Download !FREE! The Lost Books Of The Bible
Vanesa Domagala
This is a collection of New Testament Apocrypha, including many works which were admired and read by the early Christians, but which were later excluded from the canonical Bible. It includes accounts of the young Jesus, particularly the Gospel of Mary and the Protevangelion, which provides additional folklore about the birth and youthful adventures of Jesus. Of note are the letters of Paul and Seneca, and the letters of Herod and Pilate, which are most likely a forgery, but add more depth to the question of the historicity of Jesus. There are also a number of non-canonical epistles, such as Laodiceans. Also worth a close read are the three books of the Shepherd of Hermas, which uses apocalyptic and symbolic imagery. This collection is an invaluable selection of portions of the New Testament which illustrates the fluid nature of the early Biblical canon, and provides access to all of the 'spare parts.'--J.B. Hare, August 12, 2009.
What really happened in the 4th century is that a council recognized what had been practiced in the church since the days of the apostles. A heretic, named Marcion, forced the church to make explicit what had been practiced for centuries. Marcion picked which books he liked and which ones he did not. It caused the question of canon to be asked. This is why in the 4th century the early church had to put something in writing which recognizes which books are authoritative and which ones are not.
There is an important distinction to be made here. The canon is not an authorized collection of writings (in that the church conferred authority or approval upon a list of books). Rather, the canon is a collection of authoritative writings. The church recognized their authority, it did not give them authority.
One set of extra-biblical books are called apocryphal or deuterocanonical. These are the books that are typically found in a Catholic Bible. The books are: Tobit, Judith, Additions to Esther, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus (Sirach), Baruch (+Letter of Jeremiah), Prayer of Azariah, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, 1 & 2 Maccabees.
These are Jewish literature written in what is known as the intertestamental period (430BC-AD40). These books can be helpful for understanding history, some have entertaining stories, and still others sound similar to wisdom texts or Psalms and Proverbs. So why were they not considered authoritative?
Another set of extra-canonical books are known as pseudepigraphal and sometimes Lost Books of the Bible, or Gnostic gospels. These were mainly written during the first few centuries after Christ and have unknown authors. Pseudepigrapha means fake author; they are falsely attributed to an apostle. As an example, the Gospel of Peter was not written by the apostle Peter. This alone answers the question of why they were not accepted as canonical. But a closer perusal of their content also would make it obvious why these are not recognized as Scripture.
What about the books which the Latter Day Saints consider to be Scripture? This question actually falls under a different category, new revelation. These too would fail tests of canonicity, but they also fail in regards to whether the canon of Scripture is still open. That is a topic which extends beyond the boundaries of this piece. Yet it is enough to say that the Book of Mormon contradicts the Bible in several places. Furthermore, orthodox Christians reject Joseph Smith as a prophet.
What books were left out of the Bible and why? First issued in 1926, this is the most popular collection of apocryphal and pseudepigraphal literature ever published. Here, in one place, are the infancy gospels, the letter of Jesus to Abgarus, the Gospel of Nicodemus, the Legends of Paul and Thecla, the Epistles of Clement and Barnabus, the Shepherd of Hermas, the Books of Adam and Eve, the Secrets of Enoch, the Psalms and Odes of Solomon, the many Testaments of the Patriarchs, and many more ancient books which were highly revered, but ultimately left out of the Bible.
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