Gospel of Peter

A Greek fragment was found in 1886 in a monk's grave at Akhmim, Egypt. The text begins and ends mid-sentence. Composition is estimated to the middle of the 2nd century AD, though some argue for older material underneath.

Rejected as early as the 2nd century. Bishop Serapion of Antioch first allowed it to be read in the community at Rhossos, then read it himself and reversed his decision, judging that it favoured those who denied Christ truly suffered. It is one of the few cases where we know who decided and why.

• Herod, not Pilate, gives the order for execution — an inversion no canonical gospel makes.
• On the cross Jesus says "my power, my power, you have left me", and the text says he "was taken up" rather than that he died.
• The resurrection is narrated in the open, with soldiers and elders watching: two men descend, the stone rolls by itself, three come out, and the heads of the first two reach heaven.
• The walking cross that speaks is the strangest image in all early Christian literature.

Why was the Gospel of Peter rejected?

On suspicion of docetism — the idea that Christ only appeared to have a body and did not really suffer. Serapion of Antioch banned its reading after examining it, in the late 2nd century.

Is the Gospel of Peter complete?

No. What exists is a fragment found at Akhmim covering the trial, crucifixion and resurrection. It begins and ends in the middle of a sentence.