The Gospel of Peter
The work known as the Gospel of Peter identifies its author as the Apostle called Peter by Jesus through first-person statements and by name, using the name Simon Peter. The complete Gospel no longer exists, or at least it has yet to be discovered. A fragmentary manuscript which contains a description of the passion absolves Pontius Pilate from ordering the execution of Jesus and instead assigns that responsibility to Herod and the scribes. The description of the passion contains much greater detail than those in the canonical Gospels.
It also implies that Jesus did not die on the cross. According to the book Jesus called out, “My power, my power, thou hast forsaken me,” as he hung on the cross after which he became silent, according to Peter, “…as though he felt no pain.” Peter names the centurion sent to keep watch on the tomb as Petronius, and describes himself and the other disciples hiding from the authorities. The Gospel of Peter has the Resurrection of Jesus occurring on the third day, but the Resurrection is a precursor to the immediate Ascension into heaven as the aftermath of the Resurrection.
The existence of the Gospel of Peter was well known to early Church authorities, who rejected it as heretical and denied that the author had been Peter the Apostle. For most of the twentieth century the book was believed to be simply a passion narrative, but in 1972 other fragments were discovered which revealed conversations between Peter and Jesus well before the events of his trial, torture, and execution outside of Jerusalem.
According to Origen of Alexandria, the Gospel of Peter was the source of the doctrine of the Catholic Church describing the perpetual virginity of Mary. As early Church fathers condemned the work as docetic, meaning that it supported the argument that Jesus in human form was an illusion, and that rather than a divine being becoming a man he was a divine being imitating a man, its use was limited to those who studied it for other reasons than religious dogma. As early as the beginning of the third century the book was considered heretical.
Speculation as to who it may have been written by has been superseded by to whom it was written. Scholars almost universally agree that the book was not written by the Apostle for whom it was named. Nonetheless, it is clear that the work found an abundant audience in the early Church from the number of criticisms directed towards it, and the number of condemnations it earned. Unless and until more of the text is found and studied, the truth about the Gospel of Peter will remain a secret of antiquity.