 |  Understanding the Bible: Sixth Edition, 6/e Stephen Harris,
California State University--Sacramento
Additional Portraits of Jesus:Noncanonical Gospels and the Quest for the Historical Jesus
Glossary| Coptic | A term relating to the church or liturgical language of the Copts, a group reputedly descended from the ancient Egyptians who preserved an early form of Christianity. Using Greek letters to record the Egyptian language, Coptic editors produced the Nag Hammadi library (found in 1945), which includes, among other Christian documents, the only complete manuscript of the Gospel of Thomas.
Corinth A cosmopolitan center of trade and commerce in ancient Greece, destroyed by the Romans in 146 b.c.e. but later rebuilt. Home of a large population of Hellenistic Jews, Corinth was later a Christian center established by the apostle Paul and his associates (Acts 18:24; 19:1; 1 and 2 Cor.).
| | | | | Gospel of Peter | An early noncanonical Gospel ascribed incorrectly to Peter. This Gospel, which may date from as early as the first century c.e., is the only Gospel that depicts Jesus' actual rising from the tomb during the Resurrection.
| | | | | Gospel of Thomas | A Gnostic collection of approximately 114 sayings attributed to Jesus and allegedly the work of his disciple Didymus Judas Thomas. Although found in Egypt in 1945 as part of a thirteen-volume work containing forty-nine Coptic-language books dating from the fourth and fifth centuries c.e., it may have been written as early as the last part of the first century c.e.
| | | | | heresy | Holding or teaching a religious opinion contrary to church dogma. Applied to Christianity by its detractors (Acts 24:14), the term was not generally used in its modern sense during New Testament times except in the pastoral epistles (1 Tim. 1:3; 2; Titus 3:10).
| | | | | Infancy Gospel of Thomas | A noncanonical gospel that dates from the mid-second century c.e. and is ascribed to the apostle Thomas. This work provides a fictional account of Jesus' youth.
| | | | | orthodoxy | Literally "correct opinion," holding beliefs or doctrines established by a religious or political authority.
| | | | | realized eschatology | A belief that events usually associated with the eschaton (world End) are even now realized or fulfilled by Jesus' spiritual presence among believers (John 5:24-25; 11:25-26).
| | | | | Secret Mark | One of several noncanonical gospels. This gospel may provide a link between the Synoptic Gospels and the fourth Gospel's account of Lazarus' resuscitation.
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