The Secret Book of James

What it is

Five hundred and fifty days after the resurrection the risen Lord returns while the twelve are sitting writing down what they remember, and takes James and Peter aside. Be full, be lacking; seek death as the dead seek life. Then he departs and the two try to follow him up and are called back.

Why it lasted

Depicts the apostles at the moment of writing the gospels, which is exactly the authority it wants to claim — and preserves parables found nowhere else.

Scripture it works from

Where to read it

Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.

• Christian Classics Ethereal Library
• Project Gutenberg
• Internet Archive

These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.