list all the canonic, out-of-canon, gnostic, hieratic sources that claim to have direct words or sayings of Jesus

Thank you for your patience. Here’s a thorough review and expansion of the list of known Gospels and writings that claim to contain the words or teachings of Jesus. I will ensure to include as many relevant texts as possible, categorized for clarity.

Canonical Gospels (New Testament)

  1. Gospel of Matthew
  2. Gospel of Mark
  3. Gospel of Luke
  4. Gospel of John

Non-Canonical Gospels

  1. Gospel of Thomas: A collection of 114 sayings attributed to Jesus.
  2. Gospel of Mary: Focuses on Mary Magdalene's teachings and her relationship with Jesus.
  3. Gospel of Philip: Discusses the nature of Jesus and includes Gnostic themes.
  4. Gospel of the Nazoreans: An early Christian text with sayings of Jesus, primarily preserved in fragments.
  5. Gospel of the Egyptians: Contains teachings attributed to Jesus, often with Gnostic themes.
  6. Gospel of Judas: Presents a Gnostic perspective on Jesus and his relationship with Judas Iscariot.
  7. Infancy Gospel of Thomas: Focuses on the childhood of Jesus, including miraculous sayings and actions.
  8. Gospel of the Twelve: A lost text referenced by early Church Fathers, believed to contain teachings of Jesus.
  9. Gospel of the Hebrews: An early Christian text that includes sayings of Jesus, primarily preserved in fragments.
  10. Gospel of the Savior: A Gnostic text that includes teachings attributed to Jesus.
  11. Gospel of the Birth of Mary: Focuses on the birth and early life of Mary, with references to Jesus.
  12. Gospel of Nicodemus (Acts of Pilate): Contains accounts of Jesus' trial and sayings attributed to him.
  13. Gospel of the Good Shepherd: A Gnostic text that includes teachings of Jesus.
  14. Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ: Focuses on the early life of Jesus, including miraculous events.
  15. Gospel of the Resurrection of Christ: A text that includes teachings and sayings of Jesus post-resurrection.
  16. Gospel of the Cross: A text that reflects on the crucifixion and includes sayings of Jesus.

Gnostic Texts

  1. The Nag Hammadi Library: A collection of Gnostic texts, including:
    • The Gospel of Truth
    • The Apocryphon of John
    • The Sophia of Jesus Christ
    • The Dialogue of the Savior
    • The Second Treatise of the Great Seth
    • The Gospel of the Egyptians
    • The Gospel of the Savior

Apocryphal Texts

  1. Protoevangelium of James: While primarily about Mary, it includes references to Jesus' early life.
  2. Acts of Andrew: Contains teachings and sayings attributed to Jesus through the apostle Andrew.
  3. Acts of Peter: Includes sayings and teachings attributed to Jesus as recounted by Peter.
  4. Acts of Paul and Thecla: Contains teachings attributed to Jesus through the character of Thecla.
  5. The Acts of John: Includes teachings and sayings attributed to Jesus through the apostle John.
  6. The Acts of Thomas: Contains teachings attributed to Jesus through the apostle Thomas.

Early Christian Writings

  1. The Didache: An early Christian manual that includes ethical teachings attributed to Jesus.
  2. The Shepherd of Hermas: Contains visions and teachings that reflect Jesus' teachings.
  3. The Epistle of Barnabas: An early Christian text that interprets the teachings of Jesus.
  4. The Letter to Diognetus: A Christian apologetic work that reflects on the teachings of Jesus.
  5. The Apostolic Constitutions: A collection of early Christian teachings and practices, including references to Jesus.

Historical References

  1. Josephus: A Jewish historian who mentions Jesus in his works, though not direct sayings.
  2. Tacitus: A Roman historian who references Jesus in the context of early Christianity.
  3. Pliny the Younger: In his letters, he refers to early Christians worshiping Christ.
  4. Suetonius: A Roman historian who makes references to early Christians and Jesus.

Other Writings

  1. The Talmud: Contains references to Jesus, often in a critical context.
  2. The writings of early Church Fathers: Such as Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus, Origen, Tertullian, and Clement of Alexandria, who quote or reference Jesus' sayings.
  3. The Gospel of the Lord: A text that includes sayings attributed to Jesus, though details are scarce.

Additional Texts

  1. The Gospel of the Resurrection of Christ: A text that includes teachings and sayings of Jesus post-resurrection.
  2. The Gospel of the Cross: A text that reflects on the crucifixion and includes sayings of Jesus.
  3. The Gospel of the Holy Twelve: A text that claims to contain the teachings of Jesus as given to his disciples.

Summary

This list aims to be as comprehensive as possible, including a wide range of texts that reflect various theological perspectives and historical contexts regarding the sayings and teachings of Jesus. Each of these sources contributes to the understanding of Jesus' message, and it's essential to approach them with a critical eye, considering their historical and theological backgrounds.

If there are any specific texts or categories you believe are still missing, please let me know, and I will be happy to include them!

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    Զոհրաբ ՄՈԻՂԴՈԻՍՅԱՆ - https://arar.sci.am/Content/36762/file_0.pdf

https://othergospels.com/judas/

https://trisagionseraph.tripod.com/judasf.html

https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/gospeljudas.html

Estimated Range of Dating: 130-170 A.D.

Discuss this text on the Early Writings forum.

Books

Information on the Gospel of Judas

Charles W. Hedrick writes in the Bible Review ("The 34 Gospels: Diversity and Division Among the Earliest Christians"):

In sum, in addition to the four canonical gospels, we have four complete noncanonicals, seven fragmentary, four known from quotations and two hypothetically recovered for a total of 21 gospels from the first two centuries, and we know that others existed in the early period. I am confident more of them will be found. For example, I have seen photos of several pages from a Coptic text entitled "The Gospel of Judas" that recently surfaced on the antiquities market.

Tixeront, tranlsated by Raemers, states (A Handbook of Patrology, p. 67): "Besides these Gospels, we know that there once existed a Gospel of Bartholomew, a Gospel of Thaddeus, mentioned in the decree of Pope Gelasius, and a Gospel of Judas Iscariot in use among the Cainites and spoken of by St. Irenaeus (i, 31, 1)."

Here is the Roberts-Donaldson translation of this section from Irenaeus:

Others again declare that Cain derived his being from the Power above, and acknowledge that Esau, Korah, the Sodomites, and all such persons, are related to themselves. On this account, they add, they have been assailed by the Creator, yet no one of them has suffered injury. For Sophia was in the habit of carrying off that which belonged to her from them to herself. They declare that Judas the traitor was thoroughly acquainted with these things, and that he alone, knowing the truth as no others did, accomplished the mystery of the betrayal; by him all things, both earthly and heavenly, were thus thrown into confusion. They produce a fictitious history of this kind, which they style the Gospel of Judas.

H.-C. Puech and Beate Blatz write (New Testament Apocrypha, vol. 1, p. 387):

Dating: the Gospel of Judas was of course composed before 180, the date at which it is mentioned for the first time by Irenaeus in adv. Haer. If it is in fact a Cainite work, and if this sect - assuming it was an independent gnostic group - was constituted in part, as has sometimes been asserted, in dependence on the doctrine of Marcion, the apocryphon can scarcely have been composed before the middle of the 2nd century. This would, however, be to build on weak arguments. At most we may be inclined to suspect a date between 130 and 170 or thereabouts.

 

It remains to be seen whether any manuscripts to be published might correspond to the Gospel of Judas mentioned by Irenaeus of Lyons.

Some Contemporary Texts

 

Go to the Chronological List of all Early Christian Writings