The Gospel of the Twelve Apostles is one of many ancient writings that claimed to tell the story of Jesus or his followers. These writings, often called “heretical gospels” (books that were rejected by the early church as false teachings), circulated during the first centuries AD along with the four true Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
The Christian scholar Origen, who lived around AD 185–254, first mentioned the Gospel of the Twelve Apostles by name in his comments on Luke 1:1. Some scholars believe it might be the same as the Gospel of the Ebionites, which a few early Christian writings quote. However, nothing is known directly about the Gospel of the Twelve Apostles itself, because no copies have survived.