Lost Scriptures
Bart D. Erhman
(Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
2003 Oxford U. Press
ISBN: 0195141822

Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament.

The way The Bible is taught, most everyday people think that the 26 books of the New Testament were the only sacred writings of early Christians. As students of religious history know, there was a remarkable outpouring of stories, mostly in the form of letters, from which the codifiers drew their choices, as Bart D. Erhman sets forth in his second book about the nature of early Christianity, Lost Scriptures.

Who chose what went into the New Testament is another story, although Bart D. Erhman does touch upon the subject in his Introduction.

Lost Scriptures is an unadorned look into the dawn of this passionate faith. Here you will find scraps of writings which 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 while being didactic are interesting.

It is both a sign of the times & a signal of how far we have progressed that someone like Bart D. Erhman not only could have access to these texts, he could write about them without facing some sort of religious punishment, like house arrest or burning at the stake or death strapped to a wheel. Lost Scriptures is enthralling, letting us see for ourselves how those devout tellers of the Christian story, thought, taught & added their interpretations to the mix, even though their particular versions didn't make it into The Good Book.

Far from threatening or dissipating belief in the Christian story, Lost Scriptures will affirm it for those who believe, & will elucidate the many points of view, for those who don't.

Totally fascinating!

Bart D. Erhman chairs the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is an authority on the early Church & the life of Jesus. He has appeared on A&E, the History Channel, CNN & many other television & radio shows.

More from Bart D. Erhman:
Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew.
The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings
Jesus, Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium & many more!

Books about who chose what went into the New Testament:
God's Bestseller: William Tyndale, Thomas More, and the Writing of the English Bible. A Story of Martyrdom and Betrayal by Brian Moynahan
God's Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible by Adam Nicolson
In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible and How It Changed a Nation, a Language,and a Culture by Alister McGrath
Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas by Elaine Pagels ... & many more!
(07/04/04)

Rebecca