It may be that the true Gospel...

It may be that the true Gospel, the book of revelation sent down to Jesus (as) lies buried, not in a cave or under debris of dust and stones, but under the encrusted additions to one or another of the Gospels we possess. The possibility that the true Gospel might be a portion, rather than the whole, of any one of the candidates, seems to have escaped the notice of most seekers.

An examination of the extant Gospels may well bring to light such a document, a book which can be truly considered the revelation once sent down to Jesus the Messiah (as). Before beginning such an examination, however, it is necessary to lay down some criteria by which we might recognize a book of revelation. I offer the following criteria. The Gospel might exist as fragments of the original, part of which has been lost and part of which may have been preserved imperfectly.

A book of revelation will be couched mainly in words that can best be ascribed to God Himself, rather than to the prophet. A book of revelation will be highly relevant to the specific religious problems of the time. It will point out innovations as false, and call people to return to forgotten or neglected principles in earlier revelation. A book of revelation will not conflict with the basic principles of faith declared in earlier revelations.

Thus there are considerations of the state of the document, style of speech, relevance, and consistency. By applying these four criteria, there is every likelihood that if any portion of the true Gospel of Jesus (as) remains hidden within the extant gospels, we shall be able to identify it. The criteria are precise enough to distinguish the true Gospel from other material.

Although the material at first appears rather abundant, the second criterion, that of style, requires us to examine only the discourses, and to chose among them those which are couched in words that might best be ascribed to God rather than the prophet. Such an exercise immediately excludes the bulk of material.

Some passages in the apocryphal gospels might require further examination, but among the canonical Gospels only the following remains as a candidate after applying the criterion of style: Matthew 23. The contents of this passage are found scattered through discourses in Luke 11-13, but far more fragmented than in Matthew 23. This suggests that other parts of Jesus’s discourses may also be quoted from the original Gospel, without this being apparent.