A Lycopolitan Forgery of John's Gospel

Abstract

The internet publication of a Coptic Gospel of John fragment demonstrated that both it and the relatedGospel of Jesus' Wifefragment were modern creations. The Coptic John fragment was clearly copied from Herbert Thompson's 1924 publication of the Lycopolitan Qau codex, and shared the same hand, ink and writing instrument with theGospel of Jesus' Wifefragment. The present discussion will first survey the extant Coptic tradition of John's Gospel, and second outline the evidence for dependence on the Qau codex publication.