Some early Christians believed that certain gospels contained secret knowledge. Copies of these gospels were usually passed around privately, so that only certain people would have a chance to read them. For these reasons, biblical scholars call them "secret gospels".
In some cases, a secret gospel was only used by a particular group or sect of Christians. When that group or sect disappeared, or was absorbed into the general Christian movement, its secret gospel could be lost, especially if only a few copies had existed. Some of these gospels may have also been destroyed intentionally because they expressed unorthodox views.
Even so, several secret gospels have survived. One of them, the Gospel of Thomas, could be one of the earliest known Christian writings. Another one, the Secret Gospel of Mark, may contain some missing sections of the New Testament Gospel of Mark. Others may provide information about the gnostics and other groups that existed outside the main Christian movement.
Judging by their content, secret gospels could contain two different kinds of special knowledge:
1. A private revelation received directly from God or Jesus. Such a revelation could be received through a vision or dream, or through a mystical communication.
2. Secret teachings of Jesus or his disciples which were passed down privately. In most cases these teachings would initially be transmitted through private conversations, but eventually someone would write them down, often in the form of secret sayings.
Many people were interested in secret gospels because it was thought that reading them would enable a person to gain true wisdom. Many also believed that gaining this wisdom was the key to final salvation.
But anyone lucky enough to obtain a secret gospel could have encountered an unexpected problem. This is because the writing in these gospels was often hard to interpret, and the reader might have to find a "hidden meaning". Thus, only the select group of people who could interpret the gospel correctly would gain any benefit from it.
Evidence for the existence of secret knowledge can be found within the New Testament itself. For example, in Mark 4:11-12, Jesus tells his disciples:
"The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding."
This suggests that Jesus revealed a special "secret of the kingdom of God" to his disciples, but not to "those on the outside".
The letters of Paul indicate that he also passed along secret knowledge to certain favored individuals. For instance, in 1Corinthians 2:6-8 he mentions "God's secret wisdom", and says that he has given it to "the mature", by which he apparently meant his most advanced converts.
The gnostic sects of Christians were especially interested in secret knowledge. In fact, the word "gnostic" is derived from the Greek word "gnosis", which means "knowledge". In gnostic writings this word often had the special meaning of "hidden" or "secret" knowledge.
Some secret gospels have probably been lost forever. Others survive only as fragments or secondary translations. The best known survivors are the Gospel of Thomas, the Secret Gospel of Mark, the Apocryphon of James, the Secret Book of John, the Gospel of Judas, the Dialogue of the Savior, and the Gospel of Truth..........From the Gnostic Society Library
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