The New Testament apocrypha (singular apocryphon ) are a number of writings by early Christians that give accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God , or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. Some of these writings were cited as scripture by early Christians, but since the fifth century a widespread consensus has emerged limiting the New Testament to the 27 books of the modern canon . Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant churches generally do not view the New Testament apocrypha as part of the Bible.
54-772: Evangelismos (Greek: Ευαγγελισμός ) is a location name derived from the Annunciation of Virgin Mary ( Evangelismos tes Theotokou in Greek) and may refer to: Also Evangelismos may refer to the following places in Greece : Annunciation The Annunciation (from the Latin annuntiatio ; also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or
108-576: A son, and shalt call his name Jesus . He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and
162-529: Is a different version contained in the apocryphal Gospel of James , which includes a first appearance of the archangel at the well. Manuscript 4Q246 of the Dead Sea Scrolls reads: [X] shall be great upon the earth. O king, all people shall make peace, and all shall serve him. He shall be called the son of the Great God, and by his name shall he be hailed as the Son of God, and they shall call him Son of
216-635: Is also used to represent the perpetual virginity of Mary via the announcement by the angel Gabriel that Mary would conceive a child to be born the Son of God . Works on the subject have been created by artists such as Sandro Botticelli , Leonardo da Vinci , Caravaggio , Duccio , Henry Ossawa Tanner , Jan van Eyck , and Murillo among others. The mosaics of Pietro Cavallini in Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome (1291),
270-640: Is celebrated jointly with the Resurrection, which is the focus of Easter. Due to these and similar rules, the rubrics surrounding the celebration of the feast are the most complex of all in Orthodox Christian liturgics. Ephraim the Syrian taught that the date of the conception of Jesus Christ fell on 10 Nisan on the Hebrew calendar , the day in which the passover lamb was selected according to Exodus 12 (Hymn 4 on
324-561: Is that given to Joseph in the Gospel of Matthew : But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus : for he shall save his people from their sins. There
378-575: Is the beginning of our salvation, And the revelation of the eternal mystery! The Son of God becomes the Son of the Virgin As Gabriel announces the coming of Grace. Together with him let us cry to the Theotokos : "Rejoice, O Full of Grace, the Lord is with you!" As the action initiating the Incarnation of Christ , the Annunciation has such an important place in Orthodox Christian theology that
432-671: The Book of Revelation was regarded as disputed by some Christians (see Antilegomena ), while the Shepherd of Hermas was considered genuine by others, and appears (after the Book of Revelation) in the Codex Sinaiticus . The Syriac Peshitta , used by all the various Syrian churches, originally did not include 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, Jude and Revelation. This canon of 22 books is the one cited by John Chrysostom (~347–407) and Theodoret (393–466) from
486-530: The Catholic Church , Anglican and Lutheran liturgical calendars when that date falls during Holy Week or Easter Week or on a Sunday. When the calendar system of Anno Domini was first introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in AD 525, he assigned the beginning of the new year to 25 March since, according to Christian theology, the era of grace began with the Incarnation of Christ . The first certain mentions of
540-519: The Middle Ages and Renaissance . A work of art depicting the Annunciation is sometimes itself called an Annunciation . The Gospel of Luke recounts the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary: And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name
594-565: The Nag Hammadi library . Some texts take the form of an expounding of the esoteric cosmology and ethics held by the Gnostics. Often this was in the form of dialogue in which Jesus expounds esoteric knowledge while his disciples raise questions concerning it. There is also a text, known as the Epistula Apostolorum , which is a polemic against Gnostic esoterica, but written in a similar style as
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#1732855831312648-594: The Questions of Bartholomew or the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is in fact the unknown Gospel of Bartholomew . A number of texts aim to provide a single harmonization of the canonical gospels, that eliminates discordances among them by presenting a unified text derived from them to some degree. The most widely read of these was the Diatessaron . In the modern era, many Gnostic texts have been uncovered, especially from
702-773: The School of Antioch . Western Syrians have added the remaining five books to their New Testament canons in modern times (such as the Lee Peshitta of 1823). Today, the official lectionaries followed by the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church and the East Syriac Chaldean Catholic Church , which is in communion with the Holy See , still only present lessons from the 22 books of the original Peshitta. The Armenian Apostolic church at times has included
756-763: The Third Epistle to the Corinthians in its biblical canon, but does not always list it with the other 27 canonical New Testament books. The church did not accept Revelation into its Bible until 1200 CE. English translations were made in the early 18th century by William Wake and by Jeremiah Jones , and collected in 1820 by William Hone 's Apocryphal New Testament . The series Ante-Nicene Fathers , volume 8, contains translations by Alexander Walker. New translations by M. R. James appeared in 1924, and were revised by J.K. Eliott, The Apocryphal New Testament , Oxford University Press, 1991. The "standard" scholarly edition of
810-480: The biblical canon . Despite this, some scholars have noted that the very number of surviving infancy manuscripts attests to their continued popularity. Most of these manuscripts were based on the earliest infancy gospels, namely the Infancy Gospel of James (also called the "Protoevangelium of James") and the Infancy Gospel of Thomas , and on their later combination into the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew (also called
864-560: The frescos of Giotto in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua (1303), Domenico Ghirlandaio 's fresco at the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence (1486), and Donatello 's gilded sculpture at the church of Santa Croce, Florence (1435) are famous examples. Hans Leo Hassler composed a motet Dixit Maria , setting Mary's consent. Johann Sebastian Bach and others composed cantatas for
918-726: The "Infancy Gospel of Matthew" or "Birth of Mary and Infancy of the Saviour"). The other significant early infancy gospels are the Syriac Infancy Gospel , the History of Joseph the Carpenter , and the Life of John the Baptist . The Jewish–Christian Gospels were gospels of a Jewish Christian character quoted by Clement of Alexandria , Origen , Eusebius , Epiphanius , Jerome and probably Didymus
972-545: The 3rd and 4th Centuries generally distinguished between canonical works and those that were not canonical but 'useful,' or 'good for teaching,' though never relegating any of the final 27 books to the latter category. One aim with establishing the canon was to capture only those works which were held to have been written by the Apostles, or their close associates, and as the Muratorian fragment canon (ca. 150–175 CE) states concerning
1026-459: The 4th century. It has been a favorite artistic subject in both the Christian East and as Roman Catholic Marian art, particularly during the Middle Ages and Renaissance , and figures in the repertoire of almost all of the great masters. The figures of the virgin Mary and the angel Gabriel, being emblematic of purity and grace, were favorite subjects of Roman Catholic Marian art, where the scene
1080-483: The Annunciation occurred in Mary's home, while Eastern Orthodox tradition holds that it occurred at the town well, known as Mary's Well . The Basilica of the Annunciation marks the site preferred by the former, while the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation (around half a mile away) marks that preferred by the latter. The Feast of the Annunciation is usually held on 25 March. It is often translated in
1134-466: The Annunciation of the Lord; Ancient Greek : Ο Ευαγγελισμός της Θεοτόκου ) is, according to the Gospel of Luke , the announcement made by the archangel Gabriel to Mary that she would conceive and bear a son through a virgin birth and become the mother of Jesus Christ , the Christian Messiah and Son of God , marking the Incarnation . According to Luke 1:26 the Annunciation occurred in
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#17328558313121188-691: The Blind . Most modern scholars have concluded that there existed one gospel in Aramaic/Hebrew and at least two in Greek, although a minority argue that there were only two: one Aramaic/Hebrew and one Greek. None of these gospels survive today, but attempts have been made to reconstruct them from references in the Church Fathers . The reconstructed texts of the gospels are usually categorized under New Testament Apocrypha. The standard edition of Schneemelcher describes
1242-570: The Didache, Shepherd of Hermas, 1 Clement, 2 Clement, the Epistle of Barnabas, and to a lesser extent the Apocalypse of Peter . Considering the generally accepted dates of authorship for all of the canonical New Testament works ( c. 100 CE ), as well as the various witnesses to canonicity extant among the writings of Ignatius, Polycarp, Irenaeus, etc., the four gospels and letters of Paul were held by
1296-511: The Feast of the Annunciation is one of the twelve " Great Feasts " of the liturgical year , and is among the eight of them that are counted as "feasts of the Lord". Throughout the Orthodox Church, the feast is celebrated on 25 March. In the churches that use the new style Calendar ( Revised Julian or Gregorian ), this date coincides with 25 March on the civil calendar, while in those churches using
1350-470: The Gnostic texts. The Sethians were a gnostic group who originally worshipped the biblical Seth as a messianic figure , later treating Jesus as a re-incarnation of Seth. They produced numerous texts expounding their esoteric cosmology, usually in the form of visions: Some of the Gnostic texts appear to consist of diagrams and instructions for use in religious rituals: Several texts concern themselves with
1404-634: The Most High. It has been suggested that the similarity in content is such that Luke's version may in some way be dependent on the Qumran text. The Annunciation is described in the Quran , Surah Maryam , verses 19:16–26 . Both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches hold that the Annunciation took place at Nazareth , but differ slightly as to the precise location. Roman Catholic tradition holds that
1458-550: The Nativity). Some years 10 Nisan falls on 25 March, which is the traditional date for the Feast of the Annunciation and is an official holiday in Lebanon . The Annunciation has been one of the most frequent subjects of Christian art . Depictions of the Annunciation go back to early Christianity, with the Priscilla catacomb including the oldest known fresco of the Annunciation, dating to
1512-696: The New Testament Apocrypha in German is that of Schneemelcher , and in English its translation by Robert McLachlan Wilson. Constantin von Tischendorf and other scholars began to study New Testament apocrypha seriously in the 19th century and produce new translations. The texts of the Nag Hammadi library are often considered separately but the current edition of Schneemelcher also contains eleven Nag Hammadi texts. Books that are known objectively not to have existed in antiquity are usually not considered part of
1566-579: The New Testament apocrypha. Among these are the Libellus de Nativitate Sanctae Mariae (also called the "Nativity of Mary") and the Latin Infancy gospel. The latter two did not exist in antiquity, and they seem to be based on the earlier Infancy gospels. Information about the childhood of Jesus was supplied by a number of 2nd-century and later texts, known as infancy gospels, none of which were accepted into
1620-499: The angel departed from her. Various Bible translations also give Gabriel's salutation as a variation on: "Hail, full of grace" ( Luke 1:28 , DRV ). In this variation, commonly used by Roman Catholics, the archangel Gabriel 's greeting to Mary forms the first part of the prayer Hail Mary . Mary's response to the archangel also forms the second versicle and response of the Angelus prayer. A separate, briefer and different annunciation
1674-453: The canon was formally decided at the end of that century. Among historians of early Christianity, the books are considered invaluable, especially those that almost made it into the final canon, such as Shepherd of Hermas . Bart Ehrman , for example, said: The victors in the struggles to establish Christian Orthodoxy not only won their theological battles, they also rewrote the history of the conflict; later readers then naturally assumed that
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1728-490: The canons. In general, those books that the majority regarded as the earliest books about Jesus were the ones included. Books that were not accepted into the canons are now termed apocryphal ; some were vigorously suppressed and survive only as fragments, or only in mention in the writings of those condemning them. The earliest lists of canonical works of the New Testament were not quite the same as modern lists; for example,
1782-493: The early church. Those marked with a lozenge (♦) are included in the collection known as the Apostolic Fathers : Several works frame themselves as visions, often discussing the future, afterlife, or both: Several texts (over 50) consist of descriptions of the events surrounding the varied fate of Mary (the mother of Jesus): These texts, due to their content or form, do not fit into the other categories: In addition to
1836-588: The feast are in a canon of the 656 Council of Toledo , where it is described as celebrated throughout the Church. The 692 Council of Constantinople " in Trullo " forbade observance of any festivals during Lent , excepting Sunday and the Annunciation. An earlier origin had been claimed for it on the grounds that it appeared in manuscripts of the sermons of Athanasius and Gregory Thaumaturgus but they were subsequently discovered to be spurious. Along with Easter, 25 March
1890-593: The feast of the annunciation which is still celebrated in the Lutheran Church , such as Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern , BWV 1 . New Testament apocrypha The word apocrypha means 'things put away' or 'things hidden', originating from the Medieval Latin adjective apocryphus , 'secret' or 'non-canonical', which in turn originated from the Greek adjective ἀπόκρυφος ( apokryphos ), 'obscure', from
1944-431: The festal Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is always celebrated on the feast, even if it falls on Great and Holy Friday , the day when the crucifixion of Jesus is remembered. The Divine Liturgy is celebrated on Great and Holy Friday only when the latter coincides with the feast of the Annunciation. If the Annunciation falls on Pascha (Easter Sunday) itself, a coincidence which is called Kyriopascha , then it
1998-577: The gentile Christian community as scriptural, and 200 years were needed to finalize the canon; from the beginning of the 2nd Century to the mid-4th Century, no book in the final canon was ever declared spurious or heretical, except for the Revelation of John which the Council of Laodicea in 363–364 CE rejected (although it accepted all of the other 26 books in the New Testament). This was possibly due to fears of
2052-452: The influence of Montanism which used the book extensively to support their theology. See Revelation of John for more details. Athanasius wrote his Easter letter in 367 CE which defined a canon of 27 books, identical to the current canon, but also listed two works that were "not in the canon but to be read:" The Shepherd of Hermas and the Didache . Nevertheless, the early church leaders in
2106-423: The known apocryphal works, there are also small fragments of texts, parts of unknown (or uncertain) works. Some of the more significant fragments are: Several texts are mentioned in many ancient sources and would probably be considered part of the apocrypha, but no known text has survived: While many of the books listed here were considered heretical (especially those belonging to the gnostic tradition—as this sect
2160-608: The name of an apostle to his work, such as in the Gospel of Peter or the Ethiopic Apocalypse of Enoch : almost all books, in both Old and New Testaments, called "apocrypha" in the Protestant tradition are pseudepigrapha. In the Catholic and Orthodox traditions, what are called the apocrypha by Protestants include the deuterocanonical books: in the Catholic tradition, the term apocrypha is synonymous with what Protestants would call
2214-534: The ninth century to be full of folly, self-contradiction, falsehood, and impiety. The Acts of Thomas and the Acts of Peter and the Twelve are often considered Gnostic texts. While most of the texts are believed to have been written in the 2nd century, at least two, the Acts of Barnabas and the Acts of Peter and Paul are believed to have been written as late as the 5th century. There are also non-canonical epistles (or "letters") between individuals or to Christians in general. Some of them were regarded very highly by
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2268-405: The old style Julian calendar , 25 March is reckoned to fall on 7 April on the civil calendar, and will fall on 8 April starting in the year 2100. Greek Independence Day is celebrated on the feast of the Annunciation and 25 March is also a national holiday in the Lebanon. The traditional hymn ( troparion ) for the feast of the Annunciation goes back to Athanasius of Alexandria . It runs: Today
2322-411: The power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And
2376-408: The present day: ordination , where groups authorize individuals as reliable teachers of the message; creeds , where groups define the boundaries of interpretation of the message; and canons , which list the primary documents certain groups believe contain the message originally taught by Jesus. The first centuries of Christianity saw substantial debate in regards to which books should be included in
2430-419: The pseudepigrapha, the latter term of which is almost exclusively used by scholars. That some works are categorized as New Testament apocrypha is indicative of the wide range of responses to the ministry of Jesus . During the first centuries following Jesus' ministry, considerable debate was held in regards to safeguarding the authenticity of his teachings. Three key methods developed to address this survive to
2484-410: The same category by orthodox believers. Often used by the Greek Fathers was the term antilegomena , or 'spoken against', although some canonical books were also spoken against, such as the Apocalypse of John in the East. Often used by scholars is the term pseudepigrapha , meaning 'falsely inscribed' or 'falsely attributed', in the sense that the writings were written by an anonymous author who appended
2538-438: The sixth month of Elizabeth 's pregnancy with John the Baptist . Many Christians observe this event with the Feast of the Annunciation on 25 March, an approximation of the northern vernal equinox nine full months before Christmas , the traditional birthday of Jesus. The Annunciation is a key topic in Christian art in general, as well as in Marian art in the Catholic Church , having been especially prominent during
2592-399: The subsequent lives of the apostles, usually with highly supernatural events. Almost half of these, anciently called The Circuits of the Apostles and now known by the name of their purported author, " Leucius Charinus " (supposedly a companion of John the apostle), contained the Acts of Peter, John, Andrew, Thomas, and Paul. These were judged by the Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople in
2646-400: The texts of three Jewish–Christian gospels as follows: Some scholars consider that the two last named are in fact the same source. A number of gospels are concerned specifically with the " Passion " (from the Latin verb patior, passus sum ; "to suffer, bear, endure", from which also "patience, patient", etc.) ) of Jesus: Although three texts take Bartholomew's name, it may be that either
2700-426: The verb ἀποκρύπτειν ( apokryptein ), 'to hide away'. Apokryptein in turn comes from the Greek prefix apo- , meaning 'away', and the Greek verb kryptein , meaning 'to hide'. The general term is usually applied to the books that were considered by the church as useful, but not divinely inspired. As such, to refer to Gnostic writings as "apocryphal" is misleading since they would not be classified in
2754-542: The victorious views had been embraced by the vast majority of Christians from the very beginning ... The practice of Christian forgery has a long and distinguished history ... the debate lasted three hundred years ... even within "orthodox" circles there was considerable debate concerning which books to include. The historical debate primarily concerned whether certain works should be read in the church service or only privately. These works were widely used but not necessarily considered Catholic or 'universal.' Such works include
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#17328558313122808-405: Was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth
2862-504: Was considered heretical by Proto-orthodox Christianity of the early centuries), others were not considered particularly heretical in content, but in fact were well accepted as significant spiritual works. Those marked with a lozenge (♦) are also included in the collection known as the Apostolic Fathers . While some of the following works appear in complete Bibles from the fourth century, such as 1 Clement and The Shepherd of Hermas, showing their general popularity, they were not included when
2916-401: Was historically used as the New Year's Day in many Christian countries. The holiday was moved to January 1 in France by Charles IX 's 1564 Edict of Roussillon . In England , the feast of the Annunciation came to be known as Lady Day , and Lady Day marked the beginning of the English new year until 1752. In the Eastern Orthodox , Eastern Catholic , and Oriental Orthodox Churches,
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