The Apocryphon of John

Secret Book of John

The Apocryphon of John (Book of John the Evangelist or Secret Book of John or Secret Revelation of John, as here "apocryphal" means "secret") is a gospel composed in Greek in the 2nd century (before 185) attributed (pseudoepigraphically) to John the Apostle. It is a Gnostic gospel. Cited by Irenaeus of Lyon, it was thought to be lost until the discovery of three distinct Coptic versions among the Nag Hammadi codices in 1945; plus a fourth version. The Apocryphon of John was an extremely popular book among Gnostic teachers, who reworked it several times, so much so that at least five versions were produced.