The Secret Book of James
Mark M. Mattison
Outside the canon. The Secret Book of James is not in the Bible of any tradition on the Scriptures shelf. It is hosted here as a historical record. The Scriptures shelf →
Readable historical edition
Salutation through conclusion in the Coptic Nag Hammadi Codex I,2; manuscript page markers and gaps retained.
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Contents
Opening and sections
- Salutation · Translated text
- Prologue · Translated text
- The Savior Appears · Translated text
- Being Filled · Translated text
- The Cross and Death · Translated text
- Prophecies and Parables · Translated text
- Be Saved · Translated text
- Few Have Found the Kingdom · Translated text
- Know Yourselves · Translated text
- Final Words · Translated text
- Heavenly Ascent · Translated text
- Conclusion · Translated text
Manuscript information follows Mark M. Mattison, https://www.gospels.net/manuscript (checked 2026-10-27). NASSCAL describes Codex I as fourth century: https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/apocryphon-of-james/.
Composition dating is debated; NASSCAL describes proposals as tending toward the late second century: https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/apocryphon-of-james/.
Acquired 2026-10-27 from https://www.gospels.net/james; full HTML response SHA-256 e4a0f2c4fd88250feab50f9d53023b0acab37b1baff359c5db63b5683f859d02. The pinned Salutation–Conclusion HTML snapshot has SHA-256 1afd3abd5d79bd5ff63e88e4583c57b5ec9172ac92b75e26168b37ea9b06f458; the extraction script preserves paragraph order and folds whitespace.
Canon check, 2026-10-26: not in the Protestant, Catholic or Eastern Orthodox lists on the Scriptures shelf; not in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church’s 81-book list (https://ethiopianorthodox.org/english/canonical/books.html) or in R. W. Cowley, “The Biblical Canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Today,” Ostkirchliche Studien 23 (1974) 318–323; and not among the additional books in the Armenian canon lists tabulated from M. E. Stone’s Harvard Theological Review studies (https://islamic-awareness.org/bible/text/canon/armenianlist).
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Edition and sources
Versions and manuscript witnesses
- Nag Hammadi Codex I,2 — Coptic papyrus codex, fourth/fifth century; preserves essentially the complete work, with gaps. This translation follows it.
Rights and provenance record
Translator explicitly dedicates this translation for unrestricted copying, modification and use for any purpose.
Acquired source rights statement: Source page https://www.gospels.net/james, checked 2026-10-27: “The following translation has been committed to the public domain and may be freely copied and used, changed or unchanged, for any purpose.”
Source SHA-256: 79c189d435a1017986f18052a370c3f3e20c633a2a7ed41e74d9b72a20760ed6
Work: secret-book-james · edition: secret-book-james-mattison. Reviewed 27 October 2026.