Title: The suppressed Gospels and Epistles of the original New Testament of Jesus the Christ, Volume 1, Mary
Author: Wake, William
Language: English
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                                  THE
                              SUPPRESSED
                          GOSPELS AND EPISTLES
                            OF THE ORIGINAL
                             NEW TESTAMENT
                                   OF
                            JESUS THE CHRIST

          AND OTHER PORTIONS OF THE ANCIENT HOLY SCRIPTURES.
                       NOW EXTANT, ATTRIBUTED TO
                  HIS APOSTLES, AND THEIR DISCIPLES,
       AND VENERATED BY THE PRIMITIVE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES DURING
                       THE FIRST FOUR CENTURIES,
                 BUT SINCE, AFTER VIOLENT DISPUTATIONS
                            FORBIDDEN BY THE
                     BISHOPS OF THE NICENE COUNCIL,
                IN THE REIGN OF THE EMPEROR CONSTANTINE
             AND OMITTED FROM THE CATHOLICS AND PROTESTANT
            EDITIONS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, BY ITS COMPILERS

         TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL TONGUES, WITH HISTORICAL
                   REFERENCES TO THEIR AUTHENTICITY,

                                  BY
                            ARCHBISHOP WAKE
                               AND OTHER
                            LEARNED DIVINES


                          THE ORDER OF ALL THE
                 FORBIDDEN BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
            WITH THEIR PROPER NAMES, AND NUMBER OF CHAPTERS



CONTENTS:

Mary
Protevangelion
I. Infancy
II. Infancy
Nicodemus
Christ and Abgarus
Laodiceans
Paul and Seneca
Acts of Paul and Thecla
I. Clement
II. Clement
Barnabas
Ephesians
Magnesians
Trallians
Romans
Philadelphians
Smyrnaeans
Polycarp
Philippians
I. Hermas--Visions
II. Hermas--Commands
III. Hermas--Similitudes



                                 PREFACE.

To uphold the "right of private judgment," and our "Christian liberty
wherewith Christ hath made us free;" to add fuel to the fire of
investigation, and in  the crucible of deep inquiry, melt from the gold
of pure religion, the dross of  man's invention; to appeal from the
erring tribunals of a fallible Priesthood, and  restore to its original
state the mutilated Testament of the Saviour; also to induce all earnest
thinkers to search not a part, but the whole of the Scriptures, if
therein they think they will find eternal life; I, as an advocate of
free thought  and untrammelled opinion, dispute the authority of those
uncharitable, bickering,  and ignorant Ecclesiastics who first suppressed
these gospels and epistles; and I join issue with their Catholic and
Protestant successors who have since excluded  them from the New
Testament, of which they formed a part; and were venerated  by the
Primitive Churches, during the first four hundred years of the Christian
Era.

My opposition is based on two grounds; first, the right of every rational
being to become a "Priest unto himself," and by the test of enlightened
reason,  to form his own unbiassed judgment of all things natural and
spiritual: second,  that the reputation of the Bishops who extracted
these books from the original New Testament, under the pretence of being
Apocryphal, and forbade them to be  read by the people, is proved by
authentic impartial history too odious to entitle them to any deference.
Since the Nicene Council, by a pious fraud, which I  shall further allude
to, suppressed these books, several of them have been reissued from time
to time by various translators, who differed considerably in  their
versions, as the historical references attached to them in the following
pages will demonstrate. But to the late Mr. William Hone we are indebted
for their complete publication for the first time in one volume, about
the year 1820; which  edition, diligently revised, and purified of many
errors both in the text and the  notes attached thereto, I have
re-published in numbers to enable all classes of the nation to purchase
and peruse them.    As, however, instead of being called by  their own
designation "Apocryphal," (which yet remains to be proved), they  were
re-entitled THE FORBIDDEN BOOKS, and, from communications received,
appear to have agitated a portion of the great mass of ignorant bigotry
which mars the fair form of Religion in these sect-ridden dominions, I
have  modified the title to its present shape with the hope that in spite
of illiberal  clerical influence, my fellow Christians will read and
inwardly digest the sublime  precepts they inculcate;--as pure, as holy,
and as charitable as those principles  of Christianity taught in the
Scriptures they; now read by permission;  although their minds may, after
mature reflection, doubt the truth of the miraculous records therein
given.

To ensure these Gospels and Epistles an unprejudiced and serious
attention,  which they are entitled to, equally with those now patronised
by Church authority, I will briefly refer to that disgraceful epoch in
Roman Ecclesiastical Annals,  when the New Testament was mutilated, and
priestly craft was employed for excluding these books from its pages.
HONE, in the preface to his first edition of the Apocryphal New
Testament, so called, without satisfactory grounds, by the  Council of
Nice, in the reign of the Emperor Constantine, thus opens the  subject:--

"After the writings contained in the New Testament were selected from the
numerous Gospels and Epistles then in existence, what became of the Books
that  were rejected by the compilers?"

This question naturally occurs on every investigation as to the period
when and the  persons by whom the New Testament was formed. It has been
supposed by many  that the volume was compiled by the first Council of
Nice, which, according to  Jortin (Rem. on Eccl. vol. ii. p. 177),
originated thus: Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria, and Arius, who was a
presbyter in his diocese, disputed together about the nature of Christ;
and the bishop being displeased at the notions of Arius, and finding
that they were adopted by other persons, "was very angry." He commanded
Arius to come over to his sentiments, and to quit his own; as if a man
could change  his opinions as easily as he can change his coat! He then
called a Council of  War, consisting of nearly, a hundred bishops, and
deposed, excommunicated, and  anathematized Arius, and with him several
ecclesiastics, two of whom were  bishops. Constantine sent a letter, in
which he reprimanded the bishops for disturbing the, church with their
insignificant disputes.  But the affair was gone too far to be thus
composed. To settle this and other points, the Nicene Council was
summoned, consisting of about 318 bishops. The first thing they did was
to quarrel, and to express their resentments, and to present accusations
to the Emperor against one another. "The Emperor burnt all their libels,
and exhorted them to peace and unity."(See Mosheim's Eccle. Hist.) These
were the  kind of spiritual shepherds of whom Sabinus, the Bishop
Heraclea affirms, that  excepting Constantine himself, and Eusebius
Pamphilus, they "were a set of illiterate creatures, that understood
nothing." And now intelligent Catholics, especially Protestants who are
content to read only the books of the Testament authorized by the Council
of Nice, and agreed to ever since by your own bishops,  although they and
you profess to dissent from the Papacy, hear what Pappus in his Synodican
to that Council says of their crafty contrivance when they separated the
books of the original New Testament:--He tells us, that having
"promiscuously put all the books that were referred to the Council for
deliberation under the  communion-table in a church, they besought the
Lord that the inspired writings might get on the table, while the
spurious ones remained underneath; and that it happened accordingly!"
(See Com. Mace's N. T. p. 875.) Therefore, good reader, every  Christian
sect from the fourth century to the present period, have been blessed
with the books that climbed upon the communion-table, and in consequence
were  deemed inspired and canonical; at the same time have been forbidden
to read the  Gospels and Epistles herein published, because they could
not perform the same feat, but remained under the table, and were
condemned accordingly, as uninspired and apocryphal writings. If you
believe this popish legend, you will not read the good books I lay before
you, but still continue to possess only HALF THE TESTAMENT, instead of
the  PERFECT ONE, which will enable you to burst the trammels of
priestcraft, and by  the light of God's whole truth become free. In
conclusion, I implore you to examine for yourselves, and observe the
testimony of Archbishop Wake and other learned divines and historians
appended  thereto; and subscribe myself,

                              Your well-wisher,
                                                  EDWARD HANCOCK.



                            FORBIDDEN BOOKS
                                 OF THE
                             NEW TESTAMENT.

                     THE GOSPEL OF THE BIRTH OF MARY.


CHAPTER I.

     1 The Parentage of Mary.
     7 Joachim her father, and Anna her mother,
     go to Jerusalem to the feast of the dedication.
     9 Issachar, the high priest, reproaches Joachim
     for being childless.

THE blessed and ever glorious
Virgin Mary, sprung from
the royal race and family of David,
was born in the city of Nazareth,
and educated at Jerusalem, in the
temple of the Lord.

2  Her father's name was Joachim,
and her mother's Anna.
The family of her father was of
Galilee and the city of Nazareth.
The family of her mother was of
Bethlehem.

3  Their lives were plain and
right in the sight of the Lord,
pious and faultless before men;
for they divided all their substance
into three parts;

4  One of which they devoted to
the temple and officers of the
temple; another they distributed
among strangers, and persons in
poor circumstances; and the third
they reserved for themselves and
the uses of their own family.

5  In this manner they lived for
about twenty years chastely, in the
favour of God, and the esteem of
men, without any children.

6  But they vowed, if God should
favour them with any issue, they
would devote it to the service of
the Lord; on which account they
went at every feast in the year to
the temple of the Lord.

7  And it came to pass, that
when the feast of the dedication
drew near, Joachim, with some
others of his tribe, went up to
Jerusalem, and at that time,
Isachar was high-priest;

8  Who, when he saw Joachim
along with the rest of his
neighbours, bringrng his offerings,
despised both him and his offerings,
and asked him,

9  Why he, who had no children,
would presume to appear among
those who had? Adding, that his
offerings could never be acceptable
to God, who was judged by him
unworthy to have children; the
Scripture having said, Cursed is
every one who shall not beget a
male in Israel.

10  He further said, that he ought
first to be free from that curse by
begetting some issue, and then
come with his offerings into the
presence of God.

11  But Joachim being much
confounded with the shame of such
reproach, retired to the shepherds
who were with the cattle in their
pastures;

12  For he was not inclined to
return home, lest his neighbours,
who were present and heard all
this from the high-priest, should
publicly reproach him in the same
manner.



CHAPTER II.

     1 An angel appears to Joachim,
     9 and informs him that Anna shall conceive and
     bring forth a daughter, who shall be called Mary,
     11 be brought up in the temple,
     12 and while yet a virgin, in a way unparalleled,
     bring forth the Son of God:
     13 Gives him a sign,
     14 and departs.

BUT when he had been there for
some time, on a certain day
when he was alone, the angel
of the Lord stood by him with
a prodigious light.

2  To whom, being troubled at
the appearance, the angel who had
appeared to him, endeavouring to
compose him, said:

3  Be not afraid, Joachim, nor
troubled at the sight of me, for
I am an angel of the Lord sent by
him to you, that I might inform
you that your prayers are heard,
and your alms ascended in the
sight of God.

4  For he hath surely seen your
shame, and heard you unjustly
reproached for not having children:
for God is the avenger of sin,
and not of nature;

5  And so when he shuts the
womb of any person, he does it for
this reason, that he may in a more
wonderful manner again open it,
and that which is born appear to
be not the product of lust, but the
gift of God.

6  For the first mother of your
nation, Sarah, was she not barren
even till her eightieth year: and
yet even in the end of her old age
brought forth Isaac, in whom the
promise was made of a blessing to
all nations.

7  Rachel, also, so much in
favour with God, and beloved so
much by holy Jacob, continued
barren for a long time, yet
afterwards was the mother of Joseph,
who was not only governor of
Egypt, but delivered many nations
from perishing with hunger.

8  Who among the judges was
more valiant than Sampson, or more
holy than Samuel? And yet both
their mothers were barren.

9  But if reason will not convince
you of the truth of my words, that
there are frequent conceptions in
advanced years, and that those
who were barren have brought forth
to their great surprise; therefore
Anna your wife shall bring you a
daughter, and you shall call her
name Mary;

10  She shall, according to your
vow, be devoted to the Lord from
her infancy, and be filled with the
Holy Ghost from her mother's
womb;

11  She shall neither eat nor
drink any thing which is unclean,
nor shall her conversation be
without among the common people,
but in the temple of the Lord;
that so she may not fall under any
slander or suspicion of what is bad.

12  So in the process of her
years, as she shall be in a
miraculous manner born of one that
was barren, so she shall, while yet
a virgin, in a way unparalleled,
bring forth the Son of the most
High God, who shall, be called
Jesus, and, according to the
signification of his name, be the
Saviour of all nations.

13  And this shall be a sign to
you of the things which I declare,
namely, when you come to the
golden gate of Jerusalem, you
shall there meet your wife Anna,
who being very much troubled
that you returned no sooner, shall
then rejoice to see you.

14  When the angel had said this,
he departed from him.



CHAPTER III.

     1 The angel appears to Anna;
     2 tells her a daughter shall be born unto her,
     3 devoted to the service of the Lord in the temple,
     5, who, being a virgin, and not knowing man,
     shall bring forth the Lord,
     6 and gives her a sign therefore.
     8 Joachim and Anna meet, and rejoice,
     10 and praise the Lord.
     11 Anna conceives, and brings forth a daughter called Mary.

AFTERWARDS the angel appeared
to Anna his wife, saying;
Fear not, neither think that
which you see is a spirit;

2  For I am that angel who hath
offered up your prayers and alms
before God, and am now sent to
you, that I may inform you, that
a daughter will be born unto you,
who shall be called Mary, and
shall be blessed above all women.

3  She shall be, immediately
upon her birth, full of the grace of
the Lord, and shall continue during
the three years of her weaning
in her father's house, and afterwards,
being devoted to the service of the Lord,
shall not depart from the temple,
till she arrive to years of discretion.

4  In a word, she shall there
serve the Lord night and day in
fasting and prayer, shall abstain
from every unclean thing, and
never know any man;

5  But, being an unparalleled instance
without any pollution or defilement,
and a virgin not knowing any man,
shall ring forth a son, and a maid
shall bring forth the Lord, who
both by his grace and name and works,
shall be the Saviour of the world.

6  Arise therefore, and go up to
Jerusalem, and when you shall
come to that which is called the
golden gate (because it is gilt with
gold), as a sign of what I have told
you, you shall meet your husband,
for whose safety you have been so
much concerned.

7  When therefore you find these
things thus accomplished, believe
that all the rest which I have told
you, shall also undoubtedly be
accomplished.

8  According therefore to the
command of the angel, both of
them left the places where they
were, and when they came to the
place specified in the angels
prediction, they met each other.

9  Then, rejoicing at each other's
vision, and being fully satisfied in
the promise of a child, they gave
due thanks to the Lord, who exalts
the humble.

10  After having praised the
Lord, they returned home, and
lived in a cheerful and assured
expectation of the promise of God.

11  So Anna conceived, and
brought forth a daughter, and,
according to the angel's command,
the parents did call her name Mary.



CHAPTER IV.

     1 Mary brought to the temple at three years old.
     6 Ascends the stairs of the temple by miracle.
     8 Her parents sacrifice and return home.

AND when three years were
expired, and the time of her
weaning complete, they brought
the Virgin to the temple of the
Lord with offerings.

2  And there were about the
temple, according to the fifteen
Psalms of degrees, fifteen stairs
to ascend.

3  For the temple being built in
a mountain, the altar of burnt-
offering, which was without, could
not be come near but by stairs;

4  The parents of the blessed
Virgin and infant Mary put her
upon one of these stairs;

5  But while they were putting
off their clothes, in which they had
travelled, and according to custom
putting on some that were more
neat and clean,

6  In the mean time the Virgin
of the Lord in such a manner went
up all the stairs one after another,
without the help of any to lead her
or lift her, that any one would have
judged from hence, that she was of
perfect age.

7  Thus the Lord did, in the
infancy of his Virgin, work this
extraordinary work, and evidence by
this miracle how great she was like
to be hereafter.

8  But the parents having offered
up their sacrifice, according to the
custom of the law, and perfected
their vow, left the Virgin with
other virgins in the apartments of
the temple, who were to be brought
up there, and they returned home.



CHAPTER V.

     2 Mary ministered unto by angels.
     4 The high priest orders all virgins of fourteen
     years old to quit the temple and endeavour to be married.
     5 Mary refuses,
     6 having vowed her virginity to the Lord.
     7 The high-priest commands a meeting of the chief persons
     of Jerusalem,
     11 who seek the Lord for counsel in the matter.
     13 A voice from the mercy-seat.
     15 The high-priest obeys it by ordering all the unmarried
     men of the house of David to bring their rods to the altar,
     17 that his rod which should flower, and on which the
     Spirit of God should sit, should betroth the Virgin.

BUT the Virgin of the Lord, as
she advanced in years, increased
also in perfeetions, and according
to the saying of the Psalmist,
her father and mother forsook her,
but the Lord took care of her.

2  For she every day had the
conversation of angels, and every
day received visitors from God,
which preserved her from all sorts
of evil, and caused her to abound
with all good things;

3  So that when at length she
arrived to her fourteenth year, as
the wicked could not lay any thing
to her charge worthy of reproof,
so all good persons, who were
acquainted with her, admired her
life and conversation.

4  At that time the high-priest
made a public order, That all the
virgins who had public settlements
in the temple, and were come to
this age, should return home, and,
as they were now of a proper
maturity, should, according to the
custom of their country, endeavour
to be married.

5  To which command, though
all the other virgins readily yielded
obedience, Mary the Virgin of the
Lord alone answered, that she
could not comply with it,

6  Assigning these reasons, that
both she and her parents had
devoted her to the service of the
Lord; and besides, that she had
vowed virginity to the Lord,
which vow she was resolved never
to break through by lying with a
man.

7  The high-priest being hereby
brought into a difficulty,

8  Seeing he durst neither on the
one hand dissolve the vow, and
disobey the Scripture, which says,
Vow and pay,

9  Nor on the other hand
introduce a custom, to which
the people were strangers, commanded,

10  That at the approaching feast
all the principal persons both of
Jerusalem and the neighbouring
places should meet together, that
he might have their advice, how
he had best proceed in so difficult
a case.

11  When they were accordingly
met, they unanimously agreed to
seek the Lord, and ask counsel
from him on this matter.

12  And when they were all
engaged in prayer, the high-priest
according to the usual way, went
to consult God.

13  And immediately there was
a voice from the ark, and the mercy
seat, which all present heard, that
it must be enquired or sought out
by a prophecy of Isaiah, to whom
the Virgin should be given and be
betrothed;

14  For Isaiah saith, there shall
come forth a rod out of the stem of
Jesse, and a flower shall spring
out of its root,

15  And the Spirit of the Lord
shall rest upon him, the Spirit of
Wisdom and Understanding, the
Spirit of Counsel and Might, the
Spirit of Knowledge and Piety,
and the Spirit of the fear of the
Lord shall fill him.

16  Then, according to this
prophecy, he appointed, that all
the men of the house and family
of David, who were marriageable,
and not married, should bring their
several rods to the altar,

17  And out of whatsoever
person's rod after it was brought,
a flower should bud forth, and on
the top of it the Spirit of the Lord
should sit in the appearance of a
dove, he should be the man to
whom the Virgin should be given
and be betrothed.



CHAPTER VI.

     1 Joseph draws back his rod.
     5 The dove pitches on it. He betroths Mary and
     returns to Bethlehem.
     7 Mary returns to her parents' house at Galilee.

AMONG the rest there was a
man named Joseph of the
house and family of David, and a
person very far advanced in years,
who kept back his rod, when every
one besides presented his.

2  So that when nothing appeared
agreeable to the heavenly voice,
the high-priest judged it proper to
consult God again.

3  Who answered that he to
whom the Virgin was to be
betrothed was the only person of
those who were brought together,
who had not brought his rod.

4  Joseph therefore was betrayed.

5  For, when he did bring his
rod, and a dove coming from
Heaven pitched upon the top of
it, every one plainly saw, that the
Virgin was to be betrothed to him.

6  Accordingly, the usual
ceremonies of betrothing being over,
he returned to his own city of
Bethlehem, to set his house in
order, and make the needful
provisions for the marriage.

7  But the Virgin of the Lord,
Mary, with seven other virgins of
the same age, who had been weaned
at the same time, and who had
been appointed to attend her by
the priest, returned to her parents'
house in Galilee.


CHAPTER VII.

     7 The salutation of the Virgin by Gabriel, who explains to her
     that she shall conceive, without lying with a man, while a Virgin,
     19 by the Holy Ghost coming upon her without the heats of lust.
     21 She submits.

NOW at this time of her first
coming into Galilee, the
angel Gabriel was sent to her
from God, to declare to her the
conception of our Saviour, and
the manner and way of her
conceiving him.

2  Accordingly going into her,
he filled the chamber where she
was with a prodigious light, and
in a most courteous manner saluting
her, he said,

3  Hail, Mary! Virgin of the
Lord most acceptable!    O Virgin
full of grace! The Lord is with
you. You are blessed above all
women, and you are blessed above
all men, that have been hitherto
born.

4  But the Virgin, who had
before been well acquainted with
the countenances of angels, and
to whom such light from heaven
was no uncommon thing,

5  Was neither terrified with the
vision of the angel, nor astonished
at the greatness of the light, but
only troubled about the angel's
words,

6  And began to consider what
so extraordinary a salutation should
mean, what it did portend, or what
sort of end it would have.

7  To this thought the angel,
divinely inspired, replies;

8  Fear not, Mary, as though
I intended anything inconsistent
with your chastity in this salutation:

9  For you have found favour
with the Lord, because you made
virginity your choice.

10  Therefore while you are a
Virgin, you shall conceive without
sin, and bring forth a son.

11  He shall be great, because
he shall reign from sea to sea, and
from the rivers even to the ends of
the earth?

12  And he shall be called the
Son of the Highest; for he who is
born in a mean state on earth,
reigns in an exalted one in heaven.

13  And the Lord shall give him
the throne of his father David, and
he shall reign over the house of
Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom
there shall be no end.

14  For he is the King of Kings,
and Lord of Lords, and his throne
is forever and ever.

15  To this discourse of the
angel the Virgin replied, not, as
though she were unbelieving, but
willing to know the manner of it.

16  She said, How can that be?
For seeing, according to my vow,
I have never known any man, how
can I bear a child without the
addition of a man's seed.

17  To this the angel replied
and said, Think not, Mary, that
you shall conceive in the ordinary
way.

18  For, without lying with a
man, while a Virgin, you shall
conceive; while a Virgin, you
shall bring forth; and while a
Virgin shall give suck.

19  For the Holy Ghost shall
come upon you, and the power of
the Most High shall overshadow
you, without any of the heats of
lust.

20  So that which shall be born
of you shall be only holy, because
it only is conceived without sin,
and being born, shall be called the
Son of God.

21  Then Mary stretching forth
her hands, and lifting her eyes to
heaven, said, Behold the handmaid
of the Lord! Let it be unto me
according to thy word.



CHAPTER VIII.

     1 Joseph returns to Galilee, to marry the Virgin
     he had betrothed;
     4 perceives she is with child,
     5 is uneasy,
     7 purposes to put her away privily,
     8 is told by the angel of the Lord it is not the
     work of man but the Holy Ghost;
     12 Marries her, but keeps chaste,
     13 removes with her to Bethlehem,
     15 where she brings forth Christ.

JOSEPH therefore went from
Judaea to Galilee, with intention
to marry the Virgin who was
betrothed to him:

2  For it was now near three
months since she was betrothed
to him.

3  At length it plainly appeared
she was with chid, and it could
not be hid from Joseph:

4  For going to the Virgin in a
free manner, as one espoused, and
talking familiarly with her, he
perceived her to be with child,

5  And thereupon began to be
uneasy and doubtful, not knowing
what course it would be best to take;

6  For being a just man, he was
not willing to expose her, nor
defame her by the suspicion of
being a harlot, since he was a
pious man:

7  He purposed therefore privately
to put an end to their agreement,
and as privately to send her away.

8  But while he was meditating
these things, behold the angel of
the Lord appeared to him in his
sleep, and said, Joseph, son of
David, fear not;

9  Be not willing to entertain
any suspicion of the Virgin's
being guilty of fornication, or to
think any thing amiss of her,
neither be afraid to take her to wife:

10  For that which is begotten
in her and now distresses your
mind, is not the work of man, but
the Holy Ghost.

11  For she of all women is that
only Virgin who shall bring forth
the Son of God, and you shall call
his name Jesus, that is, Saviour:
for he will save his people from
their sins.

12  Joseph thereupon, according
to the command of the angel,
married the Virgin, and did not
know her, but kept her in chastity.

13  And now the ninth month
from her conception drew near,
when Joseph took his wife and
what other things were necessary
to Bethlehem, the city from whence
he came.

14  And it came to pass, while
they were there, the days were
fulfilled for her bringing forth.

15  And she brought forth her
first-born son, as the holy
Evangelists have taught, even our
Lord Jesus Christ, who with the
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
lives and reigns to everlasting ages.



                       REFERENCES TO MARY'S GOSPEL

[In the primitive ages there was a Gospel extant bearing this name,
attributed to St. Matthew, and received as genuine and authentic by
several of the ancient Christian sects. It is to be found in the works
of Jerome, a Father of the Church, who flourished in the fourth century,
from whence the present translation is made. His contemporaries,
Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis, and Austin also mention a gospel under
this title. The ancient copies differed from Jerome's, for from one of
them the learned Faustus, a native of Britain, who became Bishop of Riez,
in Provence, endeavoured to prove that Christ was not the Son of God till
after his baptism; and that he was not of the house of David and tribe of
Judah, because, according to the Gospel he cited, the Virgin herself was
not of this tribe, but of the tribe of Levi; her father being a priest of
the name of Joachim. It was likewise  from this Gospel that the sect of
the Collyridians established the worship and offering of manchet bread
and cracknels, or fine wafers, as sacrificed to Mary, whom they imagined
to have been born of a Virgin, as Christ is related in the Canonical
Gospels to have been born of her.  Epiphanius likewise cites a passage
concerning the death of Zacharias, which is not in Jerome's copy, viz.:
"That it was the occasion of the death of Zacharias  in the temple, that
when he had seen a vision, he, through surprise, was willing to disclose
it, and his mouth was stopped.  That which he saw was at the time of his
offering incense, and it was a man standing in the form of an ass.
When he was gone out, and had a mind to speak thus to the people, Woe
unto you, whom do you worship? he who had appeared to him in the temple
took away the use of his speech. Afterwards when he recovered it, and was
able to speak, he declared this to the Jews; and they slew him.  They add
(viz. the Gnostics in this book), that on this very  account the
high-priest was appointed by their lawgiver (by God to Moses)  to carry
little bells, that whensoever he went into the temple to sacrifice  he,
whom they worshipped, hearing the noise of the bells, might have time
enough to hide himself, and not be caught in that ugly shape and figure."
The principal part of this Gospel is contained in the Protevangelion of
James  which follows next in order.]





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