The Library
1774 works catalogued century by century, from the literature the Bible was written among to the present — each with a note on what it is, why it lasted, and where to read it.
1–100
1 work
c. 80–120; survives in quotations
Greek
Anonymous
A gospel used by Greek-speaking Jewish Christians in Egypt, known only from about seven passages quoted by Clement, Origen, Didymus, and Jerome. In its fragments the Holy Spirit is Jesus' mother, and the risen Christ appears first to James, who had sworn to eat nothing until he saw him.
101–200
5 works
c. 100–150; survives in fragments
Aramaic
Anonymous
An Aramaic gospel close to Matthew but not identical, known from Jerome and marginal notes in medieval manuscripts. The rich young ruler scratches his head while his brothers go dressed in filth; the man with the withered hand says he was a mason and begs not to have to eat in shame.
c. 100–150; survives in fragments
Greek
Papyrus Egerton 2
Anonymous
Four scraps of a codex bought in Egypt in 1934. A controversy with the lawyers, an attempted stoning, a leper healed, the tribute question, and a broken miracle at the Jordan where something is sown on the water and fruit appears.
c. 120–150; survives in fragments
Greek
Anonymous
A gospel of the Greek-speaking Egyptian church, surviving only in exchanges between the Lord and Salome quoted by Clement. When she asks how long death will hold sway he answers, as long as you women bear children — and when she says she has done well not to bear, he does not contradict her.
c. 130–180
Greek, surviving in Coptic
Anonymous
Jesus laughs at the disciples for giving thanks over bread and takes Judas aside as the only one who can bear to hear the truth. Judas will exceed them all — by handing over the man who clothes him.
c. 150–200; survives in one leaf
Greek
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 840
Anonymous
A miniature parchment leaf, small enough to be worn as an amulet. A chief priest challenges Jesus for entering the temple court unwashed, and Jesus answers that the priest has bathed in water dogs and pigs lie in, while he and his disciples have been washed in living water from heaven.
201–300
1 work
c. 240–270; survives in fragments
Syriac
Evangelion
Mani · 216–274 or 277
The first of Mani's own scriptures, arranged in twenty-two chapters after the letters of the Syriac alphabet, opening with his declaration that he is an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of the Father — the same words Paul used, claimed for a different revelation.
1201–1300
1 work
1221
Latin
Regula Non Bullata
Francis of Assisi · 1181/82–1226
The unapproved rule: a patchwork of gospel texts and instructions on begging, on working with one's hands, on going among the Saracens, and on owning nothing whatever.
8 of 1774 works