In 1945, near the town of Nag Hammadi, Egypt, a farmer digging for fertilizer struck a sealed jar. Inside were thirteen leather-bound papyrus codices, their pages crumbling. Among them was a text that began: “The teaching of the Savior, and the revelation of the mysteries, and the things hidden in silence.” That text called itself an apocryphon — from the Greek apokryphon (ἀπόκρυφον), meaning “hidden” or “secret.” In Gnostic tradition, an apocryphon is not merely a rejected book. It is a deliberate concealment of knowledge meant for the initiated, a written form of the secret teaching that Jesus was said to have reserved for his closest disciples.
Where the Word “Apocryphon” Comes From
The Greek root apokryptein means “to hide away.” In classical usage, an apocryphon was any writing kept out of public circulation — a private document, a family archive, a temple record. Early Christian writers borrowed the term to describe books that claimed apostolic authority but were not read in churches. Irenaeus of Lyons, writing around 180 CE, used it pejoratively in Against Heresies to dismiss the secret books of Valentinian Gnostics. He called them “apocryphal and spurious,” implying that hiddenness was itself a mark of fraud.
But the Gnostics saw it differently. For them, the apocryphon was a container for gnosis — direct, transformative knowledge that could not be entrusted to the uninitiated. The fourth-century Muratorian Fragment, one of the earliest lists of canonical books, notes that certain writings “cannot be received into the catholic church” because “gall is not to be mixed with honey.” That line draws a sharp boundary. The apocryphon sits on the other side of it.
The Apocryphon of John: A Case Study
The most famous text bearing the title is the Apocryphon of John, discovered in three separate Coptic versions at Nag Hammadi and one in the Berlin Codex 8502. Scholars date its original composition to between 180 and 300 CE, with layers of earlier material. The text presents itself as a revelation given by the risen Christ to John the son of Zebedee, after the crucifixion. Jesus appears as a polymorphic being, a child, an old man, a young man, and delivers a complex cosmology that reinterprets the Genesis creation story.
In this account, the God of the Old Testament is not the true God but a lower deity named Yaldabaoth, a blind creator who stole power from the divine realm. The apocryphon explains that a spark of the true light remains trapped in humanity, and that awakening this spark is the purpose of Christ’s teaching. The text ends with a warning: “These things I have told you, John, in a mystery. Write them down and guard them carefully, and give them only to your fellow initiates.”
That final instruction is the apocryphon’s signature. It is not a public gospel. It is a secret transmission.
What the Apocryphon Symbolizes in Gnostic Thought
The apocryphon is not simply a genre. It is a theological statement. By claiming to be hidden, the text asserts that the highest truth cannot be expressed in public teaching. The canonical gospels, in this view, contain only the outer shell of Jesus’ message. The inner meaning, the gnosis, was reserved for those ready to receive it.
This dual-level revelation mirrors the Gnostic cosmology itself. The material world is a prison of ignorance, and the divine realm is a pleroma of light. The apocryphon functions as a key that unlocks the prison door. It is a written counterpart to the living teacher, a text that can transmit the same secret knowledge across generations.
The symbolism extends to the act of copying. Many Nag Hammadi codices were produced by scribes who believed they were performing a sacred duty. The physical book became a vessel for the hidden light. We see this in the colophons of certain codices, where scribes add prayers for protection and understanding. The apocryphon was not read casually. It was studied in small groups, often under the guidance of a teacher who could explain its layers.
How Apocrypha Were Used in Practice
We have no direct liturgical manuals from Gnostic communities, but the texts themselves give clues. The Apocryphon of John includes a hymn-like section that may have been chanted. Other Nag Hammadi texts, such as the Gospel of Philip, refer to sacramental rites like the bridal chamber. The apocryphon likely served as a script for initiation, read aloud to candidates before baptism or anointing, then explained in private sessions.
The fourth-century church father Epiphanius of Salamis, in his Panarion, describes Gnostic groups who “hand down their books only to those who have been initiated.” He claims they hid them in caves and tombs. Whether that is accurate or polemical exaggeration, it reflects the real secrecy surrounding these texts. The apocryphon was a tool of boundary-making. It distinguished the insider from the outsider.
In the centuries after the Council of Nicaea (325 CE), as the canonical New proof ofok shape, apocryphal books were systematically destroyed or left to decay. The Nag Hammadi library survived because someone buried it, possibly a monk from the nearby Pachomian monastery who wanted to preserve the texts without being caught with them. The jar was a deliberate act of concealment, a final apocryphon.
Apocryphon vs. Apocrypha: A Crucial Distinction
The singular apocryphon and the plural apocrypha are often confused. In modern usage, “the Apocrypha” (capitalized) refers to a specific set of Jewish writings from the intertestamental period, Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, and others, that appear in the Septuagint but not in the Hebrew Bible. These books are considered deuterocanonical by Catholics and Orthodox, and non-canonical by Protestants.
The Gnostic apocryphon is a different category. It does not fill a gap in the Old Testament. It claims to reveal a secret teaching of Jesus or his apostles that contradicts the public tradition. Where the deuterocanonical books are historical or wisdom literature, the apocryphon is visionary and esoteric. The two share a name but not a function.
Another adjacent term is pseudepigrapha, writings falsely attributed to a biblical figure. Many apocrypha are also pseudepigraphical, but not all. The Apocryphon of John, for example, uses John’s name as a literary device, but its original audience likely understood the attribution as a claim to authority rather than a forgery.
Common Misconceptions About the Apocryphon
- “Apocryphon means ‘false book.’” It means “hidden,” not “false.” The negative connotation came from church fathers who used the term to discredit texts they rejected.
- “All apocryphal books were suppressed by the Church.” Some were destroyed, but many simply fell out of use. The Nag Hammadi texts were lost not because of a coordinated purge but because the communities that used them disappeared.
- “The Apocryphon of John is a single, fixed text.” We have four versions, each with different lengths and theological emphases. The text was fluid, adapted by different groups.
- “Gnostic apocrypha are ‘lost gospels’ that should be in the Bible.” They were never part of the canonical process. They represent a rival Christianity that the mainstream rejected. Including them would change the definition of Christianity itself.
FAQ
Is the Apocryphon of John in the Bible?
No. It was never included in any canonical list. It belongs to the Nag Hammadi library, a collection of Gnostic texts discovered in 1945.
What does apocryphon mean in Greek?
It comes from apokryptein, “to hide.” Literally, “the hidden thing.”
Who wrote the Apocryphon of John?
The text is anonymous. It claims to be the secret teaching of Jesus to John, but scholars date its composition to the late second or early third century CE, likely in Alexandria.
Why were apocryphal books hidden?
Gnostic groups believed that the highest spiritual truths could only be understood by the initiated. Public circulation would lead to misunderstanding or persecution.
The Apocryphon as a Living Concept
The apocryphon did not disappear with the Nag Hammadi codices. The idea of a hidden teaching, a secret book that contains the real story, persists in esoteric traditions from the Hermetica to the Theosophical Society. Every generation rediscovers the impulse to conceal knowledge in order to protect it. The apocryphon is not a relic. It is a pattern of thought that asks us to consider what truth costs, and who deserves to receive it.
For a deeper look at the cosmology of the Apocryphon of John and its place in Gnostic thought, see our guide to Gnosticism. The term itself appears frequently in discussions of canon and apocrypha. And for a close reading of the text’s creation myth, read our analysis of the Apocryphon of John.