THE LOST GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PETER
��� [In the valley of the Upper Nile, on the right bank of the river, is the mysterious town of Akhmim.
��� It was called Panopolis in ancient times when it was the capital af the district. The remnants of monasteries and the ruins
��� of temples mark the intellectual life of a former day.
��� In 1816, the French Achseological Mission excavating in the grave of a monk, came upon a parchment codex. Six years
��� later a translation of this was published in the Memoirs of the French Archaological Mission at Cairo. Scholars realized
��� for the first time that a striking discovery, possibly of overwhelming importance, had been made. A portion of The
��� Gospel According to Peter appeared to have been restored to the Christian Community after having been lost for ages.
��� But until now, this
��� document has never been made available to the general public.
��� Centuries rolled over that remote tomb at Akhmim, while nations rose and fell, wars blasted civilization, science
��� metamorphosed the world, Shakespeares and Miltons wrote their names and passed on, the American nation was born
��� and grew up
��� ‑all the while the ink on the parchment in that Egyptian tomb was scarcely changing ‑ and the beautiful words of this
��� Scripture were preserving for us this version of the most tragic and momentous event in history. That briefly is the
��� romance of The Lost Gospel According to Peter.
��� Such a gospel was referred to by Serapion, Bishop of Antioch, In 190 A.u.; Origen, historian, in 253 A.D.; Eusebius,
��� Bishop of Caesarea in 300 A.D.; Theodoret in 455 in his Religious History said that the Nazarenes used The Gospel
��� According to Peter; and Justin Martyr includes the Memoirs of Peter in his "Apostolic Memoirs." Thus scholars have
��� always recognized that such a document existed long ago, although its whereabouts and fate were a mystery until the
��� discovery at Akhmim.
��� While in general the story of the trial and crucifixion that is revealed here follows that of the canonical gospels, in detail it
��� is very different. This account is freer from constraint; and with the events between the burial and resurrection of our
��� Lord, it is much more ample and detailed than anything in the canonical tradition.
��� There are indeed twenty‑nine variations of fact between this Lost Gospel According to Peter and the four canonical
��� gospels. Some of the most important that the reader will note are as follows:
��� 1. Herod was the one who gave the order for the execution.
��� 2. Joseph was a friend of Pilate.
��� 3. In the darkness many went about with lamps and fell down. (That is a startling glimpse of the confusion that seized the
��� people.)
��� 4. Our Lord's cry of "My power, my power."
��� 5. The account of how the disciples had to hide because they were searched for as malefactors anxious to burn the
��� temple.
��� 6. The name of the centurion who kept watch at the tomb was Petronius.
��� It is also interesting to note the prominence assigned to Mary Magdalene; and how this account tends to lay more
��� responsibility on Herod and the people, while relieving Pilate somewhat of his share in the action that was taken. Also,
��� the Resurrection and Ascension are here recorded not as separate events but as occurring on the same day.
��� There will be a great divergence of opinion as to the place of this document and its relation to the canonical scriptures. Its
��� existence is here proclaimed, and beyond that every reader may form his own estimate of its valne. The Rev. D. H.
��� Stanton, D.D., in the Journal of Theological Studies, commenting on Justin Martyr's ancient testimony, and this present
��� document says: "The conclusion with which we are confronted is that The Gospel of Peter once held a place of honor,
��� comparable to that assigned to the Four Gospels, perhaps even higher than some of them, ...."]
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��� BUT of the Jews none washed his hands, neither Herod nor any one of his judges. And when they had refused to wash
��� them, Pilate rose up. And then Herod the king commandeth that the Lord be taken saying to them, What things soever I
��� commanded you to do unto him, do.
��� 2 And there was standing there Joseph the friend of Pilate and of the Lord; and, knowing that they were
��� about to crucify him, he came to Pilate and asked the body of the Lord for burial. And Pilate sent to Herod
��� and asked his body. And Herod said, Brother Pilate, even if no one has asked for him, we purposed to bury him,
��� especially as the sabbath draweth on: for it is written in the law, that the sun set not upon one that hath been put to death.
��� 3 And he delivered him to the people on the day before the unleavened bread, their feast.
��� And they took the Lord and pushed him as they ran, and said, Let us drag away the Son of God,
��� having obtained power over him. And they clothed him with purple, and set him on the seat of judgment,
��� saying, Judge righteously, 0 king of Israel. And one of them brought a crown of thorns and put it on the head of the
��� Lord. And others stood and spat in his eyes, and others smote his cheeks: others pricked him with a reed; and some
��� scourged him, saying, With this honor let us honor the Son of God.
��� 4 And they brought two malefactors, and they crucified the Lord between them.
��� But he held his peace, as though having no pain. And when they had raised the cross,
��� they wrote the title: This is the king of Israel .
��� And having set his garments before him they parted them among them, and cast lots for them.
��� And one of those malefactors reproached them, saying, We for the evils that we have done have suffered thus,
��� but this man, who hath become the Saviour of men, what wrong hath he done to you?
��� And they, being angered at him, commanded that his legs should not be broken,
��� that he might die in torment.
��� 5 And it was noon, and darkness came over all Judaea:
��� and they were troubled and distressed, lest the sun had set, whilst he was yet alive:
��� [for] it is written for them, that the sun set not on him that hath been put to death.
��� And one of them said, Give him to drink gall with vinegar. And they mixed and gave him to drink, and fulfilled all things,
��� and accomplished their sins against their own head.
��� And many went about with lamps, supposing that it was night, and fell down.
��� And the Lord cried out, saying,
��� My power, my power, thou hast forsaken me.
��� And when he had said it he was taken up.
��� And in that hour the vail of the temple of Jerusalem was rent in twain.
��� 6 And then they drew out the nails from the hands of the Lord, and laid him upon the earth, and the whole earth quaked,
��� and great fear arose.
��� Then the sun shone, and it was found the ninth hour:
��� and the Jews rejoiced, and gave his body to Joseph that he might bury it,
��� since he had seen what good things he had done.
��� And he took the Lord, and washed him, and rolled him in a linen cloth, and brought him to his own tomb,
��� which was called the Garden of Joseph.
��� 7 Then the Jews and the elders and the priests, perceiving what evil they had done to themselves, began to lament and to
��� say, Woe for our sins:
��� the judgment hath drawn nigh, and the end of Jerusalem.
��� And I with my companions was grieved; and being wounded in mind we hid ourselves:
��� for we were being sought for by them as malefactors, and as wishing to set fire to the temple.
��� And upon all these things we fasted and sat mourning and weeping night and day until the sabbath.
��� 8 But the scribes and Pharisees and elders being gathered together one with another, when they heard that all the people
��� murmured and beat their breasts saying, If by his death these most mighty signs have come to pass,
��� see how righteous he is, ‑the elders were afraid and came to Pilate beseeching him and saying,
��� Give us soldiers, that we may guard his sepulchre for three days, lest his disciples come and steal him away,
��� and the people suppose that he is risen from the dead and do us evil.
��� And Pilate gave them Petronius the centurion with soldiers to guard the tomb.
��� And with them came elders and scribes to the sepulchre, and having rolled a great stone together with the centurion and
��� the soldiers, they all together who were there set it at the door of the sepulchre;
��� and they affixed seven seals, and they pitched a tent there and guarded it.
��� And early in the morning as the sabbath was drawing on, there came a multitude from Jerusalem and the region round
�� �about, that they might see the sepulchre that was sealed.
��� 9 And in the night in which the Lord's day was drawing on, as the soldiers kept guard two by two in a watch, there was
��� a great voice in the heaven; and they saw the heavens opened, and two men descend from thence with great light and
��� approach the tomb.
��� And that stone which was put at the door rolled of itself and made way in part;
��� and the tomb was opened, and both the young men entered in.
��� 10 When therefore those soldiers saw it, they awakened the centurion and the elders;
��� for they too were hard by keeping guard.
��� And as they declared what things they had seen, again they see three men come forth from the tomb, and two of them
��� supporting one, and a cross following them:
��� and of the two the head reached unto the heaven, but the head of him who was lead by them overpassed the heavens.
��� And they heard a voice from the heavens, saying, Thou hast preached to them that sleep.
��� And a response was heard from the cross, Yea.
��� 11 They therefore considered one with another whether to go away and shew these things to Pilate.
��� And while they yet thought thereon, the heavens again are seen to open, and a certain man to descend and enter into the
��� sepulchre.
��� When the centurion and they that were with him saw these things, they hastened in the night to Pilate, leaving the tomb
��� which they were watching, and declared all things which they had seen, being greatly distressed and saying, Truly he was
��� the Son of God. Pilate answered and said, I am pure from the blood of the Son of God:
��� but it was ye who determined this. Then they all drew near and besought him and entreated him to command the
��� centurion and the soldiers to say nothing of the things which they had seen:
��� For it is better, say they, for us to be guilty of the greatest sin before God,
��� and not to fall into the hands of the people of the Jews and to be stoned.
��� Pilate therefore commanded the centurion and the soldiers to say nothing.
��� 12 And at dawn upon the Lord's day Mary Magdalene, a disciple of the Lord, fearing because of the Jews, since they
��� were burning with wrath, had not done at the Lord's sepulchre the things which women are wont to do for those that die
��� and for those that are beloved by them ‑‑ she took her friends with her and came to the sepulchre where he was laid.
��� And they feared lest the Jews should see them, and they said,
��� Although on that day on which he was crucified we could not weep and lament, yet now let us do these things at his
��� sepulchre.
��� But who shall roll away for us the stone that was laid at the door of the sepulchre,
��� that we may enter in and sit by him and do the things that are due?
��� For the stone was great, and we fear lest some one see us.
��� And if we cannot, yet if we but set at the door the things which we bring as a memorial of him, we will weep and lament,
��� until we come unto our home.
���� 13 And, they went and found the tomb opened, and coming near they looked in there;
��� and they see there a certain young man sitting in the midst of the tomb, beautiful and clothed in a robe exceeding bright;
��� who said to them, Wherefore are ye come? Whom seek ye? Him that was crucified?
��� He is risen and gone. But if ye believe not, look in and see the place where he lay, that he is not [here] ;
��� for he is risen and gone thither, whence he was sent. Then the women feared and fled.
��� 14 Now it was the last day of the unleavened bread, and many were going forth, returning to their homes, as the feast
��� was ended.
��� But we, the twelve disciples of the Lord, wept and were grieved:
��� and each one, being grieved for that which was come to pass, departed to his home.
��� But I Simon Peter and Andrew my brother took our nets and went to the sea;
��� and there was with us Levi the son of Alphaeus, whom the Lord . . . . . . . ...
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