John as an Apocryphal Gospel

This essay argues that the Gospel of John shares an especially deep kinship with such noncanonical gospels as the Gospels of Mary and Thomas. Specifically, John deploys many of the same authenticating strategies found in these works, legitimizing its novelties through appeals to its supposed eyewitness character and access to Jesus's private dialogues, as well as its strategic use of cryptic speech and Synoptic-like elements. In this respect, the Gospel of John can be playfully but productively considered an »apocryphal« (in the sense of »hidden« or »concealed«) gospel, one that supplements the Synoptics with hidden or obscure knowledge about Jesus.