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

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In this book Dr. Ehrman does an enumeration of many of the early Christian Gospels, Epistles, Apocalypses, and so forth that were written by some of the early Christians other than the proto-orthodox. Due to the nature of their authorship, these gospels did not make it into our current canon and are widely unknown by most people. As with all Dr. Ehrman's books, it is well written, although his contribution to the book is a brief introduction to each of the historical texts. Its primary audience appears to be those people who have an interest in the area and desire a brief statement about the group who wrote the book followed by what text is available from the early writings. It is by no means as exhaustive as "The New Testament Apocrypha" in two volumes by Wilhelm Schneemelcher and R. McL. Wilson. For most people though, this will not impede their appreciation of the topic and serve as a very good introduction to the area.

This book, along with Ehrman's "Lost Christianities", is an excellent introduction to the complexities of early Christianity.

Not as technical and "foot-note-y" as Schneemelcher and Wilson's "New Testament Apocrypha" but more detailed than Barnstone's "The Other Bible" and "The Gnostic Bible", this is a handy anthology for both scholar and layman.

Ehrman's Lost Scritures recieves high marks as a thorugh collection of early christian writings, covering most of the recorded diversity of the various sects. The translations, generally excellent, allow the reader considerable access to the period. Unfortunately, the introductory essays for each of the writings are not up to snuff, often terse and providing little background. While the author clearly intendended this as a companion addition to his other volume on early christian sects, the introductions should have been stronger. Particullarly vexing is that, as in the other volume, he dates varrious writings without laying out the reasoning for the date given. "Scholars estimate...", a term repeated frequently, leaves the reader wanting more details and a hearing of the case.

Despite this short coming, a collection like this is a must for anyone interested in christian antiquity.

This book contains 17 non-canonical gospels from a variety of sources, as well as five books relating to activities of the apostles, 13 non-canonical letters (epistles), seven apocalypses and revelations, and five different canons, all of which were superceded by the Council of Nicaea under Constantine's guidance.

These, in other words, were ancient Christian books that Constantine's scholars saw fit to view as heresies, or did not include in the Council's version of what constituted "true" scripture for whatever reason.

The author holds the chair of religion at the University of North Carlina at Chapel Hill, and has translated many of the works himself. He is a recognized, respected scholar in his field.

Although this is a book for laymen in that it reads easily, and is bereft of the usual scholarly jargon, the individual gospels, letters, and acts, etc., are often murky and hard to make sense of.

I think it is because we are unfamiliar with the idioms in use at the time they were written, and the culture from which the writers sprang.

For example, today, to indicate anger in our culture, many people use the uncouth, course phrase "pissed off." That language is tantamount to Aramaic in the beginning of the current era, which then was the language in common use by the people in the Holy land. In a thousand years, our language will have evolved as it has continually in the past. It will be interesting to see how scholars, translating writings from today that use the term will translate the phrase which, although we use it to indicate mild anger, actually will translate to something to do with urination.

And so it goes.

It is therefor difficult to understand the intended meaning behind many of the parables and sayings deriving from the time these materials relate to.

As someone once said, relating to English speech, "Two negatives
can make a positive, but two positives cannot make a negative."

Yeah, right!

This is a good book if you have any interest in the ancient's Christian non-canonical writings, and have an open mind on the subject. If your mind is closed and you are perfectly content with Constantine's version of orthodoxy (the Bible as it is), you should probably give this book a pass, as it will no doubt incur your hostility and accuse the author, a true scholar, of having an agenda, or being of suspect parentage--which would be unfair, of course.

On the other hand if you have a background in religious history and want a source for these books, these are excellent translations and it is a good book for your library.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre

author of The Road to Damascus: Our Journey Through Eternity
and other books

Rebeccasreads highly recommends LOST SCRIPTURES: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament, as a fascinating look into the dawn of this passionate faith. Here you will find scraps of writings that survived the ravages of time, burial in desert caves & fires. Some only by being mentioned in other texts. They range from Non-Canonical Gospels by the Nazareans, the Hebrews, Mary, the Great Seth, et al, to Acts of the Apostles by John, Paul, Thecla, et al, to Epistles by Paul, Clement, Ptolemy, et al, to Apocalypses & Revelations by Hermas, Peter, John, et al, & those in Canonical lists such as Origen of Alexandria, Eusebius, Third Synod of Carthage.

With a General Introduction that could have gone on for many more pages, to brief specific introductions to each text, Bert Erhman offers an assortment of early Christian writings, often repetitive in their stories yet idiosyncratic to the author, which are both didactic & interesting.

An unbelievable resource and a much needed update / balance to Koester's Ancient Christian Gospels. As thorough a guide as will be found complete with a new translation. It would've been nice to compile this same information in the original languages in another volume but what's here is great.

Ehrman shows the murky and uncertain origins of Christianity: an amorphous collection of beliefs and ideas with no clear authenticity or boundary. By the third century, however, Christians had a shot at real power and the fight for control -- and orthodoxy -- got serious. Ehrman charts these events -- who got cut out and why -- with excellent prose and a good sense of humor.

Editing: Five Stars. Well put together and logical. Clear prose, well structured paragraphs, sections, and chapters. Careful use of verb congugations.

Copy Editing: Four Stars. There were a few mistakes that should have been corrected