The Oldest Gospel

This gospel was first published by Marcion of Sinope as part of a collection that also contained ten letters of Paul. Its title was simply “Gospel”, suggesting to readers of the collection that it was the gospel of which Paul spoke in his letter to the Galatians (Gal 1:6-9). Marcion moved from Asia Minor to Rome by the year 144. He insisted that someone had used the anonymous book to create the "Gospel According to Luke".

No manuscripts of the full text are known to have survived. Tertullian of Carthage, Epiphanius of Salamis, the author of the Dialogues of Adamantius, and several others, however, wrote extensively about this gospel. Their quotes and detailed descriptions preserved much of the text.

Throughout the centuries, many attempts of reconstructing this gospel were undertaken, but none with the painstakingly detailed effort of Matthias Klinghardt, Professor of New Testament at the Technical University of Dresden, Germany. Klinghardt's 2015 reconstruction is presented here for the first time in an English translation. This gospel is presumed to be older than the canonical Four-Gospel book.