The Lost and Hostile Gospels An Essay On the Toledoth Jeschu, and the Petrine and Pauline Gospels of the First Three Centuries of Which Fragments Remain. By Rev. S. Baring‐Gould, M.A. Author of “The Origin and Development of Religious Belief,” “Legendary Lives of the Old Testament Characters.” Etc. Williams and Norgate London, Edinburgh 1874 CONTENTS Preface. Part I. The Jewish Anti‐Gospels. I. The Silence Of Josephus. II. The Cause Of The Silence Of Josephus. III. The Jew Of Celsus. IV. The Talmud. V. The Counter‐Gospels. VI. The First Toledoth Jeschu. VII. The Second Toledoth Jeschu. Part II. The Lost Petrine Gospels. I. The Gospel Of The Hebrews. 1. The Fragments extant. 2. Doubtful Fragments. 3. The Origin of the Gospel of the Hebrews. II. The Clementine Gospel. III. The Gospel Of St. Peter. IV. The Gospel Of The Egyptians. Part III. The Lost Pauline Gospels. I. The Gospel Of The Lord. II. The Gospel Of Truth. III. The Gospel Of Eve. IV. The Gospel Of Perfection. V. The Gospel Of St. Philip. VI. The Gospel Of Judas. Footnotes [Cover Art] [Transcriber’s Note: The above cover image was produced by the submitter at Distributed Proofreaders, and is being placed into the public domain.] PREFACE. It is advisable, if not necessary, for me, by way of preface, to explain certain topics treated of in this book, which do not come under its title, and which, at first thought, may be taken to have but a remote connection with the ostensible subject of this treatise. These are: 1. The outbreak of Antinomianism which disfigured and distressed primitive Christianity. 2. The opposition of the Nazarene Church to St. Paul. 3. The structure and composition of the Synoptical Gospels. The consideration of these curious and important topics has forced its way into these pages; for the first two throw great light on the history of those Gospels which have disappeared, and which it is not possible to reconstruct without a knowledge of the religious parties to which they belonged. And these parties were determined by the fundamental question of Law or No‐law, as represented by the Petrine and ultra‐Pauline Christians. And the third of these topics necessarily bound up with the consideration of the structure and origin of the Lost Gospels, as the reader will see if he cares to follow me in the critical examination of their extant fragments. Upon each of these points a few preliminary words will not, I hope, come amiss, and may prevent misunderstanding. 1. The history of the Church, as the history of nations, is not to be read with prejudiced eyes, with penknife in hand to erase facts which fight against foregone conclusions.