Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament

Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament

by Bart D. Ehrman
Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament

Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament

by Bart D. Ehrman

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Overview

While most people think that the twenty-seven books of the New Testament are the only sacred writings of the early Christians, this is not at all the case. A companion volume to Bart Ehrman's Lost Christianities, this book offers an anthology of up-to-date and readable translations of many non-canonical writings from the first centuries after Christ--texts that have been for the most part lost or neglected for almost two millennia. Here is an array of remarkably varied writings from early Christian groups whose visions of Jesus differ dramatically from our contemporary understanding. Readers will find Gospels supposedly authored by the apostle Philip, James the brother of Jesus, Mary Magdalen, and others. There are Acts originally ascribed to John and to Thecla, Paul's female companion; there are Epistles allegedly written by Paul to the Roman philosopher Seneca. And there is an apocalypse by Simon Peter that offers a guided tour of the afterlife, both the glorious ecstasies of the saints and the horrendous torments of the damned, and an Epistle by Titus, a companion of Paul, which argues page after page against sexual love, even within marriage, on the grounds that physical intimacy leads to damnation. In all, the anthology includes fifteen Gospels, five non-canonical Acts of the Apostles, thirteen Epistles, a number of Apocalypses and Secret Books, and several Canon lists. Ehrman has included a general introduction, plus brief introductions to each piece. This important anthology gives readers a vivid picture of the range of beliefs that battled each other in the first centuries of the Christian era.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780199743681
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication date: 10/02/2003
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Sales rank: 374,452
File size: 1 MB

About the Author

Bart D. Ehrman is Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the author of The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings and Jesus, Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium.

Table of Contents

General Introduction1
Non-Canonical Gospels7
The Gospel of the Nazareans9
The Gospel of the Ebionites12
The Gospel According to the Hebrews15
The Gospel According to the Egyptians17
The Coptic Gospel of Thomas19
Papyrus Egerton 2: The Unknown Gospel29
The Gospel of Peter31
The Gospel of Mary35
The Gospel of Philip38
The Gospel of Truth45
The Gospel of the Savior52
The Infancy Gospel of Thomas57
The Proto-Gospel of James63
The Epistle of the Apostles73
The Coptic Apocalypse of Peter78
The Second Treatise of the Great Seth82
The Secret Gospel of Mark87
Non-Canonical Acts of the Apostles91
The Acts of John93
The Acts of Paul109
The Acts of Thecla113
The Acts of Thomas122
The Acts of Peter135
Non-Canonical Epistles and Related Writings155
The Third Letter to the Corinthians157
Correspondence of Paul and Seneca160
Paul's Letter to the Laodiceans165
The Letter of 1 Clement167
The Letter of 2 Clement185
The "Letter of Peter to James" and its "Reception"191
The Homilies of Clement195
Ptolemy's Letter to Flora201
The Treatise on the Resurrection207
The Didache211
The Letter of Barnabas219
The Preaching of Peter236
Pseudo-Titus239
Non-Canonical Apocalypses and Revelatory Treatises249
The Shepherd of Hermas251
The Apocalypse of Peter280
The Apocalypse of Paul288
The Secret Book of John297
On the Origin of the World307
The First Thought in Three Forms316
The Hymn of the Pearl324
Canonical Lists329
The Muratorian Canon331
The Canon of Origen of Alexandria334
The Canon of Eusebius337
The Canon of Athanasius of Alexandria339
The Canon of the Third Synod of Carthage341
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