The Lost Gospel Of Peter
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, ...."]
���� ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑
���� 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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