I recently picked up the book Fabricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels by Craig Evans (Acadia Divinity College scholar and participant at last year’s Ottawa Apocrypha Workshop). The book is intended as a response to the controversial scholarship that claims, among other things, that certain apocryphal Christian literature has value for recovering the Historical Jesus. I have been reading many such “responses” lately from such as Ben Witherington III and Darrell L. Bock (both of whom have contributed opening blurbs to the book applauding Evans’ work). Though I don’t have much personally invested in Historical Jesus scholarship, I do take issue with much of what these authors have to say about the Christian Apocrypha. I hope to post something further on this in a few days (perhaps once I finish Evans’ book). For now, read this review from the Two Tack’s Thoughts blog. 

Broadwayworld.com reports that an Off-Broadway play called The Busy World is Hushed is moving to Los Angeles. In the course of the article we discover that the play involves some intrigue over a “long-lost gospel.” From the synopsis:

With wisdom, humor and insight, The Busy World is Hushed examines the contradictions we find in our faith, our families and ourselves. Hannah, a widowed Episcopal minister, is hoping to translate a long-lost gospel when she is challenged by both her scholarly assistant and her wayward gay son. But when family secrets are revealed, only the intercession of a stranger can help Hannah find peace.

What’s next? A novel tying Leonardo Da Vinci to the Gnostic Gospels? Nah, no-one would go for that.

Scripta de Divinis is a new blog by Tim Brookins, an M. Div. student and Latin teacher from North Carolina, devoted in part to the Christian Apocrypha.

The Green Bay Press Gazette has an article reviewing recent books on the Gospel of Judas.

Novelist Jeffrey Archer is writing a book inspired by the Gospel of Judas. Read an article on it from the Times On-line. Read an AP article here.

Jim Davila at Paleojudaica excerpts a Los Angeles Times article on the gospel (you must register at the LA Times to read the entire text).

Vision reports on a lecture on The Gospel of Judas delivered by Marvin Meyer.

Apocryphicity has been on hiatus over the holidays. It's time now to catch up on a variety of material on the CA posted on the internet over the past few weeks.

For those of you who missed the CNN documentary After Jesus: The First Christians can read the transcript available on-line. See also Stephen Carlson’s critique on his blog Hypotyposeis.

A pre-Christmas article from USA Weekend inspired by the film The Nativity Story discusses the various portrayals of Joseph in canonical and non-canonical gospels. You can read Mark Goodacre’s review of the film at the SBL Forum.

Jim Davila at Paleojudaica excerpts a report linking singer Kylie Minogue and Juliette Binoche with a play called “Gnosis” which is reportedly “loosely inspired by the same apocrypha as The Da Vinci Code.”

The Times Online presents a discussion of the apocryphal texts covered in Channel 4’s Christmas Documentary “The Secret Family of Jesus.” Jim Davila discusses the article at Paleojudaica.