New Testament apocrypha

In the process of determining the Biblical canon, a large number of works were excluded from the New Testament. These New Testament Apocrypha are generally not accepted by Christians, though the Ethiopian Orthodox Church recognizes Jubilees, Book of Enoch, the Shepherd of Hermas, 1 Clement, Acts of Paul, and some uniquely Ethiopian books.

Books which are not objectively known to have existed in antiquity, such as the mediaeval Gospel of Barnabas (although the Epistle of Barnabas occasionally went by this name), and the Book of Mormon, are usually not considered part of the Apocrypha.

Infancy Gospels

The paucity of information about the childhood of Jesus in the canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, is corrected by a number of texts concerned only with this period:

The Protevangelion of James (also called the Gospel of James)
The Infancy Gospel of Thomas (not to be confused with the Gospel of Thomas)
The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew (also called the Birth of Mary and Infancy of the Saviour)
The Life of John the Baptist
The History of Joseph the Carpenter
The Arabic Infancy Gospel
The Libellus de Nativitate Sanctae Mariae (also named as the Nativity of Mary)
The Latin Infancy Gospel

It should be noted that many of the infancy gospels are based on a combination of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas and of the Protevangelium of James.

Judaeo-Christian Gospels

The sect within the early church that had a strong allegiance to Judaism, upholding Jewish law, used a set of Gospels specific to themselves:

Since these mostly survive as logia scattered amongst critical commentaries by opposing groups of the time, some modern theories suggest that these may be variations on one another, although the logion attributed to the Gospel of the Ebionites appear more distinct than the others. It has also been suggested that the Gospel of the Hebrews may have been an earlier version of the Greek Gospel of Matthew.

Rival versions of canonical Gospels

Many alternate edited versions of other gospels existed during the period of early christianity. Sometimes, those attributed to the text state elsewhere that their text is the earlier version, or that their text excises all the additions and distortions made by their opponents to the more recognised version of the text. Although the church fathers insist that these people are incorrect (and indeed heretical) in their assertions, modern scholarship is not so convinced. It remains to be seen whether any are earlier and more accurate versions of the canonical texts. Details of their contents only survive in the attacks on them by their opponents, and so for the most part it is uncertain as to how extensively different they are, and whether any constitute entirely different works. These texts include:

Gospel of Cerinthus (Cerinthus' version)
Gospel of Basilides (Basilides' version)
Gospel of Marcion (Marcion's version)
Gospel of Appelles (Appelles' version)
Gospel of Bardesanes (Bardesanes' version)
Gospel of Mani (Mani's version)

Anti-Christian texts

There are a few works set up in order to attack christian interpretations of the gospels and convert the meaning into support for the religion of the author. Mainly these are Jewish and Muslim works.

The Toledoth Yeshu (in which Yeshu is the Jewish name for Jesus)
The mediaeval Gospel of Barnabas (not to be confused by the earlier Epistle of Barnabas which sometimes took the same name)

Sayings Gospels

One or two texts take the form of sets of brief logia—sayings and very short parables—which are not embedded in a connected narrative:

The Gospel of Thomas (not to be confused with the Infancy Gospel of Thomas)
The Gospel of Philip

Morality Gospels

Some texts take the form of discourses on morality, and in particular on sexual abstinence, usually taking the form of a discussion between Jesus and one or more disciples.

Greek Gospel of the Egyptians (wholly independent of its namesake, the Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians)
Book of Thomas the Contender (also called the "Book of Thomas", "Epistle of the Contender", and "Letter of the contender")

Passion Gospels

A number of Gospels are concerned specifically with the Passion (i.e. Jesus' death, and alleged Resurrection):

The Gospel of Peter
The Gospel of Nicodemus (also called the "Acts of Pilate")
The Gospel of Bartholomew
The Questions of Bartholomew
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ (which claims to be according to Bartholomew)

Although there are three texts which take Bartholomew's name, it may be the case that one of the Questions of Bartholomew or the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is in fact the unknown Gospel of Bartholomew

Merged Gospels

A number of texts aim to provide a single replacement for the canonical gospels by presenting a unified text derived from them to some degree. Of all the extant texts, the majority appear to be variations on the Diatessaron

Gnostic esoterica

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 the gnostic texts.

General Gnostic Texts

Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter (very different to its namesake, the Apocalypse of Peter)
The Wisdom of Jesus Christ (also called the "Sophia of Jesus Christ" and the "Sophia Jesu Christi")
The Epistle of Eugnostos (also called the "Letter of Eugnostos")
The Dialogue of the Saviour
The Gospel of Mary Magdalene (also called the "Gospel of Mary")
Interpretation of Knowledge
The Gospel of Truth
Pistis Sophia

Whilst the Epistle of Eusegius does not make mention of Jesus, it is thought to be the basis of Sophia Jesu Christi, and therefore counts amongst the apocrypha.

Sethian 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:

The Apocalypse of Adam
The Apocryphon of John (also called the "Secret Gospel of John")
The Thought of Norea
The Trimorphic Protennoia
The Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians (wholly independent of its namesake, the Greek Gospel of the Egyptians)
The Coptic Apocalypse of Paul (wholly independant of its namesake, the Apocalypse of Paul)

Four of these texts, in the form of visions, are heavily platonistic.

Ritual Diagrams

Some of the Gnostic texts appear to consist of diagrams and instructions for use in religious rituals-

The Ophite Diagrams
The First and Second Books of Jeu

Fate of Mary

Several texts (over 50) consist of descriptions of the events surrounding the varied fate of Mary (the mother of Jesus).

The Home Going of Mary
The Falling asleep of the Mother of God

Acts of the Apostles

Several texts concern themselves with the subsequent lives of the apostles -

The Acts of John
The Acts of Peter (the concluding part of which was sometimes seperate and named Martyrdom of Peter)
The Acts of Andrew (also called the Gospel of Andrew)
The Acts of Peter and Andrew
The Acts of Peter and the Twelve
The Acts of Peter and Paul
The Nine Books of Clement
The Acts of Phillip
The Acts of Thomas
The Acts of Paul, which contained within it texts which were sometimes found seperately including:

Epistles

There are also non canonical epistles, some of which were regarded very highly by the early church -

The Epistle of Barnabas (also called the "Gospel of Barnabas", not to be confused with the mediaeval Gospel of Barnabas)
1 and 2 Clement
The Epistle of the Corinthians to Paul
The Epistle to the Laodiceans (an epistle of Paul)
The Third Epistle to the Thessalonians (an epistle of Paul)
The Epistle to the Ionians (an epistle of Paul)
The Epistle to Seneca the Younger (an epistle of Paul)
The Epistles of Jesus Christ and Abgarus King of Edessa (See Image of Edessa)

Visions

Several works frame themselves as visions, often discussing the future, afterlife, or both.

The Shepherd of Hermas
Apocalypse of Peter (very different to the Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter)
Apocalypse of Thomas (also called the Revelation of Thomas)
Apocalypse of Stephen (also called the Revelation of Stephen')
First Apocalypse of James (also called the First Revelation of James)
Second Apocalypse of James (also called the Second Revelation of James)
Apocalypse of Paul (with a change of visionary, this becomes the Apocalypse of the Virgin)

Old Testament texts

Some parts of the apocrypha are arguably Old Testament apocrypha, though their date of origin places them within the new testament period -

The Testament of Job
The Book of Enoch
The Interdiction of Solomon
The Penitence of Jamnes and Mambres
Jubilees (also named Leptogenesis)
Ogias the Giant (also named Book of Giants)

Miscellany

Other texts exist which concern rather more miscellaneous topics -

The Physiologus of Ambrose
The Foundation
The Treasure
The Didache
The Apocryphon of James (also named Secret Gospel of James)
The Prayer of Paul
The Sermon of Paul
The Preaching of Peter (also named Clementine Literature and Pseudo-Clementines)
The Penitence of Origen
The Sentences of Sextus
The Book of Nepos
The Canons of the Apostles

Fragments

In addition to the known Apocryphal works, there are also small fragments of texts, parts of unknown, or uncertain, works.

Some of the more significant fragments are:

Lost works

There also exist several texts which would be considered part of the apocrypha, which are mentioned in many ancient sources, but for which no known text has survived:

The Gospel of Matthias (probably not to be confused with the Gospel of Matthew)
The Gospel of the Four Heavenly Realms
The Gospel of Perfection
The Gospel of Eve
The Gospel of the Twelve
Memoria Apostolorum
The Gospel of the Seventy
The Gospel of Judas
The Grave-plate of the Apostles
The Book of spells of serpents
The Portion of the Apostles

A note about orthodoxy

While many of the books listed here were considered heretical (especially the gnostic ones), some were not considered particularly heretical in content, but were nonetheless not considered canonical, although many orthodox authors quoted from them -

1 and 2 Clement
Shepherd of Hermas
Didache
Book of Enoch (debatably Old Testament Apocrypha)
Epistle of Barnabas
Apocalypse of Peter
The Protevangelium of James
Third Epistle to the Corinthians