No name survives for this. The years given are when the writing was done, not a life.
Gos. ThomasThe Gospel of Thomas (Nag Hammadi)LieAllegory
Gos. PeterThe Gospel of Peter (Akhmim fragment)LieChristology
Gos. JudasThe Gospel of Judas (Codex Tchacos)LieAllegory
Gos. BarnabasThe Gospel of BarnabasLieHistory
Inf. ThomasThe Infancy Gospel of ThomasAllegoryLie
Prot. JamesThe Protoevangelium of JamesAllegoryHistoryLonger excerpts the Scriptorium holds on screen for a player to sit and read, word for word.
from Gos. Thomas“These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus spoke and which Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down.”
Gospel of Thomas, prologue (trans. Lambdin, 1977) — quoted under fair use.
from Gos. Thomas“Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you… but if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty.”
Gospel of Thomas, saying 3 (trans. Lambdin, 1977) — quoted under fair use.
from Gos. Peter“And they clothed him with purple, and set him on the seat of judgment, saying, Judge righteously, O king of Israel. And one of them brought a crown of thorns and put it on the head of the Lord… and some scourged him, saying, With this honour let us honour the Son of God.”
Gospel of Peter 3 (trans. Armitage Robinson, ANF 9, public domain).
from Gos. Peter“And they brought two malefactors, and they crucified the Lord between them. But he held his peace, as though having no pain.”
Gospel of Peter 4 (trans. Armitage Robinson, ANF 9, public domain).
from Gos. Peter“And the Lord cried out, saying, My power, my power, thou hast forsaken me. And when he had said it he was taken up.”
Gospel of Peter 5 (trans. Armitage Robinson, ANF 9, public domain).
from Gos. Peter“Again they see three men come forth from the tomb, and two of them supporting one, and a cross following them: and of the two the head reached unto the heaven, but the head of him that was led by them overpassed the heavens.”
Gospel of Peter 10 (trans. Armitage Robinson, ANF 9, public domain).
from Gos. Peter“And they heard a voice from the heavens, saying, Thou hast preached to them that sleep. And a response was heard from the cross, Yea.”
Gospel of Peter 10 (trans. Armitage Robinson, ANF 9, public domain).
from Gos. Peter“Pilate answered and said, I am pure from the blood of the Son of God: but it was ye who determined this.”
Gospel of Peter 11 (trans. Armitage Robinson, ANF 9, public domain).
from Gos. Judas“The secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot during a week, three days before he celebrated Passover.”
Gospel of Judas, opening line (trans. Kasser, Meyer & Wurst, National Geographic Society, 2006) — quoted under fair use.
from Gos. Judas“Separate from them, and I will tell you the mysteries of the kingdom, not so that you may go there, but that you may grieve greatly.”
Gospel of Judas (trans. Kasser, Meyer & Wurst, 2006) — quoted under fair use.
from Gos. Barnabas“The Levites and scribes… questioned him, saying: ‘Who art thou?’ Jesus confessed, and said the truth: ‘I am not the Messiah.’”
Gospel of Barnabas 42 (trans. Lonsdale & Laura Ragg, Oxford, 1907, public domain).
from Gos. Barnabas“They said: ‘Art thou Elijah or Jeremiah, or any of the ancient prophets?’ … Jesus answered: ‘I am a voice that crieth through all Judea, and crieth: “Prepare ye the way for the messenger of the Lord,” even as it is written in Esaias.’”
Gospel of Barnabas 42 (trans. Lonsdale & Laura Ragg, Oxford, 1907, public domain).
from Gos. Barnabas“For I am not worthy to unloose the ties of the hosen or the latchets of the shoes of the messenger of God whom ye call ‘Messiah,’ who was made before me, and shall come after me, and shall bring the words of truth, so that his faith shall have no end.”
Gospel of Barnabas 42 (trans. Lonsdale & Laura Ragg, Oxford, 1907, public domain).
from Inf. Thomas“This child Jesus, when five years old, was playing in the ford of a mountain stream; and He collected the flowing waters into pools, and made them clear immediately, and by a word alone He made them obey Him. And having made some soft clay, He fashioned out of it twelve sparrows. And it was the Sabbath when He did these things.”
Infancy Gospel of Thomas, First Greek Form 2 (trans. Walker, ANF 8, public domain).
from Inf. Thomas“Behold, even now you shall be dried up like a tree, and you shall not bring forth either leaves, or root, or fruit.”
Infancy Gospel of Thomas, First Greek Form 3 (trans. Walker, ANF 8, public domain) — to a boy who spoiled his water-pools.
from Inf. Thomas“A boy ran up against Him, and struck His shoulder. And Jesus was angry, and said to him: You shall not go back the way you came. And immediately he fell down dead.”
Infancy Gospel of Thomas, First Greek Form 4 (trans. Walker, ANF 8, public domain).
from Inf. Thomas“Since you have such a child, it is impossible for you to live with us in the village; or else teach him to bless, and not to curse: for he is killing our children.”
Infancy Gospel of Thomas, First Greek Form 4 (trans. Walker, ANF 8, public domain) — the neighbours, to Joseph.
from Inf. Thomas“Alas! I, wretch that I am, am at a loss, bringing shame upon myself by having dragged this child hither… That child does not belong to this earth; he can tame even fire. Assuredly he was born before the creation of the world.”
Infancy Gospel of Thomas, First Greek Form 7 (trans. Walker, ANF 8, public domain) — Zacchæus the schoolmaster, giving up.
from Inf. Thomas“And when he had come to the fountain, or to the well, there were great crowds there, and they broke His pitcher. And He took the cloak which He had on, and filled it with water, and carried it to His mother Mary.”
Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Latin Form 9 (trans. Walker, ANF 8, public domain).
from Prot. James“Anna, Anna, the Lord has heard your prayer, and you shall conceive, and shall bring forth; and your seed shall be spoken of in all the world.”
Protoevangelium of James 4 (trans. Walker, ANF 8, public domain).
from Prot. James“As the Lord my God lives, I am pure before Him, and know not a man.”
Protoevangelium of James 15 (trans. Walker, ANF 8, public domain) — Mary, under formal accusation.
from Prot. James“I will give you to drink of the water of the ordeal of the Lord, and He shall make manifest your sins in your eyes.”
Protoevangelium of James 16 (trans. Walker, ANF 8, public domain).
from Prot. James“And I Joseph was walking, and was not walking; and I looked up into the sky, and saw the sky astonished; and I looked up to the pole of the heavens, and saw it standing, and the birds of the air keeping still… And all things in a moment were driven from their course.”
Protoevangelium of James 18 (trans. Walker, ANF 8, public domain).
from Prot. James“Then said Salome: As the Lord my God lives, unless I thrust in my finger, and search the parts, I will not believe that a virgin has brought forth.”
Protoevangelium of James 19 (trans. Walker, ANF 8, public domain).
from Prot. James“Zacharias has been murdered, and his blood shall not be wiped up until his avenger come.”
Protoevangelium of James 24 (trans. Walker, ANF 8, public domain).
Moves these books can learn whose quotation comes from somebody else. The citation on each one names who actually said it.
“And the Lord cried out, saying, My power, my power, thou hast forsaken me. And when he had said it he was taken up.”
Gospel of Peter 5 (trans. Armitage Robinson, ANF 9, public domain). Not “My God, my God” — and “taken up” at the moment of death. Docetism in a single misquoted psalm.public domain
In the gameThe Psalm’s cry, swapped for a phantom’s farewell.
Learned byGos. Peter (Lv 1)
“These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus spoke and which Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down.”
Gospel of Thomas, prologue (trans. Lambdin, in The Nag Hammadi Library in English, 1977) — quoted under fair use. So it opens; no birth, no cross, no resurrection follows.in copyright · fair use
In the gameA pile of sayings with no story attached.
Learned byGos. Thomas (Lv 1)
Wooden wine casks (ch. 152), medieval courts, a hundred-year Jubilee (ch. 82) — a late hand writing a “first-century” book.
Gospel of Barnabas; earliest manuscript 15th–16th cent. Leviticus 25 sets the Jubilee at fifty years; the hundred-year cycle was decreed by Boniface VIII in 1300. First-century Palestine kept wine in skins, not barrels.
In the gameThe forger’s fingerprints.
Learned byGos. Barnabas (Lv 1)
“And I Joseph was walking, and was not walking; and I looked up into the sky, and saw the sky astonished… and all things in a moment were driven from their course.”
Protoevangelium of James 18 (trans. Walker, ANF 8, public domain) — a cave, a stopped sky, a midwife’s inspection. Wonders Luke never mentions, written a century and more after the fact.public domain
In the gameLegend loves detail.
Learned byProt. James (Lv 1)
“And having made some soft clay, He fashioned out of it twelve sparrows. And it was the Sabbath when He did these things.”
Infancy Gospel of Thomas, First Greek Form 2 (trans. Walker, ANF 8, public domain). A crowd-pleasing legend — one that even found its way into the Qur’an.public domain
In the gameA child’s wonder-tale told as history.
Learned byInf. Thomas (Lv 1)
“The secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot… Separate from them, and I will tell you the mysteries of the kingdom, not so that you may go there, but that you may grieve greatly.”
Gospel of Judas (trans. Kasser, Meyer & Wurst, National Geographic Society, 2006) — quoted under fair use. Irenaeus condemned the book by name c. A.D. 180.in copyright · fair use
In the gameHidden knowledge for one insider.
Learned byGos. Judas (Lv 1)
“I will give you to drink of the water of the ordeal of the Lord, and He shall make manifest your sins in your eyes.”
Protoevangelium of James 16 (trans. Walker, ANF 8, public domain) — Mary put to the Pentateuch’s ordeal. No evangelist records it.public domain
In the gameAn embellishment far beyond Luke.
Learned byProt. James (Lv 5)
“He who pleads his cause first seems right; until another comes and questions him.”
Proverbs 18:17 (WEB).
In the gameChallenge the foundation of an argument before it can be pressed. Lowers the foe’s Contend.
Learned byGos. Peter (Lv 5), Inf. Thomas (Lv 6)
“Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.”
James 1:19 (WEB).
In the gameRestate the foe’s position in its strongest form — exposing its true weak point. Lowers the foe’s Defend. Always fair; never a bad move to use.
Learned byGos. Judas (Lv 5), Gos. Barnabas (Lv 7), Prot. James (Lv 6)
“Behold, even now you shall be dried up like a tree, and you shall not bring forth either leaves, or root, or fruit.”
Infancy Gospel of Thomas, First Greek Form 3 (trans. Walker, ANF 8, public domain) — the boy Jesus, to a playmate who spoiled his water-pools. Irenaeus flatly called the book spurious.public domain
In the gameNothing like the Gospels’ Christ.
Learned byInf. Thomas (Lv 5)
Immortal aeons, cosmic realms, a deity called Barbelo — a Galilean gospel has no room for this furniture.
Gospel of Judas (Coptic; recovered 1978, translated 2006).
In the gameEsoterica no fisherman preached.
Learned byGos. Judas (Lv 6)
“Jesus confessed, and said the truth: ‘I am not the Messiah.’”
Gospel of Barnabas 42 (trans. Lonsdale & Laura Ragg, Oxford, 1907, public domain). “Christ” IS “Messiah” — the same word in Greek and Hebrew. Even the Qur’an it serves says otherwise.public domain
In the gameIt refutes itself in two languages.
Learned byGos. Barnabas (Lv 6)
“And they heard a voice from the heavens, saying, Thou hast preached to them that sleep. And a response was heard from the cross, Yea.”
Gospel of Peter 10 (trans. Armitage Robinson, ANF 9, public domain) — the cross walks out of the tomb behind them, and answers. Eusebius records the book was never accepted as genuine.public domain
In the gameIts resurrection scene outgrows the witnesses.
Learned byGos. Peter (Lv 6)
“He gave him no answer, not even one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.”
Matthew 27:14 (WEB); cf. Isaiah 53:7.
In the gameSay nothing. Convinces no one — but the next argument lands harder. Raises the user’s Contend, after the pattern of Christ’s silence before his accusers.
Learned byGos. Thomas (Lv 7)
“Thou who art ignorant of the nature of the Alpha, how can you teach others the Beta? Thou hypocrite! First, if you know, teach the A, and then we shall believe you about the B.”
Infancy Gospel of Thomas, First Greek Form 6 (trans. Walker, ANF 8, public domain) — the child Jesus, confounding the teacher Zacchæus.public domain
“Unless I thrust in my finger, and search the parts, I will not believe that a virgin has brought forth… And Salome put in her finger, and cried out, and said: Woe is me for mine iniquity and mine unbelief… my hand is dropping off as if burned with fire.”
Protoevangelium of James 19–20 (trans. Walker, ANF 8, public domain). (trimmed quote)public domain
In the gameDeep familiarity with an old text is a real skill, earned by years in strange manuscripts — and it settles nothing about whether the text is true.
Learned byInf. Thomas (Lv 12), Prot. James (Lv 13)
“Simon Peter said to him, ‘Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life.’ Jesus said, ‘I myself shall lead her in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males.’”
Gospel of Thomas 114 (trans. Lambdin, in The Nag Hammadi Library in English, rev. ed. 1990) — quoted under fair use. The collection’s own last saying.in copyright · fair use
“But of the Jews none washed his hands, neither Herod nor any one of his judges.”
Gospel of Peter 1 (trans. Armitage Robinson, ANF 9, public domain) — the fragment’s own opening line. Matthew has Pilate alone wash his hands; this text spreads the refusal to everyone else in the room.public domain
In the gameStudy a text long enough and you stop asking only what it says, and start asking what it is doing — every one of these gospels eventually shows its hand.
Learned byGos. Thomas (Lv 14), Gos. Peter (Lv 15)
“As some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’”
Acts 17:28 (WEB), Paul before the Areopagus.
In the gamePaul on Mars Hill: quote their poets, then preach the risen Christ.
Learned byGos. Judas (Lv 16), Gos. Barnabas (Lv 17)
Paul did not argue the Athenians out of their poets. He quoted them, agreed with them, and then said the one thing the poets had never reached.
Real, sourced quotations found while researching Unknown authors writing under borrowed names’s books for the game. They are not shown anywhere in the game itself.
"Jesus confessed, and said the truth: 'I am not the Messiah.'"
Gospel of Barnabas 42 (Ragg).
"And I Joseph was walking, and was not walking; and I looked up into the sky, and saw the sky astonished; and I looked up to the pole of the heavens, and saw it standing, and the birds of the air keeping still… And I looked upon the current of the river, and I saw the mouths of the kids resting on the water and not drinking, and all things in a moment were driven from their course."
Protoevangelium of James 18 (Walker).
"And they clothed him with purple, and set him on the seat of judgment, saying, Judge righteously, O king of Israel. And one of them brought a crown of thorns and put it on the head of the Lord. And others stood and spat in his eyes, and others smote his cheeks: others pricked him with a reed; and some scourged him, saying, With this honour let us honour the Son of God."
The Gospel According to Peter 3, trans. J. Armitage Robinson, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 9 (New York: Scribner's, 1896). · trans. J. Armitage Robinson
Unknown authors writing under borrowed names against everyone else in the game.