The library · Edition and sources
The Secret Book of James
Mark M. Mattison · Translated text
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 →
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The Savior Appears
Now all twelve disciples [were] sitting together [at the same time] recalling what the Savior had told each of them, whether privately or publicly, and organizing it in books. [But I] was writing what went into [my book]. Look! The Savior appeared, [after] he had left [us, while we were watching] for him. Five hundred and fifty days after he had risen from the dead, we told him, “You went away and left us!”
But Jesus said, “No, but I’ll return to the place from which I came. If you want to come with me, come on!”
They all replied and said, “We’ll come if you tell us to.”
He said, “Truly I tell you, no one will ever enter the kingdom of heaven because I ordered it, but because you yourselves are full. Leave James and Peter to me so that I may fill them.”
After he called these two, he took them aside and told the rest to keep doing what they were doing.