Alternative Lives of Jesus: Noncanonical Accounts Through the Early Middle Ages

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There is a body of religious literature, most of which was written centuries after the New Testament, that attempts to provide supplemental or alternative accounts of the life of Jesus Christ. The most exhaustive alternatives to the New Testament come from orthodox circles, and are often
imaginings
that try to fill holes in the canonical gospel accounts of Jesus’ life. This work investigates the origins and nature of noncanonical accounts, both orthodox and heretical, and analyzes representative samples. For the infancy and childhood of Jesus, the author uses as a framework five major narratives that have survived: Infancy Gospel of James, Infancy Gospel of Thomas, History of Joseph the Carpenter, Pseudo-Matthew, and the Arabic Infancy Gospel. For the years of Jesus’ ministry, there is less material that significantly deviates from or supplements the canonical material surviving. In regard to the arrest, trial, and resurrection of Jesus, only a few writings survive.