Apocryphon of James

Gnostic work

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

June 18, 2026

Quick Summary

The Apocryphon of James is a Gnostic Christian work discovered among texts found near Naj Hammadi, Egypt. Gnosticism was a spiritual movement that viewed matter as evil and spirit as good, believing salvation came through esoteric knowledge.1

The Apocryphon of James contains revelations from the risen Christ to the Apostles. These Gnostic texts, like the Apocryphon of John and the Gospel of Thomas, were created by Gnostic sects who often patterned their scriptures on the New Testament. The Apocryphon of James is distinct from the canonical Letter of James, which is a New Testament writing attributed to a Christian Jew.12

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

5 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

patristic literature
The gnostic writers
…of the Apostle Paul; an Apocryphon of James, recording revelations imparted by the risen Christ to the Apostles; the Gospel of Truth, perhaps to be identified with the work of this name attributed by Irenaeus to Valentinus; the Epistle to Rheginos, a Valentinian work, possibly by Valentinus himself, on the…
Read More
…of the Apostle Paul; an Apocryphon of James, recording revelations imparted by the risen Christ to the Apostles; the Gospel of Truth, perhaps to be identified with the work of this name attributed by Irenaeus to Valentinus; the Epistle to Rheginos, a Valentinian work, possibly by Valentinus himself, on the…
Read More