There’s a whole rogue’s gallery of "unapproved" gospels—texts that were either too weird, too radical, or just too inconvenient for the emerging Church. Many of them were banned, burned, or quietly ignored, but some survived. Here’s a breakdown of some of the most infamous ones:
1. Gospel of Judas (aka "Jesus’ Worst Friend Gets a Rebrand")
Why it was unapproved:
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It paints Judas as a hero, not a villain.
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Jesus asks Judas to betray him so he can be freed from his material body.
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Says the other disciples were clueless about Jesus’ true teachings.
Why it’s interesting:
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It flips the betrayal narrative on its head—Judas isn’t evil, just misunderstood.
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Reflects Gnostic ideas—Jesus needs to escape his body, not resurrect in it.
➡ Status: Found in 2006 in a tattered codex. The early Church would have set this thing on fire if they got their hands on it.
2. Infancy Gospel of Thomas (aka "Jesus, the Terrifying Toddler")
Why it was unapproved:
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It portrays young Jesus as an unhinged supernatural menace.
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Child Jesus kills another kid for bumping into him.
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He later resurrects the same kid, but only because the townspeople freak out.
Why it’s interesting:
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Early Christians really struggled with the idea of Jesus as a kid—so this gospel fills in the blanks.
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Shows how the divine and human sides of Jesus clashed in some people’s minds.
➡ Status: Too bonkers for canon, but popular in the early Church.
3. Gospel of Peter (aka "The One with a Giant Jesus and a Talking Cross")
Why it was unapproved:
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The Resurrection scene is cinematic insanity—Jesus emerges from the tomb 50 feet tall, followed by a floating, talking cross.
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Jesus doesn’t suffer on the cross—he’s above it all, almost literally.
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Blames "the Jews" for the crucifixion, which later Christians found problematic.
Why it’s interesting:
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It suggests that Jesus’ body was divine even before the resurrection, unlike the Gospels that emphasise his suffering.
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The talking cross bit is next-level surrealism.
➡ Status: Censored and buried, then rediscovered in the 19th century.
4. The Gospel of the Egyptians (aka "Celibacy or Bust")
Why it was unapproved:
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Hyper-asceticism—it claims the true followers of Jesus must reject marriage, sex, and all physical desires.
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Suggests that salvation is only for those who completely abandon the material world.
Why it’s interesting:
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Gives insight into early Christian debates on sex and purity—some thought no one should marry after Jesus.
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Would have made Paul look like a hedonist in comparison.
➡ Status: The Church went with "be fruitful and multiply" instead.
5. The Gospel of the Hebrews (aka "The One That Almost Made It")
Why it was unapproved:
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One of the few Jewish-Christian gospels, but it didn’t fit with the Church’s evolving theology.
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Features Jesus calling the Holy Spirit his Mother—too weird for later Trinitarian doctrine.
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Has different post-resurrection appearances than the canonical gospels.
Why it’s interesting:
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It represents early Jewish-Christian followers who were squeezed out as Gentile Christianity took over.
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Some Church Fathers quoted from it positively, so it nearly avoided being labelled heresy.
➡ Status: Lost, except for fragments.
6. The Secret Gospel of Mark (aka "The One That Might Be a Hoax")
Why it was unapproved:
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It contains a mystical, intimate encounter between Jesus and a young man—some interpret it as homoerotic, others as a secret initiation ritual.
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It was supposedly discovered in the 20th century, but some scholars think it’s a modern forgery.
Why it’s interesting:
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Raises huge questions about whether there were secret teachings of Jesus kept from the masses.
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If real, it suggests that Mark’s Gospel originally had extra material that was later removed.
➡ Status: Either heresy or hoax, depending on whom you ask.
7. The Gospel of Philip (aka "Jesus and Mary Magdalene: More Than Just Friends?")
Why it was unapproved:
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Suggests Jesus and Mary Magdalene were unusually close, with the famous line that he "kissed her often on the mouth."
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Goes full Gnostic—salvation is through knowledge, not faith in Jesus’ death.
Why it’s interesting:
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This is where some "Jesus was married" theories come from.
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Adds to the mystery of Mary Magdalene’s role in early Christianity.
➡ Status: Church: "Too spicy for canon."
Final Thoughts
These gospels show just how diverse early Christianity was before the Church standardised the narrative. If history had played out differently, the Bible could have included:
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A child Jesus with murder powers
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A Jesus who laughs at his crucifixion
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A Jesus with a giant talking cross
Instead, we got the four we know today—probably the safest and most theologically useful choices.
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