Recent scholarship has become increasingly aware of the significance of
the apocryphal gospels for the transmission and interpretation of the
Jesus tradition in the first three or four centuries. Against this
background the 60th Colloquium Biblicum Lovaniense was devoted to these
texts and their role and status in the formation of the New Testament
Canon. The present volume contains the proceedings of the conference.
Some of its contributions deal with well-known apocryphal gospels as,
e.g., the Gospels of Thomas, Mary, Peter or Judas. Other essays treat
thematic aspects, such as the influence of Platonic tradition, the way
Jesus is presented in these gospels, or his dialogues with his (male and
female) disciples. Important facets of the present volume are also early
traditions about Jesus, e.g., in the so-called Infancy Gospels or in
texts on the Mary. The volume thus gives an extensive overview of
important areas of current research on the apocryphal gospels within
early Christian theology.