Literary notes about Apocryphal (AI summary)
In literature, the term "apocryphal" is commonly used to denote texts or accounts whose authenticity is uncertain or whose canonical status is disputed, particularly in religious discourse [1][2][3]. It appears frequently in discussions about lost or unrecognized gospels and epistles, suggesting that these writings, though intriguing, do not belong to the established canon [4][5][6]. Beyond strictly religious texts, the descriptor is also applied to narratives, anecdotes, or claims that are widely circulated but remain unverified—whether recounting miraculous events [7] or legendary occurrences that border on myth [8][9]. In both contexts, the word "apocryphal" serves as a cautionary label, guiding readers and scholars alike to approach such material with a critical eye [10][11].
- If the writer quotes the Evangelist freely, with some differences, however slight, in the words, he is assumed to quote from a lost Apocryphal Gospel.
— from The Lost Gospel and Its ContentsOr, The Author of "Supernatural Religion" Refuted by Himself by M. F. (Michael Ferrebee) Sadler - Apocryphal Acts of the Gospels (Wright, p. 16).
— from The Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels by John William Burgon - Ecclesias´ticus , a book placed by Protestants and Jews among the apocryphal scriptures.
— from The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Ebert to Estremadura Volume 4, Part 2 by Various - It withdraws all support from the apocryphal Epistle to the Laodiceans, and it refrains from postulating a lost Apostolic epistle.
— from St. Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon by J. B. Lightfoot - These Apocryphal Gospels must be carefully read, if the student would understand a number of Moslem allusions to the Injνl which no Evangel contains.
— from The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 05 - In this case the letter ‘ad Laudicenses’ may refer to our apocryphal epistle or to some earlier forgery.
— from St. Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon by J. B. Lightfoot - It is this sort of talk, and what Sancho says lower down, that made the translator of the history say he considered this chapter apocryphal.
— from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra - A great many stories, mostly apocryphal, are told of stage accidents in the far west.
— from How to Travel Hints, Advice, and Suggestions to Travelers by Land and Sea all over the Globe. by Thomas Wallace Knox - What apocryphal, ill-devised incidents, attributing to one saint the miracles of another!
— from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra - For the present, I must be an unbeliever in the apocryphal gospel.
— from The Memoirs, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas JeffersonA Linked Index to the Project Gutenberg Editions by Thomas Jefferson - The existence of such an apocryphal literature was a sure token of some abnormal development in doctrine [259] .
— from St. Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon by J. B. Lightfoot
