Full text of "The Apocryphal and legendary life of Christ; being the whole body of the Apocryphal gospels and other extra canonical literature which pretends to tell of the life and words of Jesus Christ, including much matter which has not before appeared in English. In continuous narrative form, with notes, Scriptural references, prolegomena, and indices" View the book: http://archive.org/details/theapocryphaland00doneuoft THE APOCRYPHAL AND LEGENDARY LIFE OF CHRIST "H. & 5." DOLLAR LIBRARY Similar to this Volume THE TRAINING OF THE TWELVE. By Prof. A. B. Bruce, D.D. THE PARABOLIC TEACHING OF CHRIST. By Prof. A. B. Bruce, D.D. THE MIRACULOUS ELEMENT IN THE GOS PELS. By Prof. A. B. Bruce, D.D. THE HUMILIATION OF CHRIST. By Prof. A. B. Bruce, D.D. THE LIFE OF HENRY DRUMMOND. By Principal George Adam Smith. GESTA CHRISTI. By Charles Loring Brace. THE APOCRYPHAL AND LEGENDARY LIFE OF CHRIST. By J. DeQuincy Donehoo. INDIA: ITS LIFE AND THOUGHT. By John P. Jones, D.D. THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE CHRISTIAN RE LIGION. By Principal A. M. Fairbairn. PULPIT PRAYERS. By Alexander Maclaren, D.D. LECTURES ON THE HISTORY OF PREACH ING. By John Ker, D.D. RELIGIONS OF AUTHORITY AND THE RELI GION OF THE SPIRIT. By Auguste Sabatier. THE LIFE OF CHRIST AS REPRESENTED IN ART. By Dean Frederick W. Farrar. THE APOCRYPHAL AND LEGENDARY LIFE OF CHRIST BEING THE WHOLE BODY OF THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS AND OTHER EXTRA CANONICAL LITERATURE WHICH PRETENDS TO TELL OF THE LIFE AND WORDS OF JESUS CHRIST, INCLUDING MUCH MATTER WHICH HAS NOT BEFORE APPEARED IN ENGLISH. IN CONTINUOUS NARRATIVE FORM, WITH NOTES, SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES, PROLEGOMENA, AND INDICES BY JAMES DEQUINCEY DONEHOO, M. A, RECTOR OF GRACE CHURCH, MONROE, LA. 522915 UTS. SI HODDER & STOUGHTON NEW YORK GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. Set up and electrotyped. Published September, 1903. Reprinted October, 1911. Norfoooti press: Berwick & Smith Co., Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. PREFACE The object of this work is to make accessible to the reader of English, in a form easily grasped, the whole body of that comparatively ancient extra-canonical literature which pre tends to tell at first hand something of the Life and Words of Jesus Christ. That literature, it must be admitted, dis closes to the investigator but few golden grains amidst an intolerable deal of chaff. Yet weighted down, as it is, with the dreary verbosity of Gnostic madness, and the preposter ous, if lighter inventions of mediaeval legend-mongers, it certainly bears across nearly nineteen centuries a few words from the divine Author of Christianity, and a few particu lars as to His history upon which the four Gospels are silent. It is not possible to resolve this extra-canonical literature into its constituent elements. No final book can be written upon the Agrapha, the Heretical Gospels, the Apocryphal Gospels, or Legends about Christ, and seriously pretend com pletely to separate any one of these elements from the rest ; they are inextricably intertwined. The Agrapha, for in stance, almost certainly contain some reliable tradition ; yet, in the form in which we now have them, they are as certainly largely heretical and apocryphal. The Heretical Gospels, again, of which fragments are extant, were mainly but cor rupted copies of canonical ones ; yet it is certainly demon strated that most Apocryphal Gospels had their origin in heresy. The best established legends, moreover, rest mainly upon apocryphal sources. The plan here followed has, in consequence, been to com bine all these elements, allowing them to tell their own stories in the unaltered words of their authors, and explaining, as far as possible, by the use of foot notes, the resulting narra- yi PREFACE tive. The accomplishment of this is the sole claim to use fulness and comparative originality, which the present work makes. Editions of the better-known Apocryphal Gospels are plentiful enough, and books upon the Agrapha, the Hos tile Gospels, and the Legends of the New Testament are mul titudinous. But there is no work in English that logically and thoroughly pursues this plan, which seems to the writer the only satisfactory method of gaining a comprehensive view of this extra-canonical literature. And even were Hof- mann s admirable work, "Das Leben Jesu nach den Apo- kryphen" (see Introduction, II, 5), accessible to the average reader, discoveries in all departments of this literature have been so rich during the half century since its appearance, that the present book is able to present nearly fifty per cent, more matter in its text, much of which has never before ap peared in English. This work s favourable reception will re sult in the preparation of "The Apocryphal and Legendary Acts of the Apostles," as its sequel. The writer makes no pretence of having done much orig inal work in the critical editing of texts, or otherwise. He has availed himself in the most absolute manner of all pre vious work in these departments, which he was able to secure and judged valuable for his purpose, and here makes general acknowledgment of that fact. In Section II, will be found more specific acknowledgment of indebtedness; and the reader s attention is asked to this, as well as to the other parts of the Introduction, which it is hoped will fully explain the scope, sources, and arrangement of this work. A final remark before commending the book to the read er s indulgence must be the expression of regret, that due regard for conciseness in the foot notes, and for the avoid ance of ambiguity and monotonous repetition in the text, has prevented the use, throughout the work, of certain forms of reverence and respect towards our Lord and the Gospel char acters, which the author would have preferred. Jesus Christ has been referred to with the capitalized pronoun, only when He was distinctly addressed as God, and the usual titles of reverence for saintly personages have been omitted. The PREFACE VII writer has tried, however, not to forget that however gro tesque the mise en scene which men s vain imaginations have supplied, he had always to do with sacred things throughout these pages, and walked on holy ground. And he adds here his general expression of regret, which is more than once recorded in the notes regarding specific matters, that much which is repugnant to reverent Christian feeling had neces sarily to be included in these pages. GRACE CHURCH RECTORY, MONROE, LA., EASTERTIDE, CONTENTS PREFACE v INTRODUCTION SECTION I Introductory Remarks on the Extra-Canonical Literature regarding Christ s Life and Words xi SECTION II List of Authorities chiefly used in preparing this Work xxiv SECTION III List of the Main Sources of the following text, with introductory matter regarding each xxx SECTION IV List of Lost and Fragmentary Gospels, with Notes SECTION V List of the Principal Church Writers and Anony mous Documents, with Approximate Dates Iviii CHAPTER I Christ s Grandparents according to the Flesh I CHAPTER II The Birth and Childhood of Mary 12 CHAPTER III The Betrothal and Annunciation 25 CHAPTER IV The Virginity of Mary Vindicated 38 CHAPTER V The Nativity of Christ 4^ CHAPTER VI The Visit of the Magi 63 CHAPTER VII The Flight into Egypt 77 CHAPTER VIII The Miracles Performed in Egypt 93 CHAPTER IX Wonder Tales of the Childhood of Christ 109 .CHAPTER X The Child Christ Performs Wonderful Cures 122 CHAPTER XI Destructive Miracles of Christ s Childhood 139 CHAPTER XII The Child Christ and His Teachers 15 CHAPTER XIII Christ s Visit to the Temple and Home Life at Nazareth 162 CHAPTER XIV The Death of the Old Man Joseph.... 173 ix x CONTENTS CHAPTER XV Christ Made a Priest, Baptized, and Calls His Apostles 189 CHAPTER XVI The First Public Miracles of Christ 207 CHAPTER XVII The Healing of Abgar and Other Miracles 219 CHAPTER XVIII Christ Raises the Dead 230 CHAPTER XIX The Words of Christ The Agrapha 242 CHAPTER XX The Words of Christ Miscellaneous 266 CHAPTER XXI Christ on the Holy Mount 286 CHAPTER XXII The Conspiracy against Christ 298 CHAPTER XXIII The Last Supper, Betrayal, and Arraignment 308 CHAPTER XXIV Christ before Pilate 320 CHAPTER XXV The Sentence and Way of the Cross 332 CHAPTER XXVI The Crucifixion 348 CHAPTER XXVII The Burial of Christ 363 CHAPTER XXVIII The Descent into Hell 375 CHAPTER XXIX Christ Delivers the Fathers 387 CHAPTER XXX The Resurrection. 396 CHAPTER XXXI Revelations during the Great Forty Days 410 CHAPTER XXXII The Revelations of the Forty Days Concluded 423 CHAPTER XXXIII The Ascension 438 CHAPTER XXXIV Further Testimony concerning Christ 449 CHAPTER XXr V Pilate s Inquiries and the Letters to Caesar 462 CHAPTER XXXVI The Embassy of Volusianns and Caesar s Cure 474 CHAPTER XXXVII The Correspondence of Pilate r nd Herod 486 CHAPTER XXXVIII The Avenging of the Saviour 497 INDEX OF TEXTS 507 GENERAL INDEX ,,,,,,,, 516 SECTION I. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON THE EXTRA-CANONICAL LITERATURE REGARDING CHRIST S LIFE AND WORDS. I. The Limits of this Literature, and Plan of the Following Text. I make these limits include all extra-canonical docu ments professing to tell anything regarding the Life and Words of Christ, save palpably modern fabrications ; such as, the pretended revelations of Roman Catholic and other seers and mystics, and works like the recent "Unknown Life of Christ." Even these, however, are in many cases referred to in the notes. My sources, then, will be found to include : The Apocryphal Gospels, commonly so called; many frag ments related to same ; such portions of the Apocryphal Acts and Apocalypses as refer directly to Christ s Life or Words ; the Agrapha, or Traditional Words of Christ preserved by the Church fathers and other writers ; the Heretical, Forged, Hostile, and especially Gnostic Gospels, Acts, and Apoca lypses ; the Traditions reported by the Church writers, who are listed in Section V, ranging in date from the first century to the seventeenth ; finally, various illustrative matter found mainly in the notes, drawn from the Old Testament Pseud- epigrapha, from the Lives of the Saints, from Rabbinical, Mohammedan, and other Oriental sources, from folk-lore, various mythologies, and other quarters that it would be tedious to specify.