Beyond the Four Gospels

What if the four Gospels were not the only ancient books claiming to tell us about Jesus?

The Gospel of Thomas. The Gospel of Mary. The Gospel of Judas. The Gospel of Peter. The Gospel of Philip. The Infancy Gospel of Thomas. The Protoevangelium of James.

Some disappeared for centuries. Some were condemned. Some survived only in fragments. Others were rediscovered in ancient libraries and desert manuscripts.

But were they really suppressed Gospels that could change Christianity?

Beyond the Four Gospels investigates the lost, rejected, disputed, and forgotten writings that developed around Jesus and the early Church.

Why did Christianity recognize Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? Did Constantine or the Council of Nicaea choose the Bible? Were rival versions of Christianity deliberately erased? Does the Gospel of Mary prove that Mary Magdalene held a secret place beside Jesus? Does the Gospel of Judas reveal a misunderstood disciple? Could the Gospel of Thomas preserve authentic sayings of Jesus?

Drawing on ancient manuscripts, early Christian writers, biblical scholarship, archaeology, Church history, and Catholic tradition, Luther Valencia separates historical evidence from modern speculation.

This book neither dismisses every noncanonical writing as worthless nor treats every lost manuscript as suppressed truth. Instead, each text is examined on its own evidence: its age, authorship, surviving manuscripts, theology, historical value, reception, and relationship to the four canonical Gospels.

The real history is more complicated than either conspiracy or comfortable certainty.

The lost Gospels are fascinating. But what do they actually tell us about Jesus?