The Church Fathers · c. 240–270; survives in fragments
The Living Gospel
Evangelion
Mani · 216–274 or 277
What it is
The first of Mani's own scriptures, arranged in twenty-two chapters after the letters of the Syriac alphabet, opening with his declaration that he is an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of the Father — the same words Paul used, claimed for a different revelation.
Why it lasted
The head of the only canon in history designed and written by its own founder, rather than assembled from him afterwards. Augustine read it for nine years before he turned on it.
Scripture it works from
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
Read next