What is the Gospel of the Hebrews? Is it Heretical?

What is the Gospel of the Hebrews? Is it one to read or one to avoiding, being heretical?

A New Gospel?

One wise mentor, and retired pastor who is now with the Lord once said, “If it is new, it’s not from God; if it’s from God, it’s not new,” and I think he’s right. Every year it seems we find a new source of “truth” or another gospel. All of these were gospels of heresy as it turns out. And, do we really need another gospel? Is there anything wrong with the one we have now? Why do we need “another”gospel? We know that these “other” gospels like the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary and the Gospel of Philip have been shown to be false. They are heretical. That is, if they are not from God, so we don’t need a new gospel. These are clearly from Satan and they teach satanic things like Gnosticism, Arianism, and such. Same with the Gospel of the Hebrews as we shall see.

Rejected by the Church

The Gospel of the Hebrews is not and will never be accepted by the church and for good reason. This gospel is an ancient, now lost work that apparently contained stories about the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The problem arises when it conflicts with the Bible. Several of the early church fathers briefly quoted the Gospel of the Hebrews, but we do not have any copies of the book itself today to examine. There are no full or even partial manuscripts. Another other work generally comes up in any discussion about the Gospel of the Hebrews and that is the Gospel of the Nazarenes, though it is possible, this was another name for the Gospel of the Hebrews. This book was never even considered to be included in the Bible, or canonized, at any time or at any council ever; this “gospel” has been rejected in the past and is today. At least what remains of the Gospel of the Hebrews.

Biblical Heresy

Some of the distinctive features from the Gospel of the Hebrews include the belief that the Holy Spirit is Jesus’ Divine Mother. Fragments 2 and 3 of the Gospel of the Hebrews identify Jesus as the son of the Holy Spirit. The very same idea is found in the Egyptian Coptic, and the Epistle of James, which are just as heretical as the Gospel of the Hebrews. This should convince believers that the Gospel of the Hebrews does not come from God and is not inspired. If it is inspired at all, it is of satanic inspiration. Like God the Holy Spirit is the author of the Bible, Satan is the author of these false gospels, including the Gospel of the Hebrews.

Insufficient Evidence

In actuality, the Gospel of the Hebrews is an ancient, non-canonical gospel that is now completely lost, surviving only through brief quotations and mentions by early Church Fathers. There are no manuscripts to examine to find doctrinal beliefs. It is surely and purely conjecture. It is subjective “truth,” but not like the Word of God, the Bible, which is objective truth. All we have today comes only from a few fragments preserved in quotations by the early Church Fathers, so even this is a second hand source. It would be difficult to preach a gospel message with only quotations from the early church fathers, preserved in fragments. And these are quotes from the early church fathers, not from Scripture! Any man-made source is not of God. This Hebrew Gospel apparently doesn’t know the real Jesus (the Holy Spirit is Jesus’ divine mother), and eternal life only comes through knowing the Son and the Father. Jesus said, “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). The Gospel of the Hebrews does not know the true and living Son of God and if you don’t have the Father, you don’t have the Son (1 John 2:23).

Rightly Rejected

The Council of Nicaea, with Arius depicted as defeated by the council, written by Michael Damaskinos, 1591.

I am so thankful that the very earliest church fathers or leaders ultimately rejected the Gospel of the Hebrews. Christians can be confident that, under the sovereign guidance of the Holy Spirit, the early church made the right decision to turn this book away. Today, there are no “lost books” of the Bible, and all the books that are in the Bible are the books God intended to be in the Bible. The four gospels we possess accurately recount the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who achieved victory over death and paid the price for our sin so that we might live forever with Him. That’s the gospel. Scholars determined that the surviving fragments and descriptions of the Gospel of the Hebrews point to a secondary, independent, second-century Jewish-Christian composition rather than a first-century apostolic eyewitness account.

Heresy

The Gospel of the Hebrews was never accepted into the New Testament canon because it contained heretical teachings. Early church leaders like Origen explicitly questioned its authenticity and reliability, treating it as a non-authoritative outside writing. The vast majority of its text was not found in canonical gospels, such as a passage where Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as “my mother”, which aligned with specific second-century Jewish-Christian theological communities rather than orthodox catholic Christianity. Clear enough? It’s heresy. Don’t read it or waste your money. In fact, have nothing to do with those who oppose the true gospel.

Conclusion

I pray you have put your trust in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If that has not happened yet, my friend, you are in real danger of hell fire. And I mean, in immediate danger. You’re one breath, one heartbeat…one accident away from eternity when it will be too late to repent. Today is the best day to believe (2 Cor 6:2) since tomorrow is no guarantee. If Jesus Christ came today, here is your fate (Matt 7:21-23). This is why I plead with you as you read this, repent today…and I mean right now. Put your trust in Jesus Christ. If you do not, you will face God’s judgment after death guaranteed (Heb 9:27) or at Jesus Christ’s appearance (Rev 20:12-15), which could happen at any moment.

Here is some related reading for you: What Are the Differences Between the Real Gospel and False Gospels?

Tagged as: false gospel, gospel, Gospel of Hebrews, heresy, Heretics