Septuagint version, not the shorter Palestinian canon settled upon by the rabbis at Javneh. In other words, the Old Testament canon recognized by Ethiopian Jews is identical to the Catholic Old Testament, including the seven deuterocanonical books (cf. Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 6, p. 1147).
The canon of Christian Scripture, though it more or less assumed its present shape — which included the deuterocanonical books — by about A.D. 380, nonetheless wasn't dogmatically defined by the Church for another thousand years. In that thousand years, it was quite on the cards for believers to have some flexibility in how they regarded the canon. And this applies to the handful of Church Fathers and theologians who expressed reservations about the deuterocanon. Their private opinions about the deuterocanon were just that: private opinions.
It should be pointed out that the overwhelming majority of Church Fathers and other early Christian writers regarded the deuterocanonical books as having exactly the same inspired, scriptural status as the other Old Testament books. Just a few examples of this acceptance can be found in the Didache, The Epistle of Barnabas, the Council of Rome, the Council of Hippo, the Third Council of Carthage, the African Code, the Apostolic Constitutions, and the writings of Pope St. Clement I (Epistle to the Corinthians), St. Polycarp of Smyrna, St. Irenaeus of Lyons, St. Hippolytus, St. Cyprian of Carthage, , Pope St. Damasus I, the , St. Augustine, and Pope St. Innocent I.
But last and most interesting of all in this stellar lineup is a certain Father already mentioned: St. Jerome. In his later years St. Jerome did indeed accept the Deuter-ocanonical books of the Bible. In fact, he wound up strenuously defending their status as inspired Scripture, writing, "What sin have I committed if I followed the judgment of the churches? But he who brings charges against me for relating the objections that the Hebrews are wont to raise against the story of Susanna, the Son of the Three Children, and the story of Bel and the Dragon, which are not found in the Hebrew volume (ie. canon), proves that he is just a foolish sycophant. For I wasn't relating my own personal views, but rather the remarks that they [the Jews] are wont to make against us" (Against Rufinus 11:33 [A.D. 402]). In earlier correspondence with Pope Damasus, Jerome did not call the deuterocanonical books unscriptural, he simply said that Jews he knew did not regard them as canonical. But for himself, he acknowledged the authority of the Church in defining the canon. When Pope Damasus and the Councils of Carthage and Hippo included the deuterocanon in Scripture, that was good enough for St. Jerome. He "followed the judgment of the churches."
Martin Luther, however, did not. For Luther also threw out a goodly chunk of the New Testament. Of James, for example, he said, "I do not regard it as the writing of an Apostle," because he believed it "is flatly against St. Paul and all the rest of Scripture in ascribing justification to works" (Preface to James' Epistle). Likewise, in other writings he underscores this rejection of James from the New Testament, calling it "an epistle full of straw . . . for it has nothing of the nature of the gospel about it" (Preface to the New Testament).
Two of the most inclusive Bibles are the Eastern Orthodox, and the Ethiopic Bibles. The Ethiopic Bible contains 81 books in its Old Testament, while the Orthodox Bible has 51 books, compared to the Protestant Bible, (such as the King James), which has 39 books. The Catholic Bible contains 46 books. Add 27 books of the New Testament to each for the total. Although there are some textual differences, and some differences in order, most churches use the same number of New Testament books. Naturally, you can pick up one of these other Bibles to read them, or perhaps find them in an online version.
Texts of the Jewish Apocrypha
Books of the Jewish Apocrypha
Jewish apocrypha includes texts written in the Jewish religious tradition either in the Intertestamental period or in the early Christian era, but outside the Christian tradition. It does not include books in the canonical Hebrew Bible, nor those accepted into the canon of some or all Christian faiths.
Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in Judaism
Although Judaism historically insisted on the exclusive canonization of the 24 books in the Tanakh , it also claimed to have an oral law handed down from Moses. Just as apocryphal books sometimes overshadowed canonical scriptures in Christianity, so did the oral laws of Judaism sometimes overtake the written ones.
Certain circles in Judaism, such as the Essenes in Judea and the Therapeutae in Egypt, were said to have a "secret" literature (see Dead Sea scrolls). The Pharisees were also familiar with these texts.
A large part of this "secret" literature was the apocalypses. Based on unfulfilled prophecies, these books were not considered scripture, but rather part of a literary form that flourished from 200 BCE to 100 CE. These works usually bore the names of ancient Hebrew worthies to establish their validity among the true writers' contemporaries. To reconcile the late appearance of the texts with their claims to primitive antiquity, alleged authors are represented as "shutting up and sealing" (Dan. xii. 4, 9) the works until the time of their fulfillment had arrived; as the texts were not meant for their own generations but for far-distant ages (also cited in Assumption of Moses i. 16-17).
This literature was highly treasured by many Jewish enthusiasts, in some cases more so than the canonical scriptures. The book of 4 Ezra reinforces this theory: when Ezra was inspired to dictate the sacred scriptures that were destroyed in the overthrow of Jerusalem, "in forty days they wrote ninety-four books: and it came to pass when the forty days were fulfilled that the Highest spake, saying: the first that thou hast written publish openly that the worthy and unworthy may read it; but keep the seventy last that thou mayst deliver them only to such as be wise among the people; for in them is the spring of understanding, the fountain of wisdom and the stream of knowledge." (4 Ezra xiv. 44 sqq.) Such esoteric books are apocryphal, in the original conception of the term.
In due course, the Jewish authorities drew up a canon. They marked other books off from those that claimed to be such without justification.
Whether Judaism had any distinct name for the esoteric works is unknown. Scholars Theodor Zahn, Emil Schürer, among others, stated that these secret books formed a class by themselves and were called "Genuzim" (גנוזים), and that this name and idea passed from Judaism over into the Greek, with αποκρυφα βιβλια as a translation of ספרים גנוזים. But the Hebrew verb does not mean "to hide" but "to store away", and is only used of things that are in themselves precious. Moreover, the phrase is unknown in Talmudic literature. The derivation of this idea from Judaism has therefore not yet been established.
Writings that were wholly apart from scriptural texts, such as the books of heretics or Samaritans, were designated as "Hitsonim" (literally: external) by The Mishnah Sanh. x. I (ספרים חצונים and ספרי המינים) and reading them was forbidden. After the 3rd century CE, Sirach and other apocryphal books were included in this category; until then, Sirach was largely quoted by rabbis in Palestine, indicating some change in this classification throughout the centuries.
In the following centuries, these apocrypha fell out of use in Judaism. Although they are Jewish literature, the apocrypha were actively preserved through the Middle Ages exclusively by Christians.
Historical
History of Johannes Hyrcanus
The History of Johannes Hyrcanus is mentioned in 1 Macc. xvi. 23-24, but no trace has been discovered of its existence elsewhere.
Legendary
Book of Jubilees
The Book of Jubilees was written in Hebrew between the year of the accession of Hyrcanus to the high-priesthood in 135 BC and his breach with the Pharisees some years before his death in 105 BC. Jubilees was translated into Greek and from Greek into Ethiopic and Latin. It is preserved in its entirety only in Ethiopic. Jubilees is the most advanced pre-Christian representative of the midrashic tendency, which was already at work in the Book of Chronicles. This is a rewriting of the book of Genesis and the early chapters of Exodus. His work constitutes an enlarged targum on these books, and its object is to prove the everlasting validity of the law, which, though revealed in time, was superior to time. Writing in the palmiest days of the Maccabean dominion, he looked for the immediate advent of the Messianic kingdom. This kingdom was to be ruled over by a Messiah sprung not from Judah but from Levi, that is, from the reigning Maccabean family. This kingdom was to be gradually realized on earth, the transformation of physical nature going hand in hand with the ethical transformation of man.
History of the Captivity in Babylon
This work supposedly provides omitted details concerning the prophet Jeremiah. It is preserved in Coptic, Arabic, and Garshuni manuscripts, though it was most likely originally written in Greek sometime between 70 to 132 CE by a Jewish author. In the Coptic version it is entitled Paralipomena Jeremiae and was most likely used or reworked by the author of the more widely known Greek work by that name.
Paralipomena Jeremiae, or the Rest of the Words of Baruch
This book has been preserved in Greek, Ethiopic, Armenian and Slavonic. The Greek was first printed at Venice in 1609, and next by Antonio Maria Ceriani in 1868 under the title Paralipomena Jeremiae. It bears the same name in the Armenian, but in Ethiopic it is known by the second title.
Martyrdom of Isaiah
This Jewish work has been in part preserved in the Ascension of Isaiah. To it belong i. 1, 2a, 6b-13a; ii. 1-8, 10-iii. 12; v. 1c-14 of that book. It is of Jewish origin, and recounts the martyrdom of Isaiah at the hands of Manasseh.
Pseudo-Philo's Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum
Though the Latin version of this book was thrice printed in the 16th century (in 1527, 1550 and 1599), it was practically unknown to modern scholars until it was recognized by F. C. Conybeare and discussed by Cohn in the Jewish Quarterly Review, 1898, pp. 279–332. It is an Haggadic revision of the Biblical history from Adam to the death of Saul. Its chronology agrees frequently with the LXX, against that of the Massoretic text, though conversely in a few cases. The Latin is undoubtedly translated from the Greek. Greek words are frequently transliterated. While the LXX. is occasionally followed in its translation of Biblical passages, in others the Massoretic is followed against the LXX., and in one or two passages the text presupposes a text different from both. On many grounds Cohn infers a Hebrew original. The eschatology is similar to that taught in the similitude of the Book of Enoch. In fact, Eth. En. li. 1 is reproduced in this connexion. Prayers of the departed are said to be valueless. The book was written after A.D. 70; for, as Cohn has shown, the exact date of the fall of Herod's temple is stated.
Jannes and Jambres
These two men are referred to in 2 Tim. iii. 8 as the Egyptian magicians who withstood Moses. The book that treats of them is mentioned by Origen, and in the Gelasian Decree as the Paenitentia Jamnis et Mambre. The names in Greek are generally Ιαννησ και Ιαμβρης (יניס וימבריס) as in the Targ.-Jon. on Exod. i. 15; vii. ii. In the Talmud they appear as יוחני וממרא. Since the western text of 2 Tim. iii. 8 has Μαμβρης, Westcott and Hort infer that this form was derived from a Palestinian source. These names were known not only to Jewish but also to heathen writers, such as Pliny and Apuleius. The book, therefore, may go back to pre-Christian times.
Joseph and Aseneth
The Bible states (Gen. xli. 45, 50) that Joseph married the daughter of Potiphar, a priest of On. According to rabbinic literature, Asenath was really the daughter of Shechem and Dinah, and only the foster-daughter of Potiphar.
This work has an alternative edition of the story, where Asenath was indeed the biological daughter of Potiphar. Origen also was acquainted with some form of this legend.
The Christian legend, which is no doubt in the main based on the Jewish, is found in Greek, Syriac, Armenian, Slavonic and Medieval Latin. Since it is not earlier than the 3rd or 4th century, it is sufficient to refer to Smith's Dict. of Christ. Biog. i. 176-177;
James, M. R. (1898). "Asenath". In James Hastings. A Dictionary of the Bible. I. pp. 162–163.
; Schürer, iii. 289-291.
The deuterocanonical books (from the Greek meaning "belonging to the second canon") are the books and passages of the Christian Old Testament that are not part of the Hebrew Bible. The term, used since the 16th century by the Catholic Church and sometimes by Orthodox Christianity, distinguishes these texts from the protocanonical books, which are the books contained in the Hebrew canon. The distinction arose as a result of the debate in the early Church as to which texts should be classified as canonical. The term is used as a matter of convenience by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and other Churches to refer to books of their Old Testament which are not part of the Masoretic Text.
The deuterocanonical books are considered canonical (that is, authoritative parts of the Bible) by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and the Church of the East, but they are considered non-canonical by most Protestants.
The original usage of the term distinguished these scriptures both from those considered non-canonical and from those considered protocanonical. However, some editions of the Bible include text from both deuterocanonical and non-canonical scriptures in a single section designated "Apocrypha". This arrangement can lead to conflation between the otherwise distinct terms "deuterocanonical" and "apocryphal".
There are books included in some Hebrew Bibles (Old Testament to Christians) depending on the specific sect and denomination of Judaism and Christianity. We know of some books from the Dead Sea scrolls and Essenes that are not included in the Hebrew Bible. But more generally, there are a number of known books still venerated by some but not included in the Protestant Christian cannon. See Jewish apocrypha - Wikipedia (they may not be in order):
Esdras
Book of Tobit (the Vulgate, and Luther call it "Tobias")
Book of Judith
Book of Wisdom
Sirach or Ecclesiasticus
Baruch
Susanna
1st & 2nd Maccabees
Note: Other candidates for Apocryphal scriptures include supposedly lost portions of Esther and Sirach.
The non-canonical books referenced in the Bible includes pseudepigrapha, writings from Hellenistic and other non-Biblical cultures, and lost works of known or unknown status. By the "Bible" is meant those books recognised by most Christians and Jews as being part of Old Testament (or Tanakh) as well as those recognised by Christians alone as being part of the Biblical apocrypha or of the Deuterocanon. It may also include books of the Anagignoskomena (Deuterocanonical books § Eastern Orthodoxy) that are accepted only by Eastern Orthodox Christians. For the purposes of this article, "referenced" can mean direct quotations, paraphrases, or allusions, which in some cases are known only because they have been identified as such by ancient writers, or the citation of a work or author.
The following are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible:
The Book of Jasher is mentioned in Joshua 10:13 and 2 Samuel 1:18 and also referenced in 2 Timothy 3:8.From the context in the Book of Samuel, it is implied that it was a collection of poetry. Several books have claimed to be this lost text, some of which are discounted as pseudepigrapha. Certain members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints secured the copyright to a particular English translation of one of these and republished it in 1887 in Salt Lake City.
The Book of the Wars of the Lord. Referenced at Numbers 21:14 with possible association with War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness. The Book of the Wars of the Lord is also cited in the medieval Book of Jasher (trans. Moses Samuel c. 1840, ed. J. H. Parry 1887) Chapter 90:48 as being a collaborative record written by Moses, Joshua and the children of Israel.
The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel and Chronicles of the Kings of Judah are mentioned in the Books of Kings (1 Kings 14:19,29). They are said to tell of events during the reigns of Kings Jeroboam of Israel and Rehoboam of Judah, respectively. The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel is again mentioned in 1 Kings 16:20 regarding King Zimri, and many other times throughout 1 and 2 Kings.
The "Book of Shemaiah, and of Iddo the Seer" (also called Story of the Prophet Iddo or The Annals of the Prophet Iddo) is mentioned in the 2nd Book of Chronicles. (2 Chronicles 9:29, 2 Chronicles 12:15, 2 Chronicles 13:22). Iddo was a seer who lived during the reigns of Solomon, Rehoboam, and Abijah. His deeds were recorded in this book, which has been completely lost to history, save for its title. However, it is interesting to note that Zechariah was the son of Iddo, but this was likely not the same Iddo. (Ezra 5:1, Zechariah 1:1)
The Manner of the Kingdom.
Referenced at 1 Samuel 10:25.
The Acts of Solomon.
Referenced at 1 Kings 11:41.
The Annals of King David.
Referenced at 1 Chronicles 27:24.
The Book of Samuel the Seer. Also called Samuel the Seer or The Acts of Samuel the Seer, which could be the same as 1 & 2 Samuel.
Referenced at 1 Chronicles 29:29.
The Book of Nathan the Prophet. Also called Nathan the Prophet or The Acts of Nathan the Prophet or History of Nathan the Prophet.
The Book of Gad the Seer.
Referenced at 1 Chronicles 29:29.
The Prophecy of Ahijah, might be a reference to 1 Kings 14:2–18.
Referenced at 2 Chronicles 9:29.
The Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
Referenced in 2 Chronicles 16:11, 2 Chronicles 27:7 and 2 Chronicles 32:32. Might be the same as 1 & 2 Kings.
The Book of Jehu, could be a reference to 1 Kings 16:1–7.
Referenced at 2 Chronicles 20:34.
The Story of the Book of Kings.
Referenced at 2 Chronicles 24:27.
The Acts of Uziah. Also called The Book by the prophet Isaiah. Perhaps the same as the Book of Isaiah.
Referenced at 2 Chronicles 26:22.
The Vision of Isaiah.
Referenced at 2 Chronicles 32:32.
The Acts of the Kings of Israel. Also called The Acts and Prayers of Manasseh.May be identical to The Book of the Kings of Israel, above.
Referenced at 2 Chronicles 33:18.
The Sayings of the Seers.
Referenced at 2 Chronicles 33:19.
The Laments for Josiah. Also called Lamentations. This event is recorded in the existing Book of Lamentations.
Referenced at 2 Chronicles 35:25.
The Chronicles of King Ahasuerus.
Referenced at Esther 2:23, Esther 6:1, Esther 10:2, and Nehemiah 12:23.
Deuterocanon
Book (or Wisdom) of Ahikar referenced by Tobit 1:22, Tobit 2:10, Tobit 11:18, Tobit 14,10[16]
Aesop's fable of The Two Pots referenced at Sirach 13:2–3
The Egyptian Satire of the Trades, or another work in that tradition referenced at Sirach 38:24–39:11
"The archives" referenced by 2Maccabees 2:1
Memoirs of Nehemiah referenced by 2Maccabees 2:13,could be the same as the Book of Nehemiah.
"letters of the kings" referenced by 2Maccabees 2:13
"five books by Jason of Cyrene" referenced by 2Maccabees 2:23: the author of 2 Maccabees here tells us that the work is abridged from the history by Jason.
"the king's letter" referenced by 2Maccabees 11:22
Texts of the New Testament Apocrypha
Within the Christian tradition, many Christians answering this question are technically wrong because they start from the “accepted” canon as of say 350 CE to 400 CE. Prior to then, there were conflicting views as to what were or are the proper books of the Christian Bible for the first few centuries. See also New Testament apocrypha - Wikipedia. Some actually preferred the Gospel of Thomas in the first and second century. Some of the supposed infancy gospels and other gospels and letters were sometimes included in local church collections and even venerated in the early Christian centuries. There were reportedly Nestorian texts in the Eastern churches relating Jesus as a fulfillment of the prophesies of Zoroaster that may have been included or venerated but ultimately removed over time in the effort of Christianity to consolidate and remove “heresies” in the Byzantine era.
According to biblical scholars, as many as twenty gospels were not included or banned from inclusion. Among these are the gospel of Thomas, Mary Magdalene, Matthias, Perfection, Bartholomew, Nazarenes, and the book of Hebrews.
The gospel of Mary contains references to Gnostic beliefs which are the likely reason this book was suppressed by the church.
Some additional books not included in the new testament are The Epistle of Barnabas, Shepherd of Hermas, The Didache, the lost epistle and the third letter to the Corinthians. There are several more.
Some suggest that Nestle's Greek New Testament lists some 132 New Testament passages that appear to be verbal allusions to paracanonical books.
Pagan authors quoted or alluded to:
Menander, Thais 218 (1 Cor. 15:33)
Epimenides, de Oraculis, (Titus 1:12-13, where Paul introduces Epimenides as "a prophet of the Cretans,"see Epimenides paradox )
Aratus, Phaenomena 5, (Acts 17:28, where Paul refers to the words of "some of your own poets")
Non-canonical books quoted or alluded to:
Book of Enoch (Jude 4,6,13,14–15, 2 Peter 2:4; 3:13)
Book of Jasher (2 Timothy 3:8, 2 Samuel 1:18, Joshua 10:13)
Epistle to the Laodiceans (Colossians 4:16 "read the epistle from Laodicea")
Life of Adam and Eve (2 Corinthians 11:14 "Satan as an angel of light", 12:2 "Third Heaven")
A lost section of the Assumption of Moses (Jude 9 "Michael.. body of Moses")
Martyrdom of Isaiah (Hebrews 11:37 "they were sawn in two")
Paul's letter to the Corinthians before 1 Corinthians (1 Corinthians 5:9 "I wrote to you in my letter...")
To read other, non-biblical early Christian writings go to New Testament, Apocrypha, Gnostics, Church Fathers.
The Book of Enoch. Well known but little tolerated. That is one.
The Gospel According to Judas. The Gospel According to Mary Magdelane are others. Apparently the Church Fathers are very determined to keep M.M. a 'ho.
These are also Apocrypha candidates for the New Testament:
The Gospel of Peter was probably written during the 2nd century ). It was discovered in a monk's grave in Egypt in 1886/1887. This grave contained a papyrus from the 9th century
Excerpts from the Oxyrhynchus Papyri
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri are a group of manuscripts discovered during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by papyrologists Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt at an ancient rubbish dump near Oxyrhynchus in Egypt (28°32′N 30°40′E, modern el-Bahnasa).
The manuscripts date from the time of the Ptolemaic (3rd century BC) and Roman periods of Egyptian history (from 32 BC to the Arab conquest of Egypt in 640 AD).
Only an estimated 10% are literary in nature. The lion’s share of the papyri found seem to consist mainly of public and private documents: codes, edicts, registers, official correspondence, census-returns, tax-assessments, petitions, court-records, sales, leases, wills, bills, accounts, inventories, horoscopes, and private letters.
Although most of the papyri were written in Greek, some texts written in Egyptian (Hieroglyphic, Hieratic, Demotic, mostly Coptic), Latin and Arabic were also found. Texts in Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac and Pahlavi have so far represented only a small percentage of the total.
Since 1898 academics have puzzled together and transcribed over 5,000 documents from what were originally hundreds of boxes of papyrus fragments the size of large cornflakes. This is thought to represent only 1 to 2 percent of what is estimated to be at least half a million papyri still remaining to be conserved, transcribed, deciphered and catalogued.
Oxyrhynchus Papyri are currently housed in institutions all over the world. A substantial number are housed in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford University. There is an on-line table of contents briefly listing the type of contents of each papyrus or fragment.
Egerton Gospel
The Egerton Gospel (British Library Egerton Papyrus 2) refers to a collection of three papyrus fragments of a codex of a previously unknown gospel, found in Egypt and sold to the British Museum in 1934; the physical fragments are now dated to the very end of the 2nd century CE.
Gospel of Thomas
The Gospel According to Thomas is an early Christian non-canonical sayings-gospel that many scholars believe provides insight into the oral gospel traditions. It was discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in December 1945 among a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library.
A fragment of the Secret Gospel of Mark
Sources: Apocrypha
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