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FORBIDDEN GOSPELS AND EPISTLES - COMPLETE

ARCHBISHOP WAKE

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

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versions as the historical references attached to them in the following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.

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 bringing 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.

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.

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
...

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