The Church Fathers · c. 350–400; earlier traditions behind it
The Gospel of Nicodemus
The Acts of Pilate
Anonymous
What it is
A trial record and its sequel. In the first part the standards bow of their own accord as Jesus is brought in, and witnesses the gospels only name — Nicodemus, the bleeding woman, the man born blind — come forward to testify. In the second, two sons of Simeon rise from the dead to describe what happened below: Hades and Satan quarrelling as a voice orders the everlasting gates lifted up, and Adam led out by the hand.
Why it lasted
The source of the harrowing of hell for the entire Western Middle Ages. Nothing in scripture narrates the descent, so the mystery plays, the Golden Legend, Piers Plowman, and every painting of Christ hauling Adam from the pit descend from this book.
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.
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.
Read next