Three other modern forgeries about the Life of Christ I will just name—more to show my consciousness of their existence than because they are at all interesting. One is a life said to have been found in a Buddhist monastery in Tibet, and connected with the name of Notovich as discoverer or translator. The second is a ridiculous and disgusting American book called 'The Archko Volume'. The third is the Letter of Benan (an Egyptian physician), shown by Professor Carl Schmidt (Der Benanbrief, 1919) to have been forged by Ernst Edler von der Planitz. This, I believe, had a great vogue recently in Central Europe, but I have never heard of it in an English dress.
PASSION GOSPELS
GOSPEL OF PETER
The early testimonies about this book have been set forth already. The present fragment was discovered in 1884 in a tomb at Akhmim in Egypt. The manuscript in which it is is a little book containing a portion of the Book of Enoch in Greek, this fragment on the Passion, and another, a description of Heaven and Hell, which is either (as I now think) a second fragment of the Gospel, or a piece of the Apocalypse of Peter. It will be given later under that head.
We have seen that the Gospel of Peter is quoted by writers of the latter end of the second century. It has been contended that Justin Martyr also used it soon after the middle of that century, but the evidence is not demonstrative. I believe it is not safe to date the book much earlier than A. D. 150.
It uses all four canonical Gospels, and is the earliest uncanonical account of the Passion that exists. It is not wholly orthodox: for it throws doubt on the reality of the Lord’s sufferings, and by consequence upon the reality of his human body. In other words it is, as Serapion of Antioch indicated, of a Docetic character.
Another characteristic of it is its extremely anti-Jewish attitude. Blame is thrown on the Jews wherever possible, and Pilate is white-washed.
In this case I give, in Roman and Arabic figures respectively, a double division into sections and verses. The first is that of Armitage Robinson, the second that of Harnack.
FRAGMENT I
I. 1 But of the Jews no man washed his hands, neither did Herod nor any one of his judges: and whereas they would not 2wash, Pilate rose up. And then Herod the king commanded that the Lord should be taken into their hands, saying unto them: All that I commanded you to do unto him, do ye.
II. 3 Now there stood there Joseph the friend of Pilate and of the Lord, and he, knowing that they were about to crucify him, came unto Pilate and begged the body of Jesus for
