Were there other Gospels besides Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John?
Many later writings called themselves "gospels" — the Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Peter, Gospel of Mary, etc. — but they appeared well after the apostles, contain teaching foreign to the apostolic gospel, and were rejected by the church. The four canonical Gospels alone are first-century, eyewitness-based, and apostolic.
The four canonical Gospels date to within decades of Jesus, rest on eyewitness testimony, and were unanimously accepted as Scripture by the early church.
"Gnostic gospels" like the Gospel of Thomas (c. 150 AD) reject the goodness of creation and the bodily resurrection — they contradict the apostolic faith.
The church didn’t suppress these writings; it weighed them and found them wanting. The four Gospels won not by politics but by their genuine apostolic root.
Original BibleDawn answer · reviewed 2026-06. Drafted with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy.