1. Introduction to the Apocrypha and the Apocryphal Texts
Mike Harbrecht

2. “Secret”
Apocrypha
“Hidden”

3. What is the Apocrypha?
The LDS Bible Dictionary states, “By this word is generally meant those sacred books of the Jewish people that were not included in the Hebrew Bible. They are valuable as forming a link connecting the Old and New Testaments and are regarded in the Church as useful reading, although not all the books are of equal value. They are the subject of a revelation recorded in D&C 91, in which it is stated that the contents are mostly correct but with many interpolations by man.” (Bible Dictionary: “Apocrypha”)

4. The Old Testament Apocrypha
Name
Notes
1 Esdras
2 Esdras
1 Maccabees
Catholic & Greek Orthodox Bible
2 Maccabees
3 Maccabees
Greek Orthodox Bible
4 Maccabees
Additions to Esther ("Book of Esther")
Bel and the Dragon
Book of Judith (or "Judith")
Book of Tobit (Or "Tobit" or "Tobias" or "Book of Tobias")
Daniel and Susanna (addition to Daniel)

5. The Old Testament Apocrypha
Name
Notes
Letter of Jeremiah (Or "The Epistle of Jeremy")
Prayer of Manasses
Psalm 151
Catholic & Greek Orthodox Bible
The Book of Baruch (Or "Baruch")
The History of Susanna (Or "Susanna")
The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Holy Children (Or "The Prayer of Azariah," or "Song of the Three Holy Children")
The Testament of Abraham
The Testament of Isaac
The Wisdom Jesus the son of Sirach (Or "the Wisdom of Sirach", or "Ecclesiasticus")
Wisdom of Solomon

6. “Since that revelation [D&C 91] was given, other apocryphal literature has been discovered. Obviously, section 91 does not address such recent discoveries as the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Nag Hammadi codices, and other newly found manuscripts, but the principle of that revelation undoubtedly still applies...”1

7. Pseudepigrapha Pronounced “sood-ehpig-ra-fa” (click to listen)
Means “Falsely Attributed”
Books written by Jews (usually) between 200 B.C. and 200 A.D. which were preserved in museums, libraries, or monasteries.
Books which proclaim to be from an author (Adam, Moses, etc.) but are not actually from the author

8. “Latter-day Saint interest in the Pseudepigrapha is based mainly on…tradition which parallel the beliefs and practices of the Church. Nevertheless, in many cases these same books also contain teachings which Latter-day Saints would regard as not doctrinally accurate. One must remember that the Pseudepigrapha are indeed ‘falsely attributed.’ They consist mostly of bits and pieces of older traditions which have been reworked by later authors.”2

9. Pseudepigrapha The Ascension of Isaiah 1 Enoch 1 Enoch Composit
2 Enoch (Slavonic Enoch)
3 Enoch
Fragments of a Zadokite work (Or “The Damascus Document”)
Joseph and Asenath
Tales of the Patriarchs
The Apocalypse of Elijah
The Apocalypse of Abraham
The Apocalypse of Moses (Or “Life of Adam & Eve”)
The Ascension of Isaiah
The Assumptions of Moses (Or “The Testament of Moses”)
The Book of Adam
The Book of Jubilees (Or "Lesser Genesis," or "Leptogenesis")
The Book of Moses
The Book of the Apocalypse of Baruch (Or “2 Baruch”)
The Conflict of Adam & Eve
The Greek Apocalypse of Baruch (Or “3 Baruch”)
Also “The Odes of Solomon.”

10. Pseudepigrapha The Testament of Isaac
The History of the Rechabites (Or "The Narrative of Zosimus")
The Letters of Aristeas
The Life of Adam & Eve (Or “Apocalypse of Moses”)
The Psalms of Solomon
The Story of Asenath
The Testament of Abraham
The Testament of Isaac
The Testament of Jacob
*The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs*
The Treatise of Shem
The Word and Revelation of Esdras (Or "Greek Apocalypse of Ezra,” “The Revelation of Esdras“)
Vita Adae et Evae

11. The Testament of the 12 Patriarchs*
The Testament of Asher
The Testament of Judah
The Testament of Benjamin
The Testament of Levi
The Testament of Dan
The Testament of Naphtali
The Testament of Gad
The Testament of Reuben
The Testament of Issachar
The Testament of Simeon
The Testament of Joseph
The Testament of Zebulun

12. Gnosticism Gnosis = Greek for “Knowledge”
Many of the “Gnostic” texts claim to be knowledge imparted to them from the apostles who received it from the Savior during the “40 Day Teachings.”
Most writings were probably written between 200 A.D. and 900 A.D.

13. Nag Hammadi
In December 1945, A peasant in Egypt (Muhammad 'Alí ) found documents placed in jars and bound in leather in a place called “Nag Hammadi.”
Muhammid Ali took these documents and placed them near an oven in his home. His mother admits that she did use many of the documents as kindling for a fire. Muhammid Ali and his brothers previously had committed a murder as retribution for their father being murdered. Fearing that the police would find these documents, Muhammid Ali gave one or more of them to a priest for safe keeping. A local history teacher came in contact with one of these books and felt that it probably had significant value. The book was sent to a friend in Cairo where it eventually was sold on the black market. Egyptian officials eventually bought one of these books and seized the other 10 ½ books. One of the books (13th Codex which actually had 5 texts) was smuggled out of Egypt and eventually made it to America. Later, a professor from Netherlands got a hold of one of these books. He traveled to Cairo and realized that he indeed was holding one of 52 texts that was discovered at Nag Hammadi.

14. Nag Hammadi
“What Muhammad 'Alí discovered at Nag Hammadi, it soon became clear, were Coptic translations, made about 1,500 years ago, of still more ancient manuscripts. The originals themselves had been written in Greek, the language of the New Testament…”3

15. Nag Hammadi
The dating of the papyrus’ finds little debate. The leather bindings place them between 350 A.D. and 400 A.D. 4
However, many scholars disagree about the dating of the original texts. Some believe that the originals could not be much later than 120 A.D. to 150 A.D. 5

16. Stephen Robinson
“There has been a tendency in some Latter-day Saint circles to suggest a direct link between the Gnostics and the true primitive Church. This is impossible, for the Nag Hammadi codices show the Gnostics to have been in some respects even further from the gospel than the post-apostolic ‘orthodox’ church…”6

17. Stephen Robinson
“In the initial excitement over finding some ideas among the Nag Hammadi codices that are similar to those of the Latter-day Saints, some readers have lost sight of a very important fact: though some things are similar, they are never the same. There is not a single passage among the Nag Hammadi codices which could be said to exactly describe Latter-day Saint practices…”7

18. Stephen Robinson
“On rare occasions there are similarities, but always there are differences. The reason for this is simple: the Gnostics did not have the Gospel. By the time the Nag Hammadi codices were written, Gnosticism had already been an apostate movement for generations, perhaps even centuries.”8

19. Nag Hammadi Texts A Valentinian Exposition Allogenes Asclepius
Authorative Teaching
Eugnostos the Blessed
Fragments
Hypsiphrone
Marsanes
Melchizedek
On the Anointing
On the Baptism A
On the Baptism B
On the Eucharist A
On the Eucharist B
On the Origin of the World
Plato, Republic
Scribal Note
The Acts of Peter and Paul
The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles
The Apocalypse of Adam

20. Nag Hammadi Texts The Apocalypse of Paul The Gospel of Philip
The Apocalypse of Peter
The Apocryphon of James (The Secret Book of James)
The Apocryphon of John
The Book of Thomas the Contender
The Concept of Our Great Power
The Dialogue of the Savior
The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth
The Exegesis on the Soul
The First Apocalypse of James
The Gospel of Philip
The Gospel of the Egyptians
The Gospel of Thomas
The Gospel of Truth
The Hypostasis of the Archons
The Interpretation of Knowledge
The Letter of Peter to Philip
The Paraphrase of Shem
The Prayer of Thanksgiving

21. Nag Hammadi Texts The Thought of Norea The Three Steles of Seth
The Prayer of the Apostle Paul
The Second Apocalypse of James
The Second Treatise of the Great Seth
The Secret Book of James
The Sentences of Sextus
The Sophia of Jesus Christ
The Teachings of Silvanus
The Testimony of Truth
The Thought of Norea
The Three Steles of Seth
The Thunder, Perfect Mind
The Treatise on the Resurrection
The Triparite Tractate
Trimorphic Protennoia
Zostrianos

22. Non Nag Hammadi Gnostic Texts
1 Jeu
2 Jeu
Acts of Thomas (The Pearl)
Pistis Sophia
The Gospel of Judas
The Gospel of Mary
The Gospel of Bartholomew

23. “The much-celebrated Dead Sea Scrolls are a treasure trove of ancient Jewish religious texts discovered between 1947 and 1956 in 11 different desert caves near the northwest shore of the Dead Sea.”9

24. Scrolls were written or copied between 250 B.C. and 68 A.D.
The Dead Sea Scrolls were scripture to the Essenes in Qumran.
Scrolls were written or copied between 250 B.C. and 68 A.D.
Most of the scrolls were written on parchments in Hebrew or Aramaic (a few texts in Greek were found).

25. The Essenes
“The basic ideal for the covenant makers at Qumran was to live as though they were in the midst of the temple itself every minute of every day.” 10
“They sought to make their isolated community a virtual open-air temple and often wore white linen robes to symbolize the level of purity they sought to attain.”11

26. Similarities to Latter-Day Saints12
Lived in a desert
Lived near a salty lake
Near stream called “Jordan River”
Believed they were the true Israel and that others had fallen away
Waiting for the coming of their Messiah
Baptism by immersion for remission of sins
Receiving the holy ghost is essential
Governed by 3 presidents which are assisted by a council of 12
In each area, a leader presided which administered financial affairs, determined individual worthiness, and acted as a judge

27. Similarities to Latter-Day Saints 13
Sacred meal of bread and wine
Communal living
Revelation comes from prophetic leaders and should be considered scripture
Importance of Temples
Strict adherence to rules and worthiness
“Saints” in reference to all members
A doctrine of a war between the light and dark in the Latter-Days.

28. “The Prophet Joseph Smith’s claim to have translated the Book of Mormon from metal plates was given significant credibility by the discovery of a unique document at Qumran. Among the many texts unearthed was the singular find of Cave 3 in 1952—a scroll composed of a long, thin metal sheet called the Copper Scroll.”14

29. Andrew Skinner
“No wonder Latter-day Saints are interested in the documents of a people whose circumstances and geographical habitation parallel their own history.”15

30. Andrew Skinner
“While we must use caution in making more of the parallels between our faith and the Qumran sect than is appropriate, we can certainly see how some of the theological ideas found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints could have been perfectly at home in an authentic ancient setting.”16

31. The Dead Sea Scrolls - Texts
Notes
Book of Isaiah
The Manual of Discipline
Rules of the community
Commentary on Habakkuk
Hymn Scroll
War Scroll
Describes “final war in the last days between the ‘sons of light’ and the ‘sons of darkness.’”17
Genesis Apocryphon
Temple Scroll

32. 40 Day Teachings
Acts 1:3 “To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.”

33. Hugh Nibley
“But is it not remarkable that nothing has come down to us from that wonderful time when the church is supposed to have received all its knowledge and training? Why have we only the opening words of the Lord's discourse, declaring how badly the disciples needed the instruction that followed (Luke 24:25-27), of which nothing is preserved in the canon (Luke 24:45)?”18

34. 40 Day Teachings
Hugh Nibley said, “To James the Just and to John and Peter after the resurrection the Lord conveyed the gnosis, these handed it on to the rest of the Apostles and in turn to the Seventy.”19

35. 40 Day Teachings
“So we have a true gnosis, a certain knowledge, entrusted to the general authorities of the church after the resurrection and, as far as we know, to no one else. This was precisely the knowledge which the so-called Gnostics later claimed to have.”20

36. Apostasy
There is evidence suggesting that Peter passed on the “great mysteries” to Mark who then brought them to Alexandria in Egypt around 65 AD.21

37. Clement of Alexandria
In a fairly recently discovered letter, Clement said, “As for Mark, during Peter's stay in Rome he wrote [an account of] the Lord's doings, not, however, declaring all [of them], nor yet hinting at the secret [ones], but selecting those he thought most useful for increasing the faith of those who were being instructed…

38. Clement of Alexandria
…But when Peter died as a martyr, Mark came over to Alexandria, bringing both his own notes and those of Peter, from which he transferred to his former book the things suitable to whatever makes for progress toward knowledge [gnosis]. [Thus] he composed a more spiritual Gospel for the use of those who were being perfected. Nevertheless, he yet did not divulge the things not to be uttered, nor did he write down the ‘Hierophantic Teaching of the Lord.’

39. Clement of Alexandria
[When he died] he left his composition to the church in Alexandria, where it even yet is most carefully guarded, being read only to those who are being initiated into the ‘Great Mysteries.’”22

40. Apostasy
“These rituals [secret rituals described in “The Secret Gospel of Mark”] were secretly practiced by at least some branches of ‘orthodox’ Alexandrian Christianity until at least the late second century A.D.”23

41. Apostasy
“…from the newly discovered letter of Clement we learn that the Carpocratian Gnostic branch of early Christianity acquired knowledge of some of the Hierophantic Teaching and Great Mysteries.”24

42. Clement of Alexandria
Clement continues, “Carpocrates [one of the original Gnostic teachers who flourished ca. A.D ] using deceitful arts, so enslaved a certain elder of the church in Alexandria that he [Carpocrates] got from him [the elder] a copy of the secret Gospel…

43. Clement of Alexandria
…which he both interpreted according to his blasphemous and carnal doctrine and, moreover, polluted, mixing with the spotless and holy words utterly shameless lies. From this mixture is drawn off the teaching of the Carpocratians.”25

44. Mark goes to Alexandria around 65 A.D.
Jesus Teaches Peter the mysteries and secret rituals
Peter teaches Mark the mysteries and secret rituals
Mark goes to Alexandria around 65 A.D.
“The Secret Gospel of Mark” is written and Mark uses “The Hierophantic Teaching and Great Mysteries” to teach the secret rituals
The secret rituals were practiced by some branches of Christianity in Alexandria
Carpocrates (an early Christian Gnostic) enslaves an elder from Alexandria and obtains a copy of “The Secret Gospel of Mark” and information about the secret rituals
Caprocates pollutes “The Secret Gospel of Mark” and “Hierophantic Teaching and Great Mysteries” with false doctrine and his false interpretations
The Carprocratian branch of Gnosticism practices secret rituals based on Caprocates versions of “The Secret Gospel of Mark” and “The Hierophantic Teaching and Great Mysteries”
Clement quotes from and discusses “The Secret Gospel of Mark” and how Caprocates received the secret rituals

45. 40 Day Teachings
“The Gnostic phenomenon itself attests the universal awareness that such a teaching [the mysteries or secret rituals] had formerly existed and been lost to the main church: the specific Gnostic claim to possess the secrets of the 40 days shows what it was that was missing…Furthermore, the apocryphal writings themselves fully explain that loss in terms of both secrecy and apostasy…”26

46. 40 Day Teachings
“Those early apocryphal writings which purport to tell the rest of the story [of Acts 1:3] may not be ignored by the serious student.”27

47. Study by the Spirit
“When I first started studying these books, I believed that no matter how distorted and scattered, fragments of the Lord's true teachings would be recognizable by their resemblance to truths restored in modern times.”28

48. Study by the Spirit
“One who studies the gospel aided by the Spirit is equipped to discern truth from error in the Apocrypha.”29

49. Study by the Spirit
“Some of these documents are of interest to Latter-day Saints because they seem to confirm that doctrines taught by the Prophet Joseph Smith and subsequent modern prophets were known in the ancient world. Often these parallels are exciting, but always we must remember to treat the evidence honestly.”30

50. Footnote
Source Information 1
Robinson, Stephen E. "Background for the Testaments." Ensign, December 1982. 2 3
Pagels, Elaine. The Gnostic Gospels. Vintage Books: New York, 1979, xiii-xxiii. 4 5 6 7 8

51. Footnote
Source Information 9
Skinner, Andrew C. "The Dead Sea Scrolls and Latter-Day Truth." Ensign, February 2006. 10
Skinner, Andrew C. “The Dead Sea Scrolls and Latter-Day Truth." Ensign, February See also Brown, S. Kent. “The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Mormon Perspective.” BYU Studies 23, no. 1 (1983): 11
Skinner, Andrew C. "The Dead Sea Scrolls and Latter-Day Truth." Ensign, February See also Josephus, Flavius. The Complete Works of Flavius Josephus. Translated by William Whiston. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1960, 476. 12
Robinson, Stephen E. "Background for the Testaments." Ensign, December For more similarities you can visit the following link: 13 14

52. Footnote
Source Information 15
Skinner, Andrew C. "The Dead Sea Scrolls and Latter-Day Truth." Ensign, February 2006. 16 17
Skinner, Andrew C. "The Dead Sea Scrolls and Latter-Day Truth." Ensign, February See also VanderKam, James C. The Dead Sea Scrolls Today. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1994, 3. 18
Nibley, Hugh W. "Evangelium Quadraginta Dierum: The Forty-day Mission of Christ—The Forgotten Heritage." In Mormonism and Early Christianity, Todd M. Compton and Stephen D. Ricks ed., Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1987. 19
Nibley, Hugh W. The World and the Prophets. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1988, Stated in David Wiley. “The 40 Day Teachings of Christ in the Books of Jeu and the Pistis Sophia: A Gnostic Endowment,” 1. 20
Wiley, David. "The 40 Day Teachings of Christ in the Books of Jeu and the Pistis Sophia: A Gnostic Endowment,” 1.

53. Footnote Source Information21
Hamblin, William J. "Aspects of an Early Christian Initiation Ritual." In By Study and Also by Faith: Essays in Honor of Hugh W. Nibley on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday, 2 vols., edited by John M. Lundquist and Stephen D. Ricks. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1990. 22
Smith, Morton. Clement of Alexandria and a Secret Gospel of Mark. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1973, Quoted in William J. Hamblin. "Aspects of an Early Christian Initiation Ritual." In By Study and Also by Faith: Essays in Honor of Hugh W. Nibley on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday, 2 vols., edited by John M. Lundquist and Stephen D. Ricks. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1990. 23 24
Hamblin, William J. "Aspects of an Early Christian Initiation Ritual." In By Study and Also by Faith: Essays in Honor of Hugh W. Nibley on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday, 2 vols., edited by John M. Lundquist and Stephen D. Ricks. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, See also Smith, Morton. Clement of Alexandria and a Secret Gospel of Mark. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1973,

54. Footnote
Source Information 25
Smith, Morton. Clement of Alexandria and a Secret Gospel of Mark. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1973, Quoted in William J. Hamblin. "Aspects of an Early Christian Initiation Ritual." In By Study and Also by Faith: Essays in Honor of Hugh W. Nibley on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday, 2 vols., edited by John M. Lundquist and Stephen D. Ricks. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1990. 26
Nibley, Hugh W. "Evangelium Quadraginta Dierum: The Forty-day Mission of Christ—The Forgotten Heritage." In Mormonism and Early Christianity, Todd M. Compton and Stephen D. Ricks ed., Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1987. 27 28
Wiley, David. "The 40 Day Teachings of Christ in the Books of Jeu and the Pistis Sophia: A Gnostic Endowment." 29
Robinson, Stephen E. "Background for the Testaments." Ensign, December 1982.

55. Footnote
Source Information 30
Robinson, Stephen E. "Background for the Testaments." Ensign, December 1982.