{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_6507/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_6507","id":"gutenberg_6507","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6507","summary":null,"tags":["Apocryphal books (New Testament)","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"This eBook was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                                  THE\n                              SUPPRESSED\n                          GOSPELS AND EPISTLES\n                            OF THE ORIGINAL\n                             NEW TESTAMENT\n                                   OF\n                            JESUS THE CHRIST\n\n          AND OTHER PORTIONS OF THE ANCIENT HOLY SCRIPTURES.\n                       NOW EXTANT, ATTRIBUTED TO\n                  HIS APOSTLES, AND THEIR DISCIPLES,\n       AND VENERATED BY THE PRIMITIVE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES DURING\n                       THE FIRST FOUR CENTURIES,\n                 BUT SINCE, AFTER VIOLENT DISPUTATIONS\n                            FORBIDDEN BY THE\n                     BISHOPS OF THE NICENE COUNCIL,\n                IN THE REIGN OF THE EMPEROR CONSTANTINE\n             AND OMITTED FROM THE CATHOLICS AND PROTESTANT\n            EDITIONS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, BY ITS COMPILERS\n\n         TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL TONGUES, WITH HISTORICAL\n                   REFERENCES TO THEIR AUTHENTICITY,\n\n                                  BY\n                            ARCHBISHOP WAKE\n                               AND OTHER\n                            LEARNED DIVINES\n\n\n                          THE ORDER OF ALL THE\n                 FORBIDDEN BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT\n            WITH THEIR PROPER NAMES, AND NUMBER OF CHAPTERS\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS:\n\nMary\nProtevangelion\nI. Infancy\nII. Infancy\nNicodemus\nChrist and Abgarus\nLaodiceans\nPaul and Seneca\nActs of Paul and Thecla\nI. Clement\nII. Clement\nBarnabas\nEphesians\nMagnesians\nTrallians\nRomans\nPhiladelphians\nSmyrnaeans\nPolycarp\nPhilippians\nI. Hermas--Visions\nII. Hermas--Commands\nIII. Hermas--Similitudes\n\n\n\n\n\n                                 PREFACE.\n\nTo uphold the \"right of private judgment,\" and our \"Christian liberty\nwherewith Christ hath made us free;\" to add fuel to the fire of\ninvestigation, and in  the crucible of deep inquiry, melt from the gold\nof pure religion, the dross of  man's invention; to appeal from the\nerring tribunals of a fallible Priesthood, and  restore to its original\nstate the mutilated Testament of the Saviour; also to induce all earnest\nthinkers to search not a part, but the whole of the Scriptures, if\ntherein they think they will find eternal life; I, as an advocate of\nfree thought  and untrammelled opinion, dispute the authority of those\nuncharitable, bickering,  and ignorant Ecclesiastics who first suppressed\nthese gospels and epistles; and I join issue with their Catholic and\nProtestant successors who have since excluded  them from the New\nTestament, of which they formed a part; and were venerated  by the\nPrimitive Churches, during the first four hundred years of the Christian\nEra.\n\nMy opposition is based on two grounds; first, the right of every rational\nbeing to become a \"Priest unto himself,\" and by the test of enlightened\nreason,  to form his own unbiassed judgment of all things natural and\nspiritual: second,  that the reputation of the Bishops who extracted\nthese books from the original New Testament, under the pretence of being\nApocryphal, and forbade them to be  read by the people, is proved by\nauthentic impartial history too odious to entitle them to any deference.\nSince the Nicene Council, by a pious fraud, which I  shall further allude\nto, suppressed these books, several of them have been reissued from time\nto time by various translators, who differed considerably in  their\nversions, as the historical references attached to them in the following\npages will demonstrate. But to the late Mr. William Hone we are indebted\nfor their complete publication for the first time in one volume, about\nthe year 1820; which  edition, diligently revised, and purified of many\nerrors both in the text and the  notes attached thereto, I have\nre-published in numbers to enable all classes of the nation to purchase\nand peruse them.    As, however, instead of being called by  their own\ndesignation \"Apocryphal,\" (which yet remains to be proved), they  were\nre-entitled THE FORBIDDEN BOOKS, and, from communications received,\nappear to have agitated a portion of the great mass of ignorant bigotry\nwhich mars the fair form of Religion in these sect-ridden dominions, I\nhave  modified the title to its present shape with the hope that in spite\nof illiberal  clerical influence, my fellow Christians will read and\ninwardly digest the sublime  precepts they inculcate;--as pure, as holy,\nand as charitable as those principles  of Christianity taught in the\nScriptures they; now read by permission;  although their minds may, after\nmature reflection, doubt the truth of the miraculous records therein\ngiven.\n\nTo ensure these Gospels and Epistles an unprejudiced and serious\nattention,  which they are entitled to, equally with those now patronised\nby Church authority, I will briefly refer to that disgraceful epoch in\nRoman Ecclesiastical Annals,  when the New Testament was mutilated, and\npriestly craft was employed for excluding these books from its pages.\nHONE, in the preface to his first edition of the Apocryphal New\nTestament, so called, without satisfactory grounds, by the  Council of\nNice, in the reign of the Emperor Constantine, thus opens the  subject:--\n\n\"After the writings contained in the New Testament were selected from the\nnumerous Gospels and Epistles then in existence, what became of the Books\nthat  were rejected by the compilers?\"\n\nThis question naturally occurs on every investigation as to the period\nwhen and the  persons by whom the New Testament was formed. It has been\nsupposed by many  that the volume was compiled by the first Council of\nNice, which, according to  Jortin (Rem. on Eccl. vol. ii. p. 177),\noriginated thus: Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria, and Arius, who was a\npresbyter in his diocese, disputed together about the nature of Christ;\nand the bishop being displeased at the notions of Arius, and finding\nthat they were adopted by other persons, \"was very angry.\" He commanded\nArius to come over to his sentiments, and to quit his own; as if a man\ncould change  his opinions as easily as he can change his coat! He then\ncalled a Council of  War, consisting of nearly, a hundred bishops, and\ndeposed, excommunicated, and  anathematized Arius, and with him several\necclesiastics, two of whom were  bishops. Constantine sent a letter, in\nwhich he reprimanded the bishops for disturbing the, church with their\ninsignificant disputes.  But the affair was gone too far to be thus\ncomposed. To settle this and other points, the Nicene Council was\nsummoned, consisting of about 318 bishops. The first thing they did was\nto quarrel, and to express their resentments, and to present accusations\nto the Emperor against one another. \"The Emperor burnt all their libels,\nand exhorted them to peace and unity.\"(See Mosheim's Eccle. Hist.) These\nwere the  kind of spiritual shepherds of whom Sabinus, the Bishop\nHeraclea affirms, that  excepting Constantine himself, and Eusebius\nPamphilus, they \"were a set of illiterate creatures, that understood\nnothing.\" And now intelligent Catholics, especially Protestants who are\ncontent to read only the books of the Testament authorized by the Council\nof Nice, and agreed to ever since by your own bishops,  although they and\nyou profess to dissent from the Papacy, hear what Pappus in his Synodican\nto that Council says of their crafty contrivance when they separated the\nbooks of the original New Testament:--He tells us, that having\n\"promiscuously put all the books that were referred to the Council for\ndeliberation under the  communion-table in a church, they besought the\nLord that the inspired writings might get on the table, while the\nspurious ones remained underneath; and that it happened accordingly!\"\n(See Com. Mace's N. T. p. 875.) Therefore, good reader, every  Christian\nsect from the fourth century to the present period, have been blessed\nwith the books that climbed upon the communion-table, and in consequence\nwere  deemed inspired and canonical; at the same time have been forbidden\nto read the  Gospels and Epistles herein published, because they could\nnot perform the same feat, but remained under the table, and were\ncondemned accordingly, as uninspired and apocryphal writings. If you\nbelieve this popish legend, you will not read the good books I lay before\nyou, but still continue to possess only HALF THE TESTAMENT, instead of\nthe  PERFECT ONE, which will enable you to burst the trammels of\npriestcraft, and by  the light of God's whole truth become free. In\nconclusion, I implore you to examine for yourselves, and observe the\ntestimony of Archbishop Wake and other learned divines and historians\nappended  thereto; and subscribe myself,\n\n                              Your well-wisher,\n                                                  EDWARD HANCOCK.\n\n\n\n\n                            FORBIDDEN BOOKS\n                                 OF THE\n                             NEW TESTAMENT.\n\n                     THE GOSPEL OF THE BIRTH OF MARY.\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n     1 The Parentage of Mary.\n     7 Joachim her father, and Anna her mother,\n     go to Jerusalem to the feast of the dedication.\n     9 Issachar, the high priest, reproaches Joachim\n     for being childless.\n\nTHE blessed and ever glorious\nVirgin Mary, sprung from\nthe royal race and family of David,\nwas born in the city of Nazareth,\nand educated at Jerusalem, in the\ntemple of the Lord.\n\n2  Her father's name was Joachim,\nand her mother's Anna.\nThe family of her father was of\nGalilee and the city of Nazareth.\nThe family of her mother was of\nBethlehem.\n\n3  Their lives were plain and\nright in the sight of the Lord,\npious and faultless before men;\nfor they divided all their substance\ninto three parts;\n\n4  One of which they devoted to\nthe temple and officers of the\ntemple; another they distributed\namong strangers, and persons in\npoor circumstances; and the third\nthey reserved for themselves and\nthe uses of their own family.\n\n5  In this manner they lived for\nabout twenty years chastely, in the\nfavour of God, and the esteem of\nmen, without any children.\n\n6  But they vowed, if God should\nfavour them with any issue, they\nwould devote it to the service of\nthe Lord; on which account they\nwent at every feast in the year to\nthe temple of the Lord.\n\n7  And it came to pass, that\nwhen the feast of the dedication\ndrew near, Joachim, with some\nothers of his tribe, went up to\nJerusalem, and at that time,\nIsachar was high-priest;\n\n8  Who, when he saw Joachim\nalong with the rest of his\nneighbours, bringrng his offerings,\ndespised both him and his offerings,\nand asked him,\n\n9  Why he, who had no children,\nwould presume to appear among\nthose who had? Adding, that his\nofferings could never be acceptable\nto God, who was judged by him\nunworthy to have children; the\nScripture having said, Cursed is\nevery one who shall not beget a\nmale in Israel.\n\n10  He further said, that he ought\nfirst to be free from that curse by\nbegetting some issue, and then\ncome with his offerings into the\npresence of God.\n\n11  But Joachim being much\nconfounded with the shame of such\nreproach, retired to the shepherds\nwho were with the cattle in their\npastures;\n\n12  For he was not inclined to\nreturn home, lest his neighbours,\nwho were present and heard all\nthis from the high-priest, should\npublicly reproach him in the same\nmanner.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n     1 An angel appears to Joachim,\n     9 and informs him that Anna shall conceive and\n     bring forth a daughter, who shall be called Mary,\n     11 be brought up in the temple,\n     12 and while yet a virgin, in a way unparalleled,\n     bring forth the Son of God:\n     13 Gives him a sign,\n     14 and departs.\n\nBUT when he had been there for\nsome time, on a certain day\nwhen he was alone, the angel\nof the Lord stood by him with\na prodigious light.\n\n2  To whom, being troubled at\nthe appearance, the angel who had\nappeared to him, endeavouring to\ncompose him, said:\n\n3  Be not afraid, Joachim, nor\ntroubled at the sight of me, for\nI am an angel of the Lord sent by\nhim to you, that I might inform\nyou that your prayers are heard,\nand your alms ascended in the\nsight of God.\n\n4  For he hath surely seen your\nshame, and heard you unjustly\nreproached for not having children:\nfor God is the avenger of sin,\nand not of nature;\n\n5  And so when he shuts the\nwomb of any person, he does it for\nthis reason, that he may in a more\nwonderful manner again open it,\nand that which is born appear to\nbe not the product of lust, but the\ngift of God.\n\n6  For the first mother of your\nnation, Sarah, was she not barren\neven till her eightieth year: and\nyet even in the end of her old age\nbrought forth Isaac, in whom the\npromise was made of a blessing to\nall nations.\n\n7  Rachel, also, so much in\nfavour with God, and beloved so\nmuch by holy Jacob, continued\nbarren for a long time, yet\nafterwards was the mother of Joseph,\nwho was not only governor of\nEgypt, but delivered many nations\nfrom perishing with hunger.\n\n8  Who among the judges was\nmore valiant than Sampson, or more\nholy than Samuel? And yet both\ntheir mothers were barren.\n\n9  But if reason will not convince\nyou of the truth of my words, that\nthere are frequent conceptions in\nadvanced years, and that those\nwho were barren have brought forth\nto their great surprise; therefore\nAnna your wife shall bring you a\ndaughter, and you shall call her\nname Mary;\n\n10  She shall, according to your\nvow, be devoted to the Lord from\nher infancy, and be filled with the\nHoly Ghost from her mother's\nwomb;\n\n11  She shall neither eat nor\ndrink any thing which is unclean,\nnor shall her conversation be\nwithout among the common people,\nbut in the temple of the Lord;\nthat so she may not fall under any\nslander or suspicion of what is bad.\n\n12  So in the process of her\nyears, as she shall be in a\nmiraculous manner born of one that\nwas barren, so she shall, while yet\na virgin, in a way unparalleled,\nbring forth the Son of the most\nHigh God, who shall, be called\nJesus, and, according to the\nsignification of his name, be the\nSaviour of all nations.\n\n13  And this shall be a sign to\nyou of the things which I declare,\nnamely, when you come to the\ngolden gate of Jerusalem, you\nshall there meet your wife Anna,\nwho being very much troubled\nthat you returned no sooner, shall\nthen rejoice to see you.\n\n14  When the angel had said this,\nhe departed from him.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n     1 The angel appears to Anna;\n     2 tells her a daughter shall be born unto her,\n     3 devoted to the service of the Lord in the temple,\n     5, who, being a virgin, and not knowing man,\n     shall bring forth the Lord,\n     6 and gives her a sign therefore.\n     8 Joachim and Anna meet, and rejoice,\n     10 and praise the Lord.\n     11 Anna conceives, and brings forth a daughter called Mary.\n\nAFTERWARDS the angel appeared\nto Anna his wife, saying;\nFear not, neither think that\nwhich you see is a spirit;\n\n2  For I am that angel who hath\noffered up your prayers and alms\nbefore God, and am now sent to\nyou, that I may inform you, that\na daughter will be born unto you,\nwho shall be called Mary, and\nshall be blessed above all women.\n\n3  She shall be, immediately\nupon her birth, full of the grace of\nthe Lord, and shall continue during\nthe three years of her weaning\nin her father's house, and afterwards,\nbeing devoted to the service of the Lord,\nshall not depart from the temple,\ntill she arrive to years of discretion.\n\n4  In a word, she shall there\nserve the Lord night and day in\nfasting and prayer, shall abstain\nfrom every unclean thing, and\nnever know any man;\n\n5  But, being an unparalleled instance\nwithout any pollution or defilement,\nand a virgin not knowing any man,\nshall ring forth a son, and a maid\nshall bring forth the Lord, who\nboth by his grace and name and works,\nshall be the Saviour of the world.\n\n6  Arise therefore, and go up to\nJerusalem, and when you shall\ncome to that which is called the\ngolden gate (because it is gilt with\ngold), as a sign of what I have told\nyou, you shall meet your husband,\nfor whose safety you have been so\nmuch concerned.\n\n7  When therefore you find these\nthings thus accomplished, believe\nthat all the rest which I have told\nyou, shall also undoubtedly be\naccomplished.\n\n8  According therefore to the\ncommand of the angel, both of\nthem left the places where they\nwere, and when they came to the\nplace specified in the angels\nprediction, they met each other.\n\n9  Then, rejoicing at each other's\nvision, and being fully satisfied in\nthe promise of a child, they gave\ndue thanks to the Lord, who exalts\nthe humble.\n\n10  After having praised the\nLord, they returned home, and\nlived in a cheerful and assured\nexpectation of the promise of God.\n\n11  So Anna conceived, and\nbrought forth a daughter, and,\naccording to the angel's command,\nthe parents did call her name Mary.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n     1 Mary brought to the temple at three years old.\n     6 Ascends the stairs of the temple by miracle.\n     8 Her parents sacrifice and return home.\n\nAND when three years were\nexpired, and the time of her\nweaning complete, they brought\nthe Virgin to the temple of the\nLord with offerings.\n\n2  And there were about the\ntemple, according to the fifteen\nPsalms of degrees, fifteen stairs\nto ascend.\n\n3  For the temple being built in\na mountain, the altar of burnt-\noffering, which was without, could\nnot be come near but by stairs;\n\n4  The parents of the blessed\nVirgin and infant Mary put her\nupon one of these stairs;\n\n5  But while they were putting\noff their clothes, in which they had\ntravelled, and according to custom\nputting on some that were more\nneat and clean,\n\n6  In the mean time the Virgin\nof the Lord in such a manner went\nup all the stairs one after another,\nwithout the help of any to lead her\nor lift her, that any one would have\njudged from hence, that she was of\nperfect age.\n\n7  Thus the Lord did, in the\ninfancy of his Virgin, work this\nextraordinary work, and evidence by\nthis miracle how great she was like\nto be hereafter.\n\n8  But the parents having offered\nup their sacrifice, according to the\ncustom of the law, and perfected\ntheir vow, left the Virgin with\nother virgins in the apartments of\nthe temple, who were to be brought\nup there, and they returned home.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n     2 Mary ministered unto by angels.\n     4 The high priest orders all virgins of fourteen\n     years old to quit the temple and endeavour to be married.\n     5 Mary refuses,\n     6 having vowed her virginity to the Lord.\n     7 The high-priest commands a meeting of the chief persons\n     of Jerusalem,\n     11 who seek the Lord for counsel in the matter.\n     13 A voice from the mercy-seat.\n     15 The high-priest obeys it by ordering all the unmarried\n     men of the house of David to bring their rods to the altar,\n     17 that his rod which should flower, and on which the\n     Spirit of God should sit, should betroth the Virgin.\n\nBUT the Virgin of the Lord, as\nshe advanced in years, increased\nalso in perfeetions, and according\nto the saying of the Psalmist,\nher father and mother forsook her,\nbut the Lord took care of her.\n\n2  For she every day had the\nconversation of angels, and every\nday received visitors from God,\nwhich preserved her from all sorts\nof evil, and caused her to abound\nwith all good things;\n\n3  So that when at length she\narrived to her fourteenth year, as\nthe wicked could not lay any thing\nto her charge worthy of reproof,\nso all good persons, who were\nacquainted with her, admired her\nlife and conversation.\n\n4  At that time the high-priest\nmade a public order, That all the\nvirgins who had public settlements\nin the temple, and were come to\nthis age, should return home, and,\nas they were now of a proper\nmaturity, should, according to the\ncustom of their country, endeavour\nto be married.\n\n5  To which command, though\nall the other virgins readily yielded\nobedience, Mary the Virgin of the\nLord alone answered, that she\ncould not comply with it,\n\n6  Assigning these reasons, that\nboth she and her parents had\ndevoted her to the service of the\nLord; and besides, that she had\nvowed virginity to the Lord,\nwhich vow she was resolved never\nto break through by lying with a\nman.\n\n7  The high-priest being hereby\nbrought into a difficulty,\n\n8  Seeing he durst neither on the\none hand dissolve the vow, and\ndisobey the Scripture, which says,\nVow and pay,\n\n9  Nor on the other hand\nintroduce a custom, to which\nthe people were strangers, commanded,\n\n10  That at the approaching feast\nall the principal persons both of\nJerusalem and the neighbouring\nplaces should meet together, that\nhe might have their advice, how\nhe had best proceed in so difficult\na case.\n\n11  When they were accordingly\nmet, they unanimously agreed to\nseek the Lord, and ask counsel\nfrom him on this matter.\n\n12  And when they were all\nengaged in prayer, the high-priest\naccording to the usual way, went\nto consult God.\n\n13  And immediately there was\na voice from the ark, and the mercy\nseat, which all present heard, that\nit must be enquired or sought out\nby a prophecy of Isaiah, to whom\nthe Virgin should be given and be\nbetrothed;\n\n14  For Isaiah saith, there shall\ncome forth a rod out of the stem of\nJesse, and a flower shall spring\nout of its root,\n\n15  And the Spirit of the Lord\nshall rest upon him, the Spirit of\nWisdom and Understanding, the\nSpirit of Counsel and Might, the\nSpirit of Knowledge and Piety,\nand the Spirit of the fear of the\nLord shall fill him.\n\n16  Then, according to this\nprophecy, he appointed, that all\nthe men of the house and family\nof David, who were marriageable,\nand not married, should bring their\nseveral rods to the altar,\n\n17  And out of whatsoever\nperson's rod after it was brought,\na flower should bud forth, and on\nthe top of it the Spirit of the Lord\nshould sit in the appearance of a\ndove, he should be the man to\nwhom the Virgin should be given\nand be betrothed.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n     1 Joseph draws back his rod.\n     5 The dove pitches on it. He betroths Mary and\n     returns to Bethlehem.\n     7 Mary returns to her parents' house at Galilee.\n\nAMONG the rest there was a\nman named Joseph of the\nhouse and family of David, and a\nperson very far advanced in years,\nwho kept back his rod, when every\none besides presented his.\n\n2  So that when nothing appeared\nagreeable to the heavenly voice,\nthe high-priest judged it proper to\nconsult God again.\n\n3  Who answered that he to\nwhom the Virgin was to be\nbetrothed was the only person of\nthose who were brought together,\nwho had not brought his rod.\n\n4  Joseph therefore was betrayed.\n\n5  For, when he did bring his\nrod, and a dove coming from\nHeaven pitched upon the top of\nit, every one plainly saw, that the\nVirgin was to be betrothed to him.\n\n6  Accordingly, the usual\nceremonies of betrothing being over,\nhe returned to his own city of\nBethlehem, to set his house in\norder, and make the needful\nprovisions for the marriage.\n\n7  But the Virgin of the Lord,\nMary, with seven other virgins of\nthe same age, who had been weaned\nat the same time, and who had\nbeen appointed to attend her by\nthe priest, returned to her parents'\nhouse in Galilee.\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\n     7 The salutation of the Virgin by Gabriel, who explains to her\n     that she shall conceive, without lying with a man, while a Virgin,\n     19 by the Holy Ghost coming upon her without the heats of lust.\n     21 She submits.\n\nNOW at this time of her first\ncoming into Galilee, the\nangel Gabriel was sent to her\nfrom God, to declare to her the\nconception of our Saviour, and\nthe manner and way of her\nconceiving him.\n\n2  Accordingly going into her,\nhe filled the chamber where she\nwas with a prodigious light, and\nin a most courteous manner saluting\nher, he said,\n\n3  Hail, Mary! Virgin of the\nLord most acceptable!    O Virgin\nfull of grace! The Lord is with\nyou. You are blessed above all\nwomen, and you are blessed above\nall men, that have been hitherto\nborn.\n\n4  But the Virgin, who had\nbefore been well acquainted with\nthe countenances of angels, and\nto whom such light from heaven\nwas no uncommon thing,\n\n5  Was neither terrified with the\nvision of the angel, nor astonished\nat the greatness of the light, but\nonly troubled about the angel's\nwords,\n\n6  And began to consider what\nso extraordinary a salutation should\nmean, what it did portend, or what\nsort of end it would have.\n\n7  To this thought the angel,\ndivinely inspired, replies;\n\n8  Fear not, Mary, as though\nI intended anything inconsistent\nwith your chastity in this salutation:\n\n9  For you have found favour\nwith the Lord, because you made\nvirginity your choice.\n\n10  Therefore while you are a\nVirgin, you shall conceive without\nsin, and bring forth a son.\n\n11  He shall be great, because\nhe shall reign from sea to sea, and\nfrom the rivers even to the ends of\nthe earth?\n\n12  And he shall be called the\nSon of the Highest; for he who is\nborn in a mean state on earth,\nreigns in an exalted one in heaven.\n\n13  And the Lord shall give him\nthe throne of his father David, and\nhe shall reign over the house of\nJacob for ever, and of his kingdom\nthere shall be no end.\n\n14  For he is the King of Kings,\nand Lord of Lords, and his throne\nis forever and ever.\n\n15  To this discourse of the\nangel the Virgin replied, not, as\nthough she were unbelieving, but\nwilling to know the manner of it.\n\n16  She said, How can that be?\nFor seeing, according to my vow,\nI have never known any man, how\ncan I bear a child without the\naddition of a man's seed.\n\n17  To this the angel replied\nand said, Think not, Mary, that\nyou shall conceive in the ordinary\nway.\n\n18  For, without lying with a\nman, while a Virgin, you shall\nconceive; while a Virgin, you\nshall bring forth; and while a\nVirgin shall give suck.\n\n19  For the Holy Ghost shall\ncome upon you, and the power of\nthe Most High shall overshadow\nyou, without any of the heats of\nlust.\n\n20  So that which shall be born\nof you shall be only holy, because\nit only is conceived without sin,\nand being born, shall be called the\nSon of God.\n\n21  Then Mary stretching forth\nher hands, and lifting her eyes to\nheaven, said, Behold the handmaid\nof the Lord! Let it be unto me\naccording to thy word.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\n     1 Joseph returns to Galilee, to marry the Virgin\n     he had betrothed;\n     4 perceives she is with child,\n     5 is uneasy,\n     7 purposes to put her away privily,\n     8 is told by the angel of the Lord it is not the\n     work of man but the Holy Ghost;\n     12 Marries her, but keeps chaste,\n     13 removes with her to Bethlehem,\n     15 where she brings forth Christ.\n\nJOSEPH therefore went from\nJudaea to Galilee, with intention\nto marry the Virgin who was\nbetrothed to him:\n\n2  For it was now near three\nmonths since she was betrothed\nto him.\n\n3  At length it plainly appeared\nshe was with chid, and it could\nnot be hid from Joseph:\n\n4  For going to the Virgin in a\nfree manner, as one espoused, and\ntalking familiarly with her, he\nperceived her to be with child,\n\n5  And thereupon began to be\nuneasy and doubtful, not knowing\nwhat course it would be best to take;\n\n6  For being a just man, he was\nnot willing to expose her, nor\ndefame her by the suspicion of\nbeing a harlot, since he was a\npious man:\n\n7  He purposed therefore privately\nto put an end to their agreement,\nand as privately to send her away.\n\n8  But while he was meditating\nthese things, behold the angel of\nthe Lord appeared to him in his\nsleep, and said, Joseph, son of\nDavid, fear not;\n\n9  Be not willing to entertain\nany suspicion of the Virgin's\nbeing guilty of fornication, or to\nthink any thing amiss of her,\nneither be afraid to take her to wife:\n\n10  For that which is begotten\nin her and now distresses your\nmind, is not the work of man, but\nthe Holy Ghost.\n\n11  For she of all women is that\nonly Virgin who shall bring forth\nthe Son of God, and you shall call\nhis name Jesus, that is, Saviour:\nfor he will save his people from\ntheir sins.\n\n12  Joseph thereupon, according\nto the command of the angel,\nmarried the Virgin, and did not\nknow her, but kept her in chastity.\n\n13  And now the ninth month\nfrom her conception drew near,\nwhen Joseph took his wife and\nwhat other things were necessary\nto Bethlehem, the city from whence\nhe came.\n\n14  And it came to pass, while\nthey were there, the days were\nfulfilled for her bringing forth.\n\n15  And she brought forth her\nfirst-born son, as the holy\nEvangelists have taught, even our\nLord Jesus Christ, who with the\nFather, Son, and Holy Ghost,\nlives and reigns to everlasting ages.\n\n\n\n                       REFERENCES TO MARY'S GOSPEL\n\n[In the primitive ages there was a Gospel extant bearing this name,\nattributed to St. Matthew, and received as genuine and authentic by\nseveral of the ancient Christian sects. It is to be found in the works\nof Jerome, a Father of the Church, who flourished in the fourth century,\nfrom whence the present translation is made. His contemporaries,\nEpiphanius, Bishop of Salamis, and Austin also mention a gospel under\nthis title. The ancient copies differed from Jerome's, for from one of\nthem the learned Faustus, a native of Britain, who became Bishop of Riez,\nin Provence, endeavoured to prove that Christ was not the Son of God till\nafter his baptism; and that he was not of the house of David and tribe of\nJudah, because, according to the Gospel he cited, the Virgin herself was\nnot of this tribe, but of the tribe of Levi; her father being a priest of\nthe name of Joachim. It was likewise  from this Gospel that the sect of\nthe Collyridians established the worship and offering of manchet bread\nand cracknels, or fine wafers, as sacrificed to Mary, whom they imagined\nto have been born of a Virgin, as Christ is related in the Canonical\nGospels to have been born of her.  Epiphanius likewise cites a passage\nconcerning the death of Zacharias, which is not in Jerome's copy, viz.:\n\"That it was the occasion of the death of Zacharias  in the temple, that\nwhen he had seen a vision, he, through surprise, was willing to disclose\nit, and his mouth was stopped.  That which he saw was at the time of his\noffering incense, and it was a man standing in the form of an ass.\nWhen he was gone out, and had a mind to speak thus to the people, Woe\nunto you, whom do you worship? he who had appeared to him in the temple\ntook away the use of his speech. Afterwards when he recovered it, and was\nable to speak, he declared this to the Jews; and they slew him.  They add\n(viz. the Gnostics in this book), that on this very  account the\nhigh-priest was appointed by their lawgiver (by God to Moses)  to carry\nlittle bells, that whensoever he went into the temple to sacrifice  he,\nwhom they worshipped, hearing the noise of the bells, might have time\nenough to hide himself, and not be caught in that ugly shape and figure.\"\nThe principal part of this Gospel is contained in the Protevangelion of\nJames  which follows next in order.]","title":"The suppressed Gospels and Epistles of the original New Testament of Jesus the Christ, Volume 1, Mary","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":5308}