Sources & method

Source basis: Each hosted writing names its date, translator, source link, and manuscript survival notes where available. Sources

The writings

Outside the canon.

Scripture has a border; the writing never stopped at it. Before the church, Jewish visionaries were already at work; after the apostles, their heirs kept on — letters, manuals, defenses, and apocalypses. These are the books the early church read and weighed but never made canon, gathered here in full and grouped by the era that produced them.

Papyrus writings on a lamplit work table beneath a map of the Mediterranean.

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Choose a timeline entry

Choose an entry above to inspect it. Bars are scholarly date ranges, not certainties. On a small screen, swipe sideways to see the full chart.

The chart runs from 1 Enoch (c. 300 BC) through the Apocalypse of Paul (c. AD 400). Bars are scholarly date ranges, not certainties — and a few unhosted witnesses (like the Gospel of Thomas) appear for context only.

Every writing

All 23 hosted texts — search or filter by era, then open any card.

Outside the canon.Outside the canon.

Browse all 23 writings

Every writing

Outside the canon.