The Apocryphal Gospels
The Ancients29 Jun 2025

The Apocryphal Gospels

If you've heard of the mysterious and often controversial Apocryphal Gospels, you may have been told that they weren't important, or useful; that they 'didn't make the cut' to be included in the Canonical Bible. Not at all, these early Christian texts were hugely significant and influential as well as completely fascinating.


Tristan Hughes is joined by Catherine Nixey to hear stories including the Infancy Gospel of James, where a midwife's hand is burnt off after doubting Mary's virginity, and the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, portraying a young Jesus with startling powers and a fiery temper. Together they discuss how these writings reveal the radical thoughts of some early Christians - from alternative crucifixion narratives to magical texts showing Jesus using a wand - and shed light on the vibrant diversity and theological debates of early Christianity.


MORE

The Wise Men

https://open.spotify.com/episode/30JcS3z8gUODOvbR8k47mh

Jesus of Nazareth

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6qFWoLLNQFgL0FmBhUoKe2


Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor and producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.


Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.


You can take part in our listener survey here:

https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(635)

Delphi: Centre of the Ancient World

Delphi: Centre of the Ancient World

For more than a thousand years, Delphi was considered a cultural centre of the ancient world. Every year a throng of pilgrims climbed the slopes of Mount Parnassus to seek the words of Apollo through ...

28 Jun 55min

Stonehenge with Ken Follett

Stonehenge with Ken Follett

What if the secrets of Stonehenge lie not just in the stones, but in the people who hauled them there?Tristan Hughes sits down with best-selling novelist Ken Follett to uncover and imagine the lives o...

25 Jun 46min

The Library of Alexandria

The Library of Alexandria

The Library of Alexandria was one of the most important and most celebrated buildings of the ancient Mediterranean. It was a great hub of learning and literature and made Alexandria one of the ancient...

21 Jun 42min

Boudica and the Iceni

Boudica and the Iceni

In 60 AD Roman Britain was very nearly brought to the brink. Cities burned, authority crumbled, and for a brief moment one woman challenged the might of the Roman Empire. Her name was Boudica.Today, T...

18 Jun 56min

The Cambrian Explosion: When Life Began?

The Cambrian Explosion: When Life Began?

538 million years ago, life on Earth changed forever. In an evolutionary burst known as the Cambrian Explosion, complex animals rapidly appeared in the oceans, laying the foundations for almost every ...

14 Jun 1h

The Pharisees

The Pharisees

The Pharisees are one of the most familiar names in the ancient world, but are they also one of the most misunderstood?Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr Helen Bond to step back into first-century Judea, ...

11 Jun 47min

The Rosetta Stone

The Rosetta Stone

In July 1799, French soldiers unearthed a stone that would transform our understanding of the ancient world. Discovered in a fort at Rashid, the Rosetta Stone became the key to deciphering Egypt’s lon...

7 Jun 44min

Neanderthal Art

Neanderthal Art

Fifty thousand years ago, Neanderthal artists in Ice Age Europe painted symbols and handprints deep inside caves, leaving behind some of the oldest known art on the continent. These discoveries are tr...

4 Jun 1h 8min

Populært innen Historie

rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
historier-som-endret-verden
aftenposten-historie
rss-benadet
historier-som-endret-norge
henrettelsespodden
sektledere
med-egne-oyne
rss-nadelose-nordmenn-gestapo
rss-frontkjemperne
vare-historier
rss-strid-de-norske-borgerkrigene
liberal-halvtime
historiepodden
rss-politisk-preik
historiepodden-ww2
rss-bisarr-historie
virkelig-grusomt
nbarrangement
sannhet-eller-konspirasjon