Biblical History

Pay attention, in the original chart was a misprint. The First Temple Judaism happened in c. 650 BCE (not c. 650 CE, as it was stated). Same thing with The Second Temple Judaism happened in c. 500 BCE (not c. 500 CE, as it was stated).

The earliest known form of writing is cuneiform, which was invented by the Sumerians in ancient Mesopotamia around 3200 BCE. Other early writing systems include hieroglyphics, which were developed by the ancient Egyptians around 3000 BCE, and the Chinese script, which has a history dating back to at least the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE).

The earliest written records of the Hebrew language are found in inscriptions and seals from the 10th century BCE, during the reign of King Solomon. These inscriptions are written in a script known as “Proto-Hebrew,” which is similar to the Phoenician alphabet. The modern Hebrew script, which is used today, developed from the Proto-Hebrew script and was standardized during the 5th century CE.

The Ancient Israelites were originally two separate kingdoms with two separate origin stories (one that involved Moses and one that involved the three patriarchs); and that it wasn’t until after the fall of the Northern Kingdom that the idea of monotheism really took off, when most of the Northerns fled south and joined to the Kingdom of Judah to create a unified state and a unified religion.

After the Babylonian exile the Jews were eventually allowed by the Persians to return and rebuild their temple. It is probably sometime during this period that the two origin stories were combined for the first time and that the final version of the Torah was compiled, creating a new religion that could be called Second Temple Judaism. However, over the next several hundred years, particularly by the time that the Persians were replaced by the Greeks, several different groups emerged within Second Temple Judaism, each with their own slightly different understanding of the religion. The three main groups were the Pharisees (who were mainly scribes and teachers), the Sadducees (who were the priests), and the Essenes (who were the most mystical of the three).

When the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE, the Sadducees basically disappeared. The very bookish Pharisees ended up redefining Judaism and it eventually evolved into rabbinical Judaism, which is the type of Judaism that exists to this day.

The Essenes are the group that we know the least about. They may or may not have been the ones responsible for making the Dead Sea Scrolls – these days, there’s some debate about that. However, one idea is that they were the ones who were the most interested in stuff like angels and demons and a future messiah. Because of this, some scholars have put forward the idea that the Essenes might have had a strong influence on the development of Christianity.

Existing manuscripts

The sample of the Dead Seas Scrolls

The Old Testament text that we have today in our various Bible translations is based upon ancient manuscripts that date from as early as 200 BCE up to the Middle Ages. The Old Testament manuscripts that we have access to today include examples in Hebrew and Greek, mostly, but also Latin, Syriac, Aramaic, and more.

The books of the New Testament share in common the fact that they were all originally written in Greek. Although the original parchments used by Paul, Luke, John, and the other apostles have long been lost, history has left thousands upon thousands of New Testament manuscripts. These manuscripts are a witness to the enduring character of the text and message of the Bible. But they’re also a source of continual debate and discussion concerning the origin of Christianity, the reliability of Scripture, and the nature of divine revelation.

The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of ancient Jewish texts that were discovered in the 1940s in the vicinity of the Dead Sea in Palestine (now Israel). The scrolls were found in a series of caves near the ancient settlement of Qumran, which was believed to be home to a community of Jewish ascetics known as the Essenes. They consist of over 900 documents, including fragments from every book of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), as well as many other Jewish texts such as hymns, prayers, and secular documents. The scrolls are written in Hebrew, with a smaller number written in Aramaic. They date from the third century BCE to the first century CE, making them some of the oldest surviving copies of the Hebrew Bible.

Links outside this site:

Dualism and the concept of Hell

Zoroastrianism is an ancient Persian religion founded by the prophet Zoroaster (also known as Zarathushtra) in the 6th century BCE. It is a monotheistic religion that centers on the worship of Ahura Mazda, the supreme deity, who is believed to be the creator of the universe and the source of all goodness.

Zoroastrianism also includes the concept of dualism, which is the belief in the existence of two opposing forces or principles, one good and one evil. According to Zoroastrian belief, the good force is represented by Ahura Mazda and his divine qualities, while the evil force is personified by the destructive spirit Angra Mainyu.

The concept of a deity or deities who personify evil and the belief in an afterlife in which the souls of the deceased are judged and sent to a place of punishment or reward are also found in Judaism (see also, The Apocrypha) and other Abrahamic religions, such as Christianity and Islam. However, it is not clear to what extent these concepts may have been influenced by Zoroastrianism or other ancient religions.

Dr. Bart D. Ehrman lecture: “The History of Heaven and Hell!” (Jan. 9, 2021)

It is possible that certain beliefs and practices from various ancient religions have influenced the development of Judaism and other Abrahamic religions over time, as people and cultures have interacted and exchanged ideas throughout history.

According to the biblical account, when Moses received the Ten Commandments from God on Mount Sinai, the Israelites were worshipping a golden calf, which they had made and were treating as a god (Exodus 32:1-6). This incident is often cited as an example of the Israelites worshipping pagan gods.

In Judaism, the concept of hell is not as fully developed as it is in some other religions, and the Hebrew Bible does not contain a clear and consistent description of an afterlife or a place of punishment for the wicked.

However, the concept of hell or a place of punishment after death is present in some Jewish literature and tradition. The Hebrew word “gehenna” is often translated as “hell” and is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and in later Jewish literature. In the Hebrew Bible, gehenna is described as a place where the bodies of the wicked are consumed by fire (Isaiah 66:24). In later Jewish tradition, gehenna is often depicted as a place of punishment after death, where the souls of the wicked are subjected to eternal torment.

The Hebrew Bible has no idea that your soul lives after your body dies. When God created Adam, God formed humanoid being from lump of clay and God breathed his breath into it and it became a living creature. In the Hebrew Bible when you stop breathing you don’t exist anymore.

About 200 BCE was the idea that there will come a justice after you die and God will breathe your spirit back into you and you will then live eternally. The view about your soul would go to heaven or hell is found nowhere in the Old Testament and it isn’t what Jesus taught. It is a later development within Christianity.

In the Gospels, Jesus does speak of a place of punishment and separation from God, often referred to as “Gehenna.” This was a valley near Jerusalem that had a history of being associated with child sacrifice and was used as a garbage dump. Jesus used Gehenna as a metaphor for a place of judgment and punishment, but he did not describe it as a place of eternal torment.

See more, Dr. Bart D. Ehrman lecture: “The History of Heaven and Hell!” (Jan. 9, 2021) | Am I Going to Hell? What the New Testament Says About Death and the Afterlife (Jan. 10, 2023)

Jesus Christ according Christianity / Judaism / Muslims

The idea of the trinity can be traced back to Jesus, who spoke of being one with the Father and of the coming of the Holy Spirit. The concept of the trinity was further developed by early Christian theologians, such as Ignatius of Antioch and Tertullian, who wrote about the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Jews believe in one, monotheistic God who is the creator of the universe, while Christians believe in the trinity, the concept that God is three persons in one: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. The trinity was formally defined by the early Christian council of Nicaea in 325 CE. The Nicene Creed, which was adopted by the council, affirmed the belief in one God who is three persons.

Jews do not believe in Jesus as the messiah because they do not believe that he fulfilled the messianic prophecies or that he established the kingdom of God on earth as described in the Hebrew Bible. According to traditional Jewish belief, the messiah has not yet come and is still expected to come in the future.

Finding a Jesus Before Christianity–Why the Quest Matters (May 27, 2023)

Muslims believe in Jesus as a prophet of God and a significant figure in Islam. According to Islamic tradition, Jesus was born to the Virgin Mary and was given the message of Islam by God. Muslims believe that Jesus was a messenger of God, similar to other prophets in Islam such as Abraham, Moses, and Muhammad.

Muslims also believe that Jesus performed miracles and that he was ascended into heaven by God. However, Muslims do not believe that Jesus was the son of God or that he died on the cross to atone for the sins of humanity, as this is contrary to Islamic belief in the oneness of God. The belief in Jesus is a fundamental part of the Islamic faith, and Muslims consider Jesus to be one of the most important prophets of God.

See more, Quran

All charts on this page © Matt Baker/UsefulCharts (May 14, 2021 to Nov. 5, 2021).
The History of Israel: Every Year © Danzig HD Mapper (Nov. 25, 2017).

History of Israel: Every Year (Nov. 25, 2017)

Pre-Islamic Arabia (Sept. 21, 2021)

The Old Testament

Because a long time has passed, some scholars disagree with some of the information in the Bible, and there are contradictions. There are no original manuscripts. All are handwritten copies of a copy of a copy. Some scripts have several different versions, and some only a few. Researchers must decide which version was the most authentic, and there is not always a consensus.

For example, in 2020 we had the oldest copy of the Gospel of Mark, handwritten in 220 CE, even though it was originally written in 70 CE. [Can We Trust the Text of the New Testament? (Jan. 16, 2020)]

The Torah

The Torah is the central text of Judaism and is also known as the Pentateuch or the Five Books of Moses. According to traditional Jewish belief, the Torah was written by Moses, who received the divine revelation on Mount Sinai and recorded it in the form of the five books that make up the Torah. The Torah consists of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These books contain the foundational stories, laws, and teachings of Judaism, and they are considered sacred texts by Jews around the world.

The book of Exodus states that the Israelites were in slavery in Egypt for 430 years, which suggests that Moses lived sometime around the 13th or 14th century BCE. Since the Torah was written centuries later, it can be said that the historical existence of Moses as a person cannot be definitively confirmed.

The term “Elohist” (also spelled “Eloist”) refers to a source or tradition in the Old Testament (also known as the Hebrew Bible) that is believed by some biblical scholars to have been responsible for certain passages or sections of the text. The Elohist tradition is named after the Hebrew word “Elohim,” which is the word for God used in these passages.
The term “Jahwist” (also spelled “Yahwist”) refers to a source or tradition in the Old Testament that is believed by some biblical scholars to have been responsible for certain passages or sections of the text. The Jahwist tradition is named after the Hebrew word “Yahweh,” which is the personal name for God used in these passages.
The term “Deuteronomist” refers to a source or tradition in the Old Testament that is believed by some biblical scholars to have been responsible for certain passages or sections of the text. The Deuteronomist tradition is named after the book of Deuteronomy, which is believed to be the work of this tradition.
The term “Priestly” refers to a source or tradition in the Old Testament that is believed by some biblical scholars to have been responsible for certain passages or sections of the text. The Priestly tradition is named after the group of priests who are believed to have been responsible for this tradition.
See more, Who Wrote the Bible? Episode 1: The Torah (May 14, 2021)

Note that Genesis Chapters 5 and 11 were not found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. This means that the genealogy of the Israelites was added there sometime after that period; the scrolls date from the third century BCE to the first century CE [Source: Biblical Chronology (Sept. 3, 2021)].

The Prophets

Dates in the chart:

c. 850 BCE: Approximately when the two kingdoms (Israel and Judah) first appear in the archaeological record.
722 BCE: The northern kingdom fell to the Assyrians. There was only one Israelite kingdom: the Kingdom of Judah.
586 BCE: Jerusalem and the First Temple were destroyed by the Babylonians and some of the Judahites were forced into exile.
539 BCE: Babylon was conquered by Cyrus the Great. Judah was now under the control of Persia and the Jews were allowed to return and rebuild their temple. That new temple is usually referred to as the Second Temple.
331 BCE: Alexander the Great put Judea under Greek rule.
167 BCE: The Jews rebelled and finally achieved independence again, under the Maccabees.
See more, Who Wrote the Bible? Episode 2: The Prophets (June 11, 2021)

Isaiah

Isaiah is a long book. It has 66 chapters
The author begins dating himself. He tells that prophetic ministry was in the Southern part of Israel, and he names four kings that he was prophesying during their reign. So it looks like he started prophesying in the year 738 BCE, and he had a ministry about 40 years
This book appears to be three different books written by three different authors that have been combined. All these books are written in the context of stress for the nation:
- 1st Isaiah (the most of the first 39 chapters) was written by Isaiah from Jerusalem from 738 BCE for the 40 years. He was in a situation where the nation of Assyria was on the prow and threatening to destroy the Southern kingdom of Judah;
- 2nd Isaiah was written by somebody about 150 years later. He was in a situation in the 720s BCE when that ends up happening;
- 3rd Isaiah was written by somebody else some decade after that. He was in a situation when Babylon has already destroyed Judah, i.e. which happened after 586 BCE
See more, What Did the Prophet Isaiah Say About Jesus? (July 2, 2024)

The Writings

Because the Book of Psalms is a collection of 150 different compositions, it’s impossible to place it at a single location. Most scholars believe that some were definitely written before the exile and some were definitely written after.
Like Psalms, because Proverbs is a collection of several different sayings and poems by several different authors, it’s impossible to place it at just one location on the timeline.
See more, Who Wrote the Bible? Episode 3: The Writings (July 9, 2021)

The Apocrypha

Tobit is a collection of several stories set shortly after the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel. It prominently features an angel named Raphael and a demon named Asmodeus.
Angels are rarely mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible and demons do not appear at all. the Book of Daniel is the only book in the entire Hebrew Bible to mention an angel by name, the archangel Michael is mentioned 3 times.
Tobit was written by an anonymous author around the same time as the Book of Daniel. This is why they have several features in common, such as the inclusion of spiritual beings with names. By this point, Judaism had been strongly influenced by Zoroastrianism (the main religion in Persia). This is why, from this point forward, we find a much more detailed spiritual world within Jewish literature – for example, more angels and demons. (see also, Dualism and the concept of Hell)
Judith, like Esther, is best thought of as being a work of historical fiction.
Five books of the Book of Enoch was likely written by a different author at a different time. There’s the Book of Watchers, the Book of Parables, the Book of Astronomy, the Book of Dreams, and the Epistle of Enoch. The oldest section is the Book of Watchers (this is the part that was likely written in the Greek Period, before the Book of Daniel); whereas the latest section is the Book of Parables, written during the Post-Temple Period.
Several Hebrew and Aramaic fragments of the Book of Enoch have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
See more, Who Wrote the Bible? Episode 4: The Apocrypha (Aug. 13, 2021)

Rabbinic Judaism (Hebrew: יהדות רבנית) recognizes the twenty-four books of the Masoretic Text, commonly called the Tanakh (Hebrew: תַּנַ”ךְ) or Hebrew Bible. Evidence suggests that the process of canonization occurred between 200 BCE and 200 CE, and a popular position is that the Torah was canonized c. 400 BCE, the Prophets c. 200 BCE, and the Writings c. 100 CE perhaps at a hypothetical Council of Jamnia—however, this position is increasingly criticised by modern scholars. [Wikipedia]

Hebrew texts began to be translated into Greek in Alexandria in about 280 BCE and continued until about 130 BCE. These early Greek translations were called the Septuagint (Latin for ‘Seventy’) from the supposed number of translators involved (hence its abbreviation “LXX”). This Septuagint remains the basis of the Old Testament in the Eastern Orthodox Church. [Wikipedia]

The New Testament

The Gospels

Gospel of Thomas was one of the books left out from the canonical New Testament

The Gospel of Mark is one of the four canonical Gospels in the New Testament, along with Matthew, Luke, and John. The Gospel of Mark is traditionally attributed to John. Mark, a companion of the apostle Peter, and it is believed to be based on Peter’s accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus.
it seems that John instead of Q source may have used a now lost source known as the “Signs Gospel” – a text that listed the various miracles that Jesus was said to have preformed. It’s possible that John (or more likely: a follower of John) used the Signs Gospel as a starting point and then worked the rest of the material around it.
- The Gospel of John does include a number of stories about “signs” or miraculous events that are said to have been performed by Jesus, such as the healing of the official’s son (John 4:46–54), the healing of the man born blind (John 9:1–7), and the raising of Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1–45). However, these stories are not referred to as a “Signs Gospel,” and there is no evidence to suggest that they were compiled in a separate document that was used as a source by the author of the Gospel of John.
The “Q source” (also known as “Q”) is a hypothetical document that is thought to have been used by the authors of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke as a source for their accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus. The Q source is so named because it is believed to have been a collection of sayings and teachings attributed to Jesus, similar to the “Q” in “Qumran,” the site in Israel where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered.
The Gospel of John is believed to have been written by the apostle John, one of the original 12 disciples of Jesus. The Gospel of John is thought to have been written sometime around the year 90, and it is notable for its unique style and content compared to the other Gospels. Unlike the other Gospels, which focus primarily on Jesus’ public ministry, the Gospel of John includes extensive accounts of Jesus’ private teachings and discussions with his disciples. The Gospel of John does not appear to have used the Gospel of Mark or the Q source as sources.
However, the apostle John probably didn’t write the Gospel of John. And, it is likely that whoever did write the Gospel of John also wrote the three epistles of John. The styles are similar enough to assume a single author for all four works. So, probably someone that was a member of the hypothetical Johannine community.
Luke was the only author in the entire Bible (both Old and New) that was not Jewish. Tradition holds that he was Greek and that he was a medical doctor by profession. However, according to critical scholarship, Luke may have simply been a Hellenized Jew.
The Gospel of Thomas is one of many other non-canonical gospels that still exist. Most of these are thought to have been written much later, however, the Gospel of Thomas is the exception to this rule. According to some scholars, it may have been written around the same time as the main four. The other interesting thing about the Gospel of Thomas is that it was lost to time until a manuscript of it was found in 1945.
See more,
- Who Wrote the Bible? Episode 5: The Gospels (Sept. 10, 2021)
- Why Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John?

The Gospel of John

Possible reconstructed history of The Gospel of John:

The text may have a relatively brief “signs gospel” (7 signs that Jesus is the messiah) at its heart alone with a Passion narrative
The primary author of John (John1) massively expanded his source text to create the bulk of the Fourth Gospel as we now have it
Finally a less skilled and more literalistic writer John2 edited John1’s gospel making minor changes and appending a new ending – John2 incorrectly believed the manuscript he was editing was by the deceased “Beloved Disciple”
See also, The Apostle John and the Johannine Community (Jan. 25, 2023) by John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place

Some of non-canonical gospels

The Gospel of Thomas: a collection of 114 sayings attributed to Jesus, many of which are similar to those found in the canonical gospels.
The Gospel of Mary: a text that purports to contain the teachings of Jesus as related by Mary Magdalene.
The Gospel of Judas: a text that presents a different view of the relationship between Jesus and Judas Iscariot, who is traditionally depicted as a betrayer of Jesus in the canonical gospels.
The Gospel of Philip: a text that contains a collection of sayings and teachings attributed to Jesus and his followers.
The Gospel of Peter: a text that presents a different account of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

See the major apocryphal gospels at the end of the page or Apocrypha and pseudepigrapha on a List of Gospels (Wikipedia).

The Epistles

Paul never mentions Mary, or any other of Jesus’ other family, places like Bethlehem, or Nazareth, parables, sermons, exorcisms, healings, or miracles.
The last epistle is the epistle of Jude, said in the text itself to be the brother (or the cousin) of James. Traditionally, this would mean that Jude was also the brother of Jesus. Like the Epistle of James, the Epistle of Jude was one of those books that almost didn’t make the cut. Therefore, the assumption is that it is probably pseudepigrapha. Which means that, according to most scholars, none of the general epistles are genuine letters from the people who were said to have written them.
This is in contrast to the Pauline epistles, seven of which are in fact genuine.
The Epistle of Barnabas almost made it into the New Testament but was eventually cut out. Barnabas was a travelling companion of Paul but the Epistle of Barnabas was in all likelihood not written by the real Barnabas. It is yet another example of pseudepigrapha. Why other pseudepigrapha made it into the New Testament but this one did not, is uncertain. For the first few centuries of the common era, it was in fact included alongside other books like James and Jude but, eventually, it was dropped.
Two other books that were dropped are the Shepherd of Hermas and the Didache. Neither are epistles. The Shepherd of Hermas is comprised of various visions, commandments, and proverbs; whereas the Didache is kind of like an early catechism – a catechism being a summary of Christian doctrine.
See more, Who Wrote the Bible? Episode 6: The Epistles (Oct. 1, 2021)

Pauline Epistles

The following thirteen books from the New Testament are traditionally believed to have been written by the Apostle Paul:

Romans | 2. 1 Corinthians | 3. 2 Corinthians | 4. Galatians | 5. Ephesians | 6. Philippians | 7. Colossians | 8. 1 Thessalonians | 9. 2 Thessalonians | 10. 1 Timothy | 11. 2 Timothy | 12. Titus | 13. Philemon

Status	Categorisation	Epistle
Undisputed	Authentic Pauline epistles	First Epistle to the Thessalonians \| Epistle to the Galatians \| First Epistle to the Corinthians \| Second Epistle to the Corinthians \| Epistle to the Philippians \| Epistle to Philemon \| Epistle to the Romans
Disputed	Deutero-Pauline epistles; may be authentic	Epistle to the Ephesians \| Epistle to the Colossians \| Second Epistle to the Thessalonians
	Pastoral epistles; probably not authentic	First Epistle to Timothy \| Second Epistle to Timothy \| Epistle to Titus
	Anonymous sermon; not Pauline	Epistle to the Hebrews

See more, Authorship of the Pauline epistles (Wikipedia)

Daniel & Revelation

There is only one original manuscript of the Book of Revelation, and it no longer exists. The original manuscript, or “autograph,” was likely written by the Apostle John in the late first century CE.

However, we do have many ancient copies of the Book of Revelation, which were made by hand before the invention of the printing press. The earliest surviving copies are Greek manuscripts from the third and fourth centuries, such as the Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Alexandrinus. There are also many later copies in various languages, such as Latin, Syriac, and Coptic.

See more, Who Wrote the Bible? Episode 7: Daniel & Revelation (Nov. 5, 2021)

The earliest known complete list of the 27 books is found in a letter written by Athanasius, a 4th-century bishop of Alexandria, dated to 367 CE. The 27-book New Testament was first formally canonized during the councils of Hippo (393 CE) and Carthage (397 CE) in North Africa. Pope Innocent I ratified the same canon in 405 CE, but it is probable that a Council in Rome in 382 CE under Pope Damasus I gave the same list first. These councils also provided the canon of the Old Testament, which included the deuterocanonical books.

There is no scholarly consensus on the date of composition of the latest New Testament texts. John A. T. Robinson, Dan Wallace, and William F. Albright dated all the books of the New Testament before 70 CE. Many other scholars, such as Bart D. Ehrman and Stephen L. Harris, date some New Testament texts much later than this; Richard Pervo dated Luke–Acts to c. 115 CE, and David Trobisch places Acts in the mid-to-late second century, contemporaneous with the publication of the first New Testament canon. The New Oxford Annotated Bible states, “Scholars generally agree that the Gospels were written forty to sixty years after the death of Jesus. They thus do not present eyewitness or contemporary accounts of Jesus’s life and teaching.” [Wikipedia]

The major apocryphal gospels (after Bart Ehrman, “Lost Christianities”)

See also, Gospel of Jesus’ Wife [Wikipedia]

Note: Some of the following Wikipedia links may link to the full text version or an excerpt from the text.

Title	Probable date	Content
Epistle of the Apostles (Wiki/full)	Mid 2nd c.	Anti-gnostic dialogue between Jesus and the disciples after the resurrection, emphasising the reality of the flesh and of Jesus’ fleshly resurrection
Gospel According to the Hebrews	Early 2nd c.	Events in the life of Jesus; Jewish-Christian, with possible gnostic overtones
Gospel of the Ebionites	Early 2nd c.	Jewish-Christian, embodying anti-sacrificial concerns
Gospel of the Egyptians	Early 2nd c.	“Salome” figures prominently; Jewish-Christian stressing asceticism
Gospel of Mary (Wiki/fragments)	2nd c.	Dialogue of Mary Magdalene with the apostles, and her vision of Jesus’ secret teachings. It was originally written in Greek and is often interpreted as a Gnostic text. It is typically not considered a gospel by scholars since it does not focus on the life of Jesus.
Gospel of the Nazareans (Wiki/fragments)	Early 2nd c.	Aramaic version of Matthew, possibly lacking the first two chapters; Jewish-Christian
Gospel of Nicodemus (Wiki/full)	5th c.	Jesus’ trial, crucifixion and descent into Hell
Gospel of Peter (Wiki/full)	Early 2nd c.	Fragmentary narrative of Jesus’ trial, death and emergence from the tomb. It seems to be hostile toward Jews, and includes docetic elements. It is a narrative gospel and is notable for asserting that Herod, not Pontius Pilate, ordered the crucifixion of Jesus. It had been lost but was rediscovered in the 19th century.
Gospel of Philip (Wiki/full)	3rd c.	Mystical reflections of the disciple Philip
Gospel of the Saviour	Late 2nd c.	Fragmentary account of Jesus’ last hours
[Coptic] Gospel of Thomas (Wiki/full) Interactive Coptic-English translation	Early 2nd c.	The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church says that the original may date from c. 150. Some scholars believe that it may represent a tradition independent from the canonical gospels, but that developed over a long time and was influenced by Matthew and Luke; other scholars believe it is a later text, dependent from the canonical gospels. While it can be understood in Gnostic terms, it lacks the characteristic features of Gnostic doctrine. It includes two unique parables, the parable of the empty jar and the parable of the assassin. It had been lost but was discovered, in a Coptic version dating from c. 350, at Nag Hammadi in 1945–46, and three papyri, dated to c. 200, which contain fragments of a Greek text similar to but not identical with that in the Coptic language, have also been found.
Infancy Gospel of Thomas (Wiki/full)	Early 2nd c.	Miraculous deeds of Jesus between the ages of five and twelve
Gospel of Truth (Wiki/full)	Mid 2nd c.	Joys of Salvation
Papyrus Egerton 2	Early 2nd c.	Fragmentary, four episodes from the life of Jesus
Diatessaron	Late 2nd c.	Gospel harmony (and the first such gospel harmony) composed by Tatian; may have been intended to replace the separate gospels as an authoritative text. It was accepted for liturgical purposes for as much as two centuries in Syria, but was eventually suppressed.
Protoevangelium of James	Mid 2nd c.	Birth and early life of Mary, and birth of Jesus
Gospe l of Marcion	Mid 2nd c.	Marcion of Sinope, c. 150, had a much shorter version of the gospel of Luke, differing substantially from what has now become the standard text of the gospel and far less oriented towards the Jewish scriptures. Marcion’s critics said that he had edited out the portions of Luke he did not like, though Marcion argued that his was the more genuinely original text. He is said to have rejected all other gospels, including those of Matthew, Mark and especially John, which he alleged had been forged by Irenaeus.
Secret Gospel of Mark	Uncertain	Allegedly a longer version of Mark written for an elect audience
Gospel of Judas (Wiki/full)	Late 2nd c.	Purports to tell the story of the gospel from the perspective of Judas, the disciple who is usually said to have betrayed Jesus. It paints an unusual picture of the relationship between Jesus and Judas, in that it appears to interpret Judas’s act not as betrayal, but rather as an act of obedience to the instructions of Jesus. The text was recovered from a cave in Egypt by a thief and thereafter sold on the black market until it was finally discovered by a collector who, with the help of academics from Yale and Princeton, was able to verify its authenticity. The document itself does not claim to have been authored by Judas (it is, rather, a gospel about Judas), and is known to date to at least 180 CE.
Gospel of Barnabas	14th–16th c.	Contradicts the ministry of Jesus in canonical New Testament and strongly denies Pauline doctrine, but has clear parallels with Islam, mentioning Muhammad as Messenger of God. Jesus identifies himself as a prophet, not the son of God.

Source: Wikipedia