How the gospel story grew in the telling

The apocryphal texts reveal far more about the politics of the early church than about the historical Jesus, Witherington said. "If you're after some 'insider trading' information about Jesus, you are not going to get it from this. ... If your interest is church history in the second, third and fourth century, these are very interesting documents," he said.

Even though they're not part of the orthodox New Testament, some bits of the rejected tales do turn up in Christian lore. For example, the back story about Mary — including the saga of her own birth without sin, or "immaculate conception" — is found most clearly in the Protoevangelium of James. And although the elements of the Hail Mary prayer can be found in different passages from Luke, the best formulation comes from the aforementioned Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew.

Other texts that have turned up just in the past few decades — such as the Nag Hammadi library, found in Egypt in 1945 — could shed new light on issues such as the role of women in the early church, and Jesus' role as teacher as well as savior, according to some scholars.

"There are texts like the Gospel of Thomas, for instance," Meyer said. "Here is a collection of sayings of Jesus, some of which may go back very close to the historical Jesus. This may be a text of great significance that may revolutionize the way that we look at Jesus as a Jewish teacher."

More to come
There could be more to come: Just last year, Polish archaeologists found a 1,300-year-old set of Coptic texts in Egypt that is still being deciphered. "My best guess is that there are more texts in the sands of Egypt and the Middle East and elsewhere that will be discovered," Meyer said.

So should any of this affect how Christians view the gospel story? For Witherington, the four evangelists provide all that believers need to know. "Matthew, Mark, Luke and John — stick with those and you can't go wrong," he said.

Meyer, however, says that seeing the wider spectrum of scriptures enhances an appreciation of Christian faith.

"Different Christians — sincere, thoughtful, believing Christians — had very different ideas in the early church about who Jesus was and what it means to follow him," he said. "Even as to the present day, there is the same kind of diversity in the church and beyond the church."

More than history
And sometimes the gospel story isn't just about the historical details. Meyer said he keeps that in mind as he makes his annual rounds of Christmas activities.

"I think that the stories that that we have of the Nativity in Matthew and Luke are beautiful stories," he said. "Much more important than whatever history there might be to those stories — and frankly, I think there's very little that is actually historical about the birth of Jesus — the story that is told in each of those two accounts is profoundly and deeply moving. It's better than just history.

"It has to do with hope for the future. It has to do with peace on Earth. It has to do with seeing that from the humblest of beginnings, at the time of Jesus and in our own day, great things can emerge. For Jesus and for all of us, it provides a sense of hope. And I find that to be something that is always thrilling."

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