There are also doubts about the gospel of St Thomas. On the whole, people are ignorant about the apocryphal gospels. Are there gospels apart from our four gospels? We have never heard of them. Are they available? Such are the relevant questions they ask.

Besides the four recognised gospels of the Christian Churches, there are no canonically recognised gospels. The gospel of Thomas is considered by the Church as an apocryphal gospel ( that is, a gospel not recognised officially or canonically). There are also other apocryphal gospels apart from that of Thomas. All of these came into existence after the canonical gospels were written.
 
 

There are apocryphal books of both the Old and New Testaments. Those of the Old Testament can be classified as historical narratives, Apocalypses, books of wisdom, and psalms. The apocryphal books of the New Testament are categorised as gospels (infancy gospels, passion gospels), Acts, Epistles and Apocalypses. Apocryphal books cannot be considered as inspired as are the canonical books of the Bible.

The apocryphal books were written in imitation of the canonical books. They pretend to have the authority of the inspired books and to have received complementary revelation. They claim to disclose at last the revelation that lay concealed for long. We can see only very few historical facts in these apocryphal books. They are useful to understand the beliefs and customs of the Jews prevalent during the period of the New Testament. Likewise, they give us an idea about the origin and nature of some heresies that existed in the early Church. Moreover, apocryphal books serve to explain several verses of the Bible.
 
 

1 Narrations

The first book of Esdras (also known as the third book of Esdras); III Maccabees; IV Maccabees ( this is a book of wisdom); book of Jubilees; the books of Adam and Eve; Martyrdom of Isaiah; Letter of Aristeas.

2 Apocalypses

The books of Enoch; the Covenant of the twelve patriarchs; Sybilline oracles; the Assumption of Moses; the Books of Baruch( II Baruch and III Baruch) IV Esdras (also known as II Esdras); Psalms of Solomon (thirteen of them that belong to the category of the Psalms).

Those books which are significant among the New Testament apocryphal books are given below.

1.Gospels

The Gospel of Peter; the Gospel of Nicodemus ( also known as the Acts of Pilate); the Gospel of Barthalomew the Gospel of Thomas; the Gospel of Philip; the Gospel of Mathias; the Gospel of Judas; the book of John the Evangelist ; the Assumption of Mary; the Gospel of James; the History of Joseph the Carpenter; Infancy Gospel in Arabic( the last three gospels are infancy gospels).

3 Acts

The Acts of John; the Acts of Paul; the Acts of Peter; the Acts of Andrew; the Acts of Thomas; the Acts of Philip.

3 Letters

The Letter of Abgar; the Letter to Laodocians; the Letters between Paul and Seneca and the Letters to the Apostles.

4 Apocalypses

The chief ones in this category are the Apocalypses of Peter, Paul and Thomas.

Besides the apocryphal books mentioned above, there are other similar books which are not very important. It was only after the compostion of the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments, that the apocryphal books were written.

These non-canonical books were written in various languages in different places. It is not possible to tell who the authors are. The reason for ascribing the authorship to important personalities and the apostles, is to lend weight and authority to the books.
 
 

Speaking of Thomas’ gospel, this book was discovered in 1945 in Naghamadi in Egypt. It was published in 1958. The influence of the heresy of Gnosticism can be seen in this gospel. This gospel is a compendium of the words(logia) of Jesus. Most of them are based on the canonical gospels. Others could have been written by Gnostics. There are, in all, 114 logia in this gospel. It was written in Greek between AD 200 and AD 300. It is now preserved in its Coptic translation. There are quite a number of exaggerations in this gospel. One of them is the reference to the shepherd leaving the ninety nine sheep in search of the one lost, because it was the largest of the flock! This idea is opposed to the teachings of the Gospels ( Cf Lk 15:3-7).

There is also an infancy gospel in Thomas’ name. There are extraordinary exaggerations mentioned in it. This was also written by heretics. It is not possible to say exactly when it was written. The Greek and Latin versions of this gospel are still extant. Stories that mar the great and sublime personality of Christ are not rare in this gospel.

In the Acts of Thomas there are descriptions of Thomas the Apostle’s activities and martyrdom in the North of India (several motifs of Margamkali are based on this book). This book is influenced by the Manichean heresy. There is a prevalent notion that this book was written by Manicheus as a substitute for the canonical Acts of the Apostles.

Only a few parts of the apocryphal books have been translated into Malayalam. A complete translation has not been attempted so far. On the other hand, there are four huge volumes of the apocryphal books translated and published along with their interpretation in English.