The Lost Books of the Bible
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Book Reviews of The Lost Books of the Bible
Book Review: Literary Armageddon
Summary: 5 Stars
Nearly all knowledgeable Biblical scholars realize there have been a wide range of writings attributed to Jesus and his Apostles..... and that some of these were selected for compilation into the book that became known as the Bible.....and that some books have been removed from some versions of the Bible and others have been re-discovered in modern times.
The attention focused on Gnosticism by Dan Brown's DaVinci Code may be debatable, but the fact is that increased attention on academics tends to be predominately positive, so I welcome those with first-time or renewed interest. At least first-timers to Gnosticism are not pursuing the oh-so-popular legends of the Holy Grail, Bloodline of Christ, and Mary Magdalene.
This is great......I seldom quote other reviewers, but there is one reviewer of Pagels' books who confided that he had been a Jesuit candidate and had been required to study a wide range of texts but was never was told about the Nag Hamadi texts. He said:
"Now I know why. The Gospel of Thomas lays waste to the notion that Jesus was `the only begotten Son of God' and obviates the need for a formalized church when he says, `When your leaders tell you that God is in heaven, say rather, God is within you, and without you.' No wonder they suppressed this stuff! The Roman Catholic Church hasn't maintained itself as the oldest institution in the world by allowing individuals to have a clear channel to see the divinity within all of us: they need to put God in a bottle, label the bottle, put that bottle on an altar, build a church around that altar, put a sign over the door, and create rubricks and rituals to keep out the dis-believing riff-raff. Real `Us' versus `them' stuff, the polar opposite from `God is within You.' `My God is bigger than your God' the church(s)seem to say. And you can only get there through "my" door/denomination. But Jesus according to Thomas had it right: just keep it simple, and discover the indwelling Divinity `within you and without you.'"
Here are quickie reviews of what is being bought these days on the Gnostic Gospels and the lost books of the Bible in general:
The Lost Books of the Bible (0517277956) includes 26 apocryphal books from the first 400 years that were not included in the New Testament.
Marvin Meyers' The Secret Teachings of Jesus : Four Gnostic Gospels (0394744330 ) is a new translation without commentary of The Secret Book of James, The Gospel of Thomas, The Book of Thomas, and The Secret Book of John.
James M. Robinson's The Nag Hammadi Library in English : Revised Edition (0060669357) has been around 25 years now and is in 2nd edition. It has introductions to each of the 13 Nag Hammadi Codices and the Papyrus Berioinensis 8502.
The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English (0140278079) by Geza Vermes has selected works....a complete work is more difficult to achieve than the publisher's marketing concept indicates. His commentary generates strong reactions.
Elaine Pagels has 2 books (The Gnostic Gospels 0679724532 and Beyond Belief : The Secret Gospel of Thomas 0375501568) that have received considerable attention lately. For many, her work is controversial in that it is written for popular consumption and there is a strong modern interpretation. She does attempt to reinterpret ancient gender relationships in the light of modern feminist thinking. While this is a useful (and entertaining) aspect of college women's studies programs, it is not as unethical as some critics claim. As hard as they may try, all historians interpret the past in the context of the present. Obviously there is value in our attempts to re-interpret the past in the light of our own time.
If you want the full scholarly work it is W. Schneemelcher's 2 volume New Testament Apocrypha.
Book Review: I once was lost, but now am found...
Summary: 4 Stars
There is something somewhat misleading about the title of this book - in fact, most of the selections contained in this book are not 'lost' documents at all. For example, the Dead Sea Scrolls (which are not contained in this book) were well and truly lost - they were buried for centuries, and those who buried them did not leave notice of where they were in any way that survived; hence, when they were found, they were truly recovered from having been lost. What makes the documents in this book 'lost' contextually is that they were not included in the canon of the New Testament texts.
In the early church, there was no consistent agreement about what belonged in the Bible and what was not to be included. Modern-day readers of books such as the 'Da Vinci Code' can understand some of the issues and dilemmas here - there were no printing presses, no consistency of library cataloging or copyrighting, and no central authority in the oft-persecuted church as to who could make a decision of what texts were valuable. Indeed, even the Hebrew scriptures existed in variations, and the modern day issue of apocryphal books included or not included in the Bible stems from the difference between the Greek and Hebrew translations of the Hebrew scriptures/Old Testament texts.
For example, the book of the Shepherd of Hermas, included here, was well known to the early church, and continued to be a document known to church historians and scholars in the subsequent centuries, even if it was not commonly known and read by the laity in the churches. The apostle Paul was far from the only letter writer of the early church; the New Testament includes some other letters (Peter, John, etc.), but the canonical decision at one point was made that only those attributed to the original twelve apostles and Paul would be included - the letters of Clement, very important and useful in the early church, were excluded from the canon.
However, there is an important point to be made here. Just because something was not included in the canon of scripture did not mean that it was worthless. Just because a student gets an A rather than an A+ does not mean that student did not do good and worthwhile work. Many of these texts were 'A' texts for the early church, but lacked that certain something that made them canonical. The same is true for the gospels - this collection includes some extra-canonical gospel texts, and the reason for their non-inclusion in the canon is varied, but does not mean their value is insignificant.
There has been much work done on early church documentary history and the development of the canon since this book was first published more than a century ago, but these are reasonable (if not always reader-friendly) translations of relatively unknown texts, useful for general readers and undergraduates, or those who might want to know what the early Christians were reading and being influenced by apart from the canonical text.
Book Review: A Fascinating Companion to the Bible Itself
Summary: 3 Stars
This book contains many writings that were simply left out of the final version of the Bible. The inside flap notes that the church suppressed many of these documents. Nevertheless, these writings do not provide any information that is truly spectacular by 21st Century standards. These documents were likely omitted because they did not fit into the neat chronology of the Bible, showed women in a stronger role than was acceptable in medieval times, or suggested that Christ made mistakes as a youth.
"The Acts of Paul and Thecla" describe a woman who helped spread the word of God. The document clearly shows her as a strong woman and a true disciple. Church elders of the medieval period probably felt that a story of a strong female was inappropriate for women of that period. The events surrounding her persecution are filled with miracles. She survived attempts to kill her through burning and attacks by wild beasts. In the end, she disappeared into a crack in a rock that was created by God. God then closed the opening behind her.
The first part of the book describes the birth of the Virgin Mary and her marriage to Joseph. The book also contains writings that describe the adolescent years of Jesus and the magical powers of the cloth used to wrap him as a baby. Some events show Jesus in a less than perfect light. These writings nevertheless describe a part of the Gospel that is not widely known.
Some parts of the book flow easily while other writings are difficult to follow. The books of Hermas provide an example of easy reading and tedious reading. "The First Book of Hermas," tells an interesting story. He passes near a great beast, one hundred feet long with locusts coming out of its mouth. Hermas was not killed by the beast as he had faith that the Lord would protect him. The third book talks of mountains and stones that are used to build a tower. Only after struggling through this document does the reader learn that the tower is a metaphor for the house of God.
The end of the book contains multiple letters from Pontius Pilate and Herod. Herod talks about how he is paying the price for killing John the Baptist. Pilate sends letters to Tiberius Caesar, which recount his reasons for crucifying Jesus. His letters also discuss the miracles surrounding Jesus such as the raising of Lazarus, and the earthquake following the crucifixion. These documents note that Tiberius subsequently killed Pilate for his role in the crucifixion.
Like the Bible itself, this book is a compilation of ancient writings. Also like the Bible, the documents are presented in two vertical columns per page. This book is a fascinating companion to the Bible. It provides insight to events surrounding the New Testament that are mostly unknown. Bottom line: a semi tough read but well worth the effort.
Book Review: Fascinating, Reverential, Accurate, Old Style Translations
Summary: 3 Stars
First published way back in 1820 under the title "The Apocryphal New Testament", it's certainly heartening to find that this volume of assorted translations from early Christian letters and gospels, is still eagerly read and sought after by modern readers. In my opinion, its most valuable books are "The Epistles of Clement", both which were included in some early editions of the New Testament. They were eventually cast aside, not for any theological shortcomings, but simply because they were not written by an apostle or a close associate of an apostle. Similarly dropped from the canon were the highly appealing letters by Polycarp and Barnabas, as well as the enormously popular "Shepherd of Hermas" which, despite its official exclusion, was still being copied and bound into Bibles by monks in the Middle Ages. The only factor I hold against "Lost Books of the Bible" is its old-fashioned, King James style. Many readers will doubtless find this appealing, so by way of illustration, here is the opening of Similitude 5 of Hermas: "As I was fasting, and sitting down in a certain mountain, and giving thanks unto God for all the things that he had done unto me; behold I saw the shepherd, who was wont to converse with me, sitting by me, and saying unto me: What has brought thee hither thus early in the morning: I answered, Sir, today I keep a station. He answered, What is a station? I replied, it is a fast. He said, What is that fast? I answered, I fast, as I have been wont to do. Ye know not, said he, what it is to fast unto God; nor is this a fast which ye fast, profiting nothing with God." I have published extracts from Hermas and other material, so it's therefore possible to contrast these previous verses with my own translation as it is printed in More Bible Wisdom for Modern Times: Selections from the Early New Testament: I was fasting. And while I was sitting on a certain mountain, thanking the Lord for all He had done for me, I saw the Shepherd [a mysterious figure, "clad in white, and holding a staff in his hands", sent by "the most venerable angel in heaven" to instruct Hermas] sitting beside me. "You have come here rather early," he said. "You see, my lord," I told him, "I'm keeping a station." "A station?" he asked. "What's that?" "A devotion for God. I'm fasting, my lord," I replied. "And why are you keeping this fast?" "I desire to please Him. And it's what I've been accustomed to do, my lord." "But you don't know how to fast. As far as God is concerned, this fast you're supposedly keeping for Him, is absolutely useless!"Book Review: Understand what you are reading
Summary: 3 Stars
If you are looking at this book, most likely you are a Christian. You may be a a scholar, or simply curious, but I assume that Christians are most likely to be interested in this subject. If this is the case, be careful.On the back flap, the publisher writes "we can now judge these texts for ourselves." However this is risky. The Christians of the early church thought differently than we did, simply because they lived in a different time. They lived in a time when there were no such things as human rights, democracy (even Athens was really a Republic), and most importantly reason and logic were the concerns of philosophers, not the people. So when we see these texts, we must assume there were flaws in the theology that the early Christians saw which may not be apparent to us.
The original editor saw this, in his introduction he argues that the accepted scriptures are his authority, that these should be viewed as anecdotes.
However the book itself does a poor job clarifying this. If you look at the preface in the preview pages, you will see a morose description of the Council of Nicea, where Arius was deemed a heretic. Yes, they destroyed his writings in the 4th century, but the editors never say why. They do not mention that his followers rejected the idea that Jesus was divine, but merely another creation of God's. Thus Arius denies the trinity, central to 99% of today's Christianity. I do not say it is improper to hear his argument, or any of the others in this book, but it demonstrates the irresponsiblity of the editors in not explaining why the works in this volume were rejected.
I welcome anyone with interest in Christianity to read these works. They provide an interesting look at the different types of Christianity that grew up and then collapsed, but neverthe lesss influenced the faith from which current Christianity developed in all its diversity. This is why I gave it 3 stars, its an important work.
But I must beg all who read it to realize that these are simply Christian stories and not Scripture. In some cases they contradict not only the established beliefs of the faith but common sense. Sometimes they agree, but what does that mean except that the authors of the text agreed with Scripture?