The way I see it, you have the current canonical Bible, then the Old Testament Apocrypha books accepted by the Catholic Church (and seen by other denominations- such as Lutheranism- as worthy of study), and then finally that whole glut of gnostic and gnostic-inspired apocrypha for the New Testament.
So supposing the Council of Nicea was a wee bit open for other books. However, they are still strongly against what they perceive as subversion, i.e. Gnosticism. So are there any other books at all that may be possible contenders to be added?
Personally, from what I know, most of the "Gospels" of NT Apocrypha all seem incredibly gnostic, and hence, not orthodox Christian. (Though that goes into question what orthodox Christian is, but I'm not going to open that can of words. I personally like what John Reilly wrote:
He also likens the gnostic gospels to Bible fanfiction, an analogy that amuses me to no end, though he's not the first to suggest it on the internet, apparently. Personally, this passage from a New Yorker review of the Gospel of Judas proves that in that particular apocryphon Judas is simply a Mary Sue:
So supposing the Council of Nicea was a wee bit open for other books. However, they are still strongly against what they perceive as subversion, i.e. Gnosticism. So are there any other books at all that may be possible contenders to be added?
Personally, from what I know, most of the "Gospels" of NT Apocrypha all seem incredibly gnostic, and hence, not orthodox Christian. (Though that goes into question what orthodox Christian is, but I'm not going to open that can of words. I personally like what John Reilly wrote:
There was nothing arbitrary or tendentious about the choice in the second century of the Four Gospels for the canon. The class of Gnostic literature called "gospels" have, for the most part, no interest in a historical person called Jesus, or indeed in anything but their authors' apprehension of the Other World. Some of them are a little like those television commercials for the July 4 auto sales: the actors are dressed like the Founding Fathers and 18th-century fife music plays in the background, but the characters talk to each other about the merits of a certain brand of SUV. Similarly, the Gnostic literature simply appropriates Christian names and themes to talk about something else. All four of the canonical Gospels, in contrast, are pretty much about the same thing.
He also likens the gnostic gospels to Bible fanfiction, an analogy that amuses me to no end, though he's not the first to suggest it on the internet, apparently. Personally, this passage from a New Yorker review of the Gospel of Judas proves that in that particular apocryphon Judas is simply a Mary Sue:
It begins just before Jesus’ last Passover in Jerusalem, as the disciples are offering a prayer to God over the dinner table. Watching them, Jesus laughs. “Why are you laughing at us?” the nettled disciples ask, and Jesus says that he is laughing not at them but at their strange idea of pleasing their God. (One of the unnerving things about the new Gospel is that Jesus, who never laughs in the canonic Gospels, is constantly laughing in this one, and it’s obviously one of those sardonic, significant, how-little-you-know laughs, like the laugh of the ruler of a dubious planet on “Star Trek.”)
The disciples are furious at Jesus’ condescension, except for Judas, who thinks he knows what the laughter signifies. “I know who you are and where you have come from,” Judas says, standing before him. “You are from the immortal realm of Barbelo.” Apparently startled by his insight, Jesus tells Judas, “Step away from the others and I shall tell you the mysteries of the Kingdom.”
The true mystery, as Jesus unveils it, is that, out beyond the stars, there exists a divine, blessed realm, free of the materiality of this earthly one. This is the realm of Barbelo, a name that gnostics gave the celestial Mother, who lives there with, among others, her progeny, a good God awkwardly called the Self-Generated One. Jesus, it turns out, is not the son of the Old Testament God, whose retinue includes a rebellious creator known as Yaldabaoth, but an avatar of Adam’s third son, Seth. His mission is to show those lucky members of mankind who still have a “Sethian” spark the way back to the blessed realm. Jesus, we learn, was laughing at the disciples’ prayer because it was directed at their God, the Old Testament God, who is really no friend of mankind but, rather, the cause of its suffering.