“Gospel of Bartholomew”
From “Apocryphal New Testament”, M. R. James (1924)
The “Gospel of Bartholomew” is an apocryphal gospel that narrates the passion and resurrection of Christ. This gospel recounts the descent into hell of Jesus Christ and has a Coptic-influenced style. It is mentioned by Jerome in the prologue to his Commentary on Matthew and in the Decretum Gelasianum, and is considered to have been written between the 3rd and 7th centuries. Although no ancient manuscript with that name has survived, it is usually identified with a text called The Questions of Bartholomew or The Resurrection of Christ of which two Greek manuscripts are preserved, one located in Vienna and the other in Jerusalem, and fragments in Slavic, Coptic and Latin.
Bartholomew’s gospel touches on a series of very disparate points: the incarnation, Jesus’ descent into hell, the creation of angels, the fall of Lucifer and others. In the form of a dialogue between Jesus and his disciple Bartholomew, it contains answers to the latter’s questions that constitute revelations from the Lord after his resurrection, as well as an account of the annunciation made by Mary. Even Satan enters the scene to answer Bartholomew’s questions about sin and the fall of angels. The Descensus ad inferos is described in detail.