The Gnostic Gospels Master Collection brings together fourteen texts from the Christianity that did not make it into the New Testament. Here Thomas collects the sayings of Jesus, and Mary Magdalene teaches the disciples. Judas betrays on command, Philip speaks of a bridal chamber, and Pistis Sophia unfolds long revelations. Above all, several of these texts tell of a world made by a lesser god. Most of them lay in a jar at Nag Hammadi until 1945. Now, in one volume, each of them comes with an introduction, an explanation and its place in time.
This is the book for anyone who has heard of the Gospel of Thomas or the Gospel of Judas. You want to know what they actually say. It also answers the next question: why the Church left them out. You need no Greek, no Coptic and no prior reading, because Jeremy Payton starts from the beginning and then takes each text in turn.
The fourteen texts
- The Gospel of Thomas
- The Gospel of Truth
- The Gospel of Judas
- The Gospel of Peter
- The Gospel of Mary
- The Gospel of Philip
- The Gospel of the Egyptians
- The Sophia of Jesus Christ
- Pistis Sophia
- The Apocalypse of Peter
- The Apocryphon of John
- The Second Treatise of the Great Seth
- The Hypostasis of the Archons
- The Tripartite Tractate
Between them, they cover everything the Gnostic movement had to say. There is a hidden knowledge that saves, and a divine spark in every person. There is also a heaven with many levels, and a creator who is not the highest God. The bishops of the second and third centuries fought these ideas, and in the end they won. Even so, the texts survived, in sand and in forgotten codices. Read together, they show how many ways there were of being Christian in the first three centuries.
How the texts are presented
First of all, this is a study of the Gnostic Gospels, not a complete edition of them. Each text opens with where it came to light, who wrote it and when, and what it teaches. Then the reading follows its argument and its key passages, rather than every line of every codex. If you want the full text of Thomas or Mary, you will find it in the two single volumes at the foot of this page. If instead you want to understand the whole Gnostic library, and how its parts fit together, this is the book.
The writing is plain, current English. The fourteen texts follow a fixed order, so you can read the book straight through or open it at the one you are after. Illustrations accompany the texts, and the large 8.5 by 11 inch paperback keeps the type comfortable to read. Finally, a corrected and improved edition came out in May 2025.
What readers say
The collection holds a 4.8-star average on Amazon across more than a thousand ratings. For example, two verified purchasers put it plainly:
Book is very well written and organized. The nature of the Gnostic Gospels can be a little hard to follow.
Chuck P in Wisconsin, Amazon, March 2026
A nicely presented compilation of the Gnostic Gospels which is aiding me in my journey of Faith. Anyone of any Faith will find this book of interest.
Luis, Amazon, March 2026
In short: fourteen texts, one volume, and the other side of early Christianity at last within reach. Paperback, 8.5 x 11 inches, on Amazon.
Also by Jeremy Payton
The Gnostic Gospels is one of the seven volumes of the Apocrypha and Gnostic Gospels Bible Collection. The other six: The Apocrypha, The Books of Enoch, The Book of Giants, The Gospel of Thomas, The Gospel of Mary Magdalene and The Book of Revelation.