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

by Bart D. Ehrman

General Introduction
 NON-CANONICAL GOSPELS
 The Gospel of the Nazareans
 The Gospel According to the Ebionites
 The Gospel According to the Hebrews
 The Gospel According to the Egyptians
 The Coptic Gospel of Thomas
 Papyrus Egerton 2: The Unknown Gospel
 The Gospel of Peter
 The Gospel of Mary
 The Gospel of Philip
 The Gospel of Truth
 The Gospel of the Savior
 The Infancy Gospel of Thomas
 The Proto-Gospel of James
 The Epistle of the Apostles
 The Coptic Apocalypse of Peter
 The Second Treatise of Great Seth
 The Secret Gospel of Mark
 NON-CANONICAL ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
 The Acts of John
 The Acts of Paul
 The Acts of Thecla
 The Acts of Thomas
 The Acts of Peter
 NON-CANONICAL EPISTLES AND RELATED WRITINGS
 The Third Letter to the Corinthians
 Correspondence of Paul and Seneca
 Paul's Letter to the Laodiceans
 The Letter of 1 Clement
 The Letter of 2 Clement
 The "Letter of Peter to James" and its "Reception"
 The Homilies of Clement
 Ptolemy's Letter to Flora
 The Treatise of the Resurrection
 The Didache: The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles
 The Letter of Barnabas
 The Preachings of Peter
 Pseudo-Titus
 NON-CANONICAL APOCALYPSES AND REVELATORY TREATISES
 The Shepherd of Herman
 The Apocalypse of Peter
 The Apocalypse of Paul
 The Secret Book of John
 On the Origin of the World
 The First Thought in Three Forms
 The Hymn of the Pearl
 CANONICAL LISTS
 The Muratorian Canon
 The Canon of Origen of Alexandria
 The Canon of Eusebius
 The Canon of Athansius of Alexandria
 The Canon at the Third Synod of Carthage

NON-CANONICAL ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
 The Acts of John
 The Acts of Paul
 The Acts of Thecla
 The Acts of Thomas
 The Acts of Peter
 NON-CANONICAL EPISTLES AND RELATED WRITINGS
 The Third Letter to the Corinthians
 Correspondence of Paul and Seneca
 Paul's Letter to the Laodiceans
 The Letter of 1 Clement
 The Letter of 2 Clement
 The "Letter of Peter to James" and its "Reception"
 The Homilies of Clement
 Ptolemy's Letter to Flora
 The Treatise of the Resurrection
 The Didache: The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles
 The Letter of Barnabas
 The Preachings of Peter
 Pseudo-Titus
 NON-CANONICAL APOCALYPSES AND REVELATORY TREATISES
 The Shepherd of Herman
 The Apocalypse of Peter
 The Apocalypse of Paul
 The Secret Book of John
 On the Origin of the World
 The First Thought in Three Forms
 The Hymn of the Pearl
 CANONICAL LISTS
 The Muratorian Canon
 The Canon of Origen of Alexandria
 The Canon of Eusebius
 The Canon of Athansius of Alexandria
 The Canon at the Third Synod of Carthage

Genres: Religion, History, Nonfiction, Christianity, Theology, Philosophy, Reference

349 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 2, 2003

About the author

Bart Denton Ehrman is an American New Testament scholar focusing on textual criticism of the New Testament, the historical Jesus, and the origins and development of early Christianity. He has written and edited 30 books, including three college textbooks. He has also authored six New York Times bestsellers. He is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Reviews

[Rickey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book isn’t what I would call exciting reading, but if you’re interested in the early religious writings it is informative. There is a short introduction about each of these “lost books” and then the actual translation. Of course, these books weren’t actually “lost” because we have copies of them today, but they were “missing” for centuries until they were discovered in modern times. They are early gospels, acts, epistles, and apocalypses that seemed to disappear for a time. Some are complete translations, some are just fragments, and some are what we have learned from quotes in other writings. Some actually seem like they could have been included in the Bible. They go from interesting and informative to boring and absurd or ridiculous. In one there’s a talking dog. Of course, wasn’t there a talking donkey in the Bible? We also have a smoked tuna that was resurrected and that Mary was checked to make sure she was really a virgin. I wonder who did that? For me, the interesting ones were the Gospel of Mary, the Acts of John and Thecla (Paul’s companion), The Shepherd of Hermas, The Infancy Gospel of Thomas , which I believe are the only writings of Jesus’ early life, and The Coptic Gospel of Thomas, which reveals 114 secret teachings of Jesus. Many say that these writings of Thomas may be closer to what Jesus actually taught than what we find in the New Testament. Of course, I'm also sure that many would adamantly disagree with this statement.

Several of these writings were quite controversial. In a few Jesus has a twin brother, Didymus Judas Thomas. One of the most interesting is the fragmentary Gospel of Mary. There are several references to the intimate relationship she had with Jesus. In one, it states, “there were three Marys who walked with the Lord: A Mary is his sister and his mother and his lover.” In another it references Mary as the “consort of Christ is Mary Magdalene.” In this gospel, she is also given a high status among the apostles, “Jesus loved her more than us.”

I never really knew what it took for an early writing to be accepted as canonical. This book tells me: they had to be ancient (near the time of Jesus), apostolic, catholic, and orthodox. Yet what is considered heresy would definitely depend on your point of view. Most of these early writings were rejected by the church because they preached a Gnostic point of view, leaned toward a too ascetic lifestyle, or were, at the time, thought to be falsely written in the name of an apostle. Yet some modern Bible scholars believe that some of the apostolic writings included in the New Testament were not actually written by who they claim.

I believe this book is actually written as a resource for one of Ehrman’s other books, Lost Christianities. As I mentioned earlier, some of the “lost books” were interesting and some weren’t, and I found myself scanning and skipping through some of them. This book probably would been better if I had read Lost Christianities first. If you’re looking for shocking revelations, this isn’t the book for you. Read this book if you are able to have an open mind about the New Testament and have an interest in early religious writings. It gives insight into these early times, the thoughts of these early writers, and the culture of this time period. Know beforehand that some of these early writings are not that interesting, but it makes for a good reference book.

[Demetrius Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good to gain a familiarity with these early books. Most were pretty fanciful and even absurd; some you can call orthodox and were well respected. However, even in these 'orthodox' works you gotta ask - where's the gospel?? Even they had a very works/merit-based flavor to them (with the exception of maybe 1 Clement). Reading this collection gave me an even stronger confidence that what we have passed down to us in the form of the New Testament is of a much superior stripe. Often times when reading these alternate gospels, acts, epistles, and apocalypses I had to ask - is this the best out there? There's just no comparison to the real thing.

[JonM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like I said in another review, Ehrman doesn't pretend to be Christian. He's not a Christian. But that shouldn't stop Christians from seeing how ludicrous (and even humorous) some of the alleged "lost scriptures" were. I really enjoyed this book even though I don't trust Ehrman's "professional" opinions at all.

Ehrman implicitly shows how desperate unbelievers (like him) are to present convincing evidence against the Canon of Scripture. There are obvious, self-evident reasons for judging these "lost scriptures" as uninspired, non-canonical, and non-authoritative. The most memorable references come from the alleged "lost" Apocalypse of Paul, which claims that, in Hell, people who "break their fast before the appointed hour" are tortured and hung for all eternity "over a channel of water, and their tongues were very dry, and many fruits were placed in their sight, and they were not permitted to take of them." (p. 295). Also, allegedly, some pastors who do not perform their ministry well are tortured in hell "by Tartaruchian angels, having in their hands an iron instrument with three hooks" with which they pierce the pastor's bowels (p. 294). Other pastors get off easier, and are simply pushed into a pit of fire up to their knees and stoned in the face by angels.

Similar examples are found in the alleged Apocalypse of Peter, which claims that in hell there is a very deep pit reserved for those who cause premature births, and that pit is filled with "all manner of torment, foulness, and excrement." Opposite to that pit is a place where children sit and shoot lightning bolts from their eyes at fornicators within the pit (see p. 284). Hell also, allegedly, contains places where liars have their lips cut off, people who lust with their eyes get their eyes burned out with red-hot irons, idolaters are chased by demons up and down "high places" for all eternity, and people hang from their eyebrows (!) for all eternity in order to "unceasingly pay the proper penalties" (p. 296).

Almost every one of these "lost scriptures" is just as ludicrous as the examples above. I am grateful that a popular unbelieving critic of Christianity took the time to publish this pathetic attempt to combat the inspired Scriptures of God.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating introduction to non-canonical Christian texts!

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd read most, if not all, of these texts before in the old two-volume Oxford set of the Apocrypha and the Pseudepigrapha and the smaller supplemental third volume of non-canonical texts related to the Christian Scriptures. I read this hoping for illuminating commentary and interested in seeing new translations by Ehrman, a scholar I have come to appreciate.

I was disappointed. Part of the disappointment is my own fault. This collection is intended as a resource for Ehrman's Lost Christianities. In there I likely would have found more of what I sought in terms of commentary. The introductions in this volume are very brief and the notes almost non-existant (this being almost criminal especially as regards some of the very obscure "gnostic" texts wherein I question some of his translations of the Greek and would like to see his justifications). Part of the disappointment is in the texts themselves. Many are not by Ehrman at all, not even particularly up-to-date and superior to older translations by Charlesworth etc. They remain as obscure and bizarre as they were in the 19th and early 20th century translations. What I want is insight to the mentalities of the first writers and their readers and hearers. This book and its translations do not offer much on that score--though, again, the volume this supplements likely does to some extent.

[Mike Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know how to rate this book since there is minimal, but appropriate, comment by the author. It is essentially a representative collection of documents written around the time of the Christ event (50-300 C.E.) many of which were discovered after the current canon was "established." All of these writings were excluded from current canon usage either because they were not available during the selection process, they were hidden, they were censored, or they were part of the canon of branches of Christianity that died out and were lost.

This book is a companion and sequel to Ehrman's book The Lost Christianities which gives the historical background of the fits and starts, successes and failures of the early believers. I would strongly recommend reading that book first, and there are frequent references to it in the footnotes. The current book is a collection of the writings from that time and includes much from the recently discovered Nag Hammadi library and other recently found sources as well as other writings passed over for one reason or another.

Ehrman is a biblical archaeologist and as such deals with facts, translations and examples. It is not a book of faith and belief, and Ehrman gives only a brief contextual introduction to each translation. The translations contain letters, gospels and apocalyptic writings not found in the current canon, and those who hold the current biblical canon as "inerrant" may well be shocked when they venture outside of their familiar comfort zone to realize what's out there and what got left behind. Highly recommended to open minded readers who want to see the bible in its historical context.

[Josh Liller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as exciting as it might seem. There is a page on each of the "lost" books, followed by a translation of some part of the text. In some cases only fragments are known from quotations in other writings. Some of the works are presented in their entirety while others only have excerpts given due to their length.

Some of the potentially most interesting - like the Gospel of Mary Magdalen - have not been found in their entirety.

Most of the non-canonical books presented were apparently rejected either because they are heavily slanted toward Gnostics and/or the Ascetic lifestyle or because they were determined to have been falsely written in the name of an apostle.

If you're looking for shocking & scandalous revelations about what the Church cut out of the official Bible, this is not the book for you.

[Kel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hadn't read any apocryphal Scriptures before, so I found the texts in this book rather interesting. However, I was disappointed by the lack of commentary -- each text had a brief introductory page with multiple footnotes directing the reader to the author's Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture & the Faiths We Never Knew. While the introduction makes it clear that this book is intended as a companion text and not a standalone one, it would've been nice if the cover had made it clearer. My fault for not looking further into it before picking it up, I suppose, but still disappointing.

[Stu · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating compendium of texts that did not make it into the Christian canon. Although Ehrman's stated point is to demonstrate the diversity of early Christianity, he is intellectually honest enough to demonstrate the obvious reasons why most of this shunned scripture was cast aside by the early church.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the kind of book I really should own, because it is impossible to absorb all the material in a single reading. I am left with some highlights that stick in my head (the gnostics were really bizarre) and not a lot of details. Good reading, hard work to get through it all.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of excerpts, especially of those that he often spends the most time introducing.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 4 out of 5]

The books (or excerpts or fragments of books) discussed in this book are not really lost scriptures, in the sense that they were ever considered canonical by mainstream believers, much less the early Church of God, but they were all books that didn't make it into the New Testament.  This book definitively proves that all you need to have a good Bart Ehrman book is to have him (mostly) shut up and (mostly) let the texts speak for themselves.  If none of these books hold a candle to the Bible, these books are at least historically significant and show at least a few worthwhile books that deserve to be read as part of the context of the early centuries of Christianity.  If they are not quite as world-changing as advertised, these are worthwhile books and it is always worth it to read ancient texts [1].  This book offers a way forward for Bart Ehrman to make reasonably decent books, and that is for him to write misleading introductions to texts that manage to contain excellent cross-referencing that are able to stand on their own for the most part.  There are worse career paths for overrated "experts" on the Bible.

The real stars of this book are the texts themselves.  The editor divides these texts into several categories of writings that take up about 340 pages or so of material.  The first section of the book contains non-canonical gospels from a variety of approaches, including Judaizing Gospels like those of the Nazareans and Ebionites, as well as Gnostic gospels like the Gospel of Thomas, and other books like the Proto-Gospel of James that provide a substratum of information that became part of the mythos of Mary, the mother of Jesus.  The second part of the book looks at non-canonical acts of the apostles, including selections from the Acts of Paul (and Thecla) that disprove the editor's claims that the early Church of God had a laissez faire attitude towards biblical books being written under false names, even in the Hellenistic church.  After that come some interesting and revealing non-canonical epistles and related writings, including the letters of 1 and 2 Clement and an interesting fake series of letters between Paul and Seneca, as well as the historically significant Didache and anti-Jewish Letter of Barnabas.  After this comes a selection of non-canonical apocalypses and revelatory treatises like the Shepherd of Hermas--an interesting and significant work, if obviously non-apostolic--and apocalypses of Peter and Paul that were significant in providing images of hell for Hellenistic Christians, and some really odd gnostic myths that have been influential among contemporary gnostics.  Closing the book come some canon lists that are interesting to read as well.

It should be pointed out that this is not a perfect book.  Not all of the texts are worth reading, although most of them are worthwhile at least in terms of context, to better understand the Bible through reading fakes and frauds and seeing the sort of writings that were railed against by Paul and John among the biblical writers, for example.  Most of these books can be appreciated either as transparent attempts to pass off pastiche and fakery under false names or early stabs at devotional fiction that simply lacked the genres and legitimacy that would have allowed them to fill in the biblical gaps with their imagination in a way that was open and honest.  Many of the works here are pious frauds or openly honest writings from people who admitted they were not apostles and simply wanted to explore areas where the Bible was silent, or wanted to write creatively about their own perspectives and opinions on matters of faith and practice, and simply did not have the way to do so that would not infringe upon the scriptural canon.  This book is better than it has any right to be, largely because it demonstrates the superiority of the Bible that we have to its imitators and competitors and does so from the perspective of someone who is among their most outspoken champions.  The fact that this book serves as eloquent testimony to the clear superiority of the Bible to the books in this text makes this text worthwhile because one can best read it as a collection of interesting ancient texts that have no merit to be considered as lost scriptures at all.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

[George · Rating 2 out of 5]

Average collection of Apocrypha…plus explanatory introductions. Many are familiar with the Apocrypha contained in Catholic Bibles such as the NRSV. While not a Catholic, I love Judith, Tobit, Wisdom of Solomon, and Ecclesiasticus (or Wisdom of Sirach), among the rest, including 1st and 2nd Maccabees. I’d highly recommend them to any Christian.

Reading these books gave me a taste for Christian Apocrypha, so I picked up some collections of those. This is one of the smaller collections, but it seems to be popular.

First off, the Jewish Apocrypha are way better reads than the Christian. The Jewish books are full of wisdom and historical settings, the Christian books are often peppered with fantastical tales, and come off like Jaws IV, as compared to the original, especially the Apocryphal “Acts”.

The appeal of these writings often comes from pretentious academics calling them “forbidden”. This mentality infects other areas of life. In my younger years, I was a music obsessive. Old time rock and roll was famous for its “bootlegs”. “Lost” albums that were said by those in the know to be as good or better than the official releases.
The most famous of these bootlegs was The Basement Tapes by Bob Dylan. Innumerable books and articles were written by “experts” calling these songs “historical”, saying they should have an official release.
Ignorant dupe that I was, I tracked down a 5 cd bootleg set, paid a fortune for it, sat down and prepared to be astounded by this “lost”, “forbidden” music. The reality? Nearly six hours of songs and maybe twenty minutes of them were worthwhile. The rest sound like five drunk guys in a basement running through sloppy covers of folk and blues tunes.
The “experts” bamboozled me, but good.

Now, here we are with the “lost” scriptures. An awful lot of academics describe this stuff like something Indiana Jones discovered, then “top men” hid them in a crate at the Pentagon for fifty years, only to have Bart Ehrman release them in the name of truth, like the JFK files.
This is false.
Much of this stuff wasn’t “lost”, it was discarded. Why? Because it’s bonkers. There are a few gems in here. I’ll list them below.
And beware of professional bloviators blathering on about “Lost Christianities”. This is akin to an “expert” two thousand years from now saying Not Guilty should’ve been on the White Album. No, it shouldn’t have. It was left off because it’s a bad song.

And another thing…if you’re really curious about the Apocrypha, Jewish and Christian. Don’t buy this. Download the Kindle editions of the 200 Book Holy Bible Apocrypha and the Complete Anti-Nicene Collection by Phillip Schaff. Those two books have 95% of anything worth reading. They don’t have the Coptic Gospel of Thomas, but frankly, that book is worthless. If you read it, prepare to be disappointed. It’s just some wacky proverbs, and goofy pronouncements mixed with actual quotes of Jesus from the real Gospels to give it an air of authenticity. It’s an obvious forgery.

For Jewish Apocrypha, start with these:

1. 1st and 2nd Maccabees.
2. Judith.
3. Tobit
4. Wisdom of Solomon
5. Ecclesiasticus
6. 2nd Ezra. (Fascinating)
7. The additions to Esther and Daniel etc. Pretty much anything in the updated NRSV.
8. Jubilees. (Fascinating, once you get the past the Jewish Law stuff)
9. Book of Jasher. Ditto. Use discernment.
10. Enoch. The first 20 chapters or so. The rest will make you go cross-eyed.


Christian Apocrypha:


1. Gospel of Nicodemus.
2. Proto-Evangelum of James.
3. Avenging of the Saviour.
4. Acts of Peter and Paul. These may have a dash of truth in them.
5. Gospel of Peter
6. Apocalypse of Peter. (There are two with this name. avoid the Coptic one.)
7. Shepherd of Hermas. (This is a tedious read. However, a guy named Christopher Glyn has a bunch of audible books with the apocrypha. Really good. Get ‘em all. They’re cheap. The Shepherd is worth becoming familiar with.)
8. Various ancient epistles. Clement, Barnabas, Ignatius.

Lastly…don’t let “experts” weaken your faith in the inspired canon. The inspired Scriptures have a power, wisdom and authority the “lost” books don’t have, and never will. This includes the forgeries of false prophets such as the Book of Mormon and others. These forgeries often include parts of the Apocrypha, an early form of literary “sampling”, or plagiarism.

In these times, God’s inspired, inerrant Word is a life-boat to a drowning man. Don’t let ANYONE convince you otherwise. This warning is found throughout the Bible…”Don’t be misled…!”. 1st Corinthians 15:33, Colossians 2:8 etc.

Heed it.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains 37 early Christian texts that did not make it into the canonical New Testament. Lost Scriptures is a companion piece to Bart D. Ehrman’s Lost Christianities; taken together, they provide valuable insight into the great diversity of Christian belief systems that existed in the first few centuries after the life of Jesus of Nazareth. Here are the contents:
Non-Canonical Gospels
The Gospel of the Nazareans
The Gospel of the Ebionites
The Gospel According to the Hebrews
The Gospel According to the Egyptians
The Coptic Gospel of Thomas
Papyrus Egerton 2: The Unknown Gospel
The Gospel of Peter
The Gospel of Mary
The Gospel of Philip
The Gospel of Truth
The Gospel of the Savior
The Infancy Gospel of Thomas
The Proto-Gospel of James
The Epistle of the Apostles
The Coptic Apocalypse of Peter
The Second Treatise of the Great Seth
The Secret Gospel of Mark
Non-Canonical Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of John
The Acts of Paul
The Acts of Thecla
The Acts of Thomas
The Acts of Peter
Non-Canonical Epistles and Related Writings
The Third Letter to the Corinthians
Correspondence of Paul and Seneca
Paul’s Letter to the Laodiceans
The Letter of 1 Clement
The Letter of 2 Clement
The “Letter of Peter to James” and its “Reception”
The Homilies of Clement
Ptolemy’s Letter to Flora
The Treatise on the Resurrection
The Didache
The Letter of Barnabas
The Preaching of Peter
Pseudo-Titus
Non-Canonical Apocalypses and Revelatory Treatises
The Shepherd of Hermas
The Apocalypse of Peter
The Apocalypse of Paul
The Secret Book of John
On the Origin of the World
The First Thought in Three Forms
The Hymn of the Pearl

Canonical Lists
The Muratorian Canon
The Canon of Origen of Alexandria
The Canon of Eusebius
The Canon of Athanasius of Alexandria
The Canon of the Third Synod of Carthage

Lost Scriptures is not always the most entertaining book to read, with some of the texts being downright dull. Of particular interest for me were: The Coptic Gospel of Thomas, a famous collection of sayings from Jesus; The Gospel of Mary, told from the perspective of Mary Magdalen; The Infancy Gospel of Thomas, which contains Jesus as an immature boy irresponsibly using his miraculous abilities; The Proto-Gospel of James, filling in events of Joseph and Mary’s lives before the birth of Jesus; The Acts of Thecla (or The Acts of Paul and Thecla), a kind of chaste “religious romance” between Paul and devoted female follower; The Acts of Peter, a strange tale featuring the apostle getting a dog and an infant to speak with adult human voices; and the First Epistle of Clement, featuring genuine wisdom. Notably absent is the Gospel of Judas, a work that Ehrman devoted a whole book to in 2006.

In 2011, Ehrman published a scholarly follow-up to Lost Scriptures (2003) called: The Apocryphal Gospels. Co-authored with Zlatko Pleše, this book contains 40 early Christian texts in the original languages as well as English translations. They reissued it for lay readers in 2013 as The Other Gospels: Accounts of Jesus from Outside the New Testament, again with only the English translations.

Title: Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament
Author: Bart D. Ehrman
Year: 2003
Genre: Nonfiction - Religion
Page count: 337 pages
Date(s) read: 8/20/23 - 8/28/23
Reading journal entry #160 in 2023

[Einar Jensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have several reasons for reading Bart Ehrman’s Lost Scriptures: Books That Did Not Make It Into the New Testament. I’m a fan of Ehrman, a historian who hungers for knowledge about his chosen faith, and his engaging writing style. I’m also a fan of learning and research. Although I have given up on Christianity, I appreciate its stories and impact on the world and, therefore, I enjoy learning more about those stories and historical figures. Many of these texts explain paintings I’ve studied and admired. I also appreciate the rogue nature of this book and its contents: it shares early Christian stories that editors omitted from the Christian canon.

Ehrman’s writing and perspective are limited in this book to introductions of the 42 excluded treatises, epistles, Gospels, and other stories. He was among the translators of the texts. Whether the translators corrupted the ancients texts is beyond my knowledge. I do know that each writing style is different; some are engaging, some are painfully dry, and most are average reads.

My favorites include The Infancy Gospel of Thomas that has stories of Jesus as an unruly child with a mean-streak, The Proto-Gospel of James that reveals Mary’s immaculate conception (Jesus was 2nd-generation divine birth) and her marriage to a much older carpenter named Joseph, and The Gospel of Mary, which gives Mary Magdalene far more credit for her significance in Jesus’s life. Bringing an open, hungry mind to this book is a must. A reader who rejects these texts discovered in various libraries, tombs, and other venues over the last 1,800 years won’t find this book intriguing or useful. However, it is both useful and intriguing for readers willing to feed their inner Lara Croft or Indiana Jones, or for readers who are simply hungry to learn, challenge their assumptions, and lean into the resulting discomfort. Ehrman did not disappoint. I enjoyed it.

[Matt Villa · Rating 4 out of 5]

In most cases, the stories behind why these books were written or the debates between the diverse Christian groups writing these books are more interesting than the actual books themselves. Many of these are not especially riveting to read, but this is a great collection that will be helpful for reference, and I’m definitely glad I’ve read these so I’m familiar with them.

My two personal highlights would be the Secret Book of John and Ptolemy’s Letter to Flora, while many of the gospels were interesting Ebionite, Gnostic, etc variants on the “orthodox” narratives we’re familiar with today.

The Secret Book of John was the most clear and detailed book on gnosticism. This book provided clear distinction between the god of the OT/world of matter and the true God, and also better explains Jesus’ role in teaching his followers true gnosis compared to explanations in other gnostic writings. Also the narrative is fascinating and well written (unlike the other two gnostic revelations included in this book)

Ptolemy’s Letter to Flora was perhaps the most unexpected writing included. Ptolemy’s examination of the differences between Law of the God of the OT and the Law of this new gnostic Christian era was surprisingly well argued and well organized compared to all other argumentative writings I’ve read from this time period. I enjoyed reading his study of the types of Hebrew Law and how reliable they are as godly law, law of Moses, or law of man, and how they can be applied to this new era of Jesus fulfilling portions of the Law. This letter made me wish we had access to Marcion’s Antitheses, as that would have potentially further developed many of Ptolemy’s ideas in this letter.

[Joe Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this when my discussion group chose it. Our practice is to rotate discussion leadership weekly, and it was common for members to say that they couldn't make sense out of it or that it put them to sleep. That was our fault.

This book is actually was written as a companion volume to his book, Lost Christianities: TheBattles for Scriptures (2003). As he says in his 'General Introduction" (p. 3), the Lost Scriptures volume is intended "to provide easy and ready access to the texts discussed in Lost Christianities . Trying to read this volume without having previously read or simultaneously reading Lost Christianities , as we did, must be like trying to read page after page of a dictionary.

I gave the book a 4-star because I think it does a good job of achieving its objective, providing a reference for the subject matter of Lost Christianities .

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Lost Scriptures", which is not really one book but many, was overall a good way to learn about and read some of the other early books that some--sometimes just a few, sometimes a lot--early Christians thought should be scripture. It's a great way to expand our understanding of what could have been scripture.
This book did take me a while to get through because it is so dense. Ehrman's introductions for each section and each book were concise but informative.
As with most compilation books, the quality varied. Some of the selections were fascinating and insightful, others were entertaining but very mythological or weird, while some unreadable.
A few from each category:
Fascinating/Insightful: 1 Clement; Didache; Acts of Thecla
Entertaining but Weird: Gospel of Thomas; Infancy Gospel of Thomas; Acts of Peter
Unreadable: 2nd Treatise of the Great Seth; Secret Book of John

[Sharon Coles · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting insight into aspects of early Christian theology. The author gives a clear unbiased interpretation and translation of these mysterious writings. Having read this book I am amazed at how knowledgeable the writers were of the natural world and enamoured with their interpretations. After over 20 years of seriously studying theology, I am still intrigued to find numerous common threads found within the many religions of the world and how long these ideas have transcended time. I don’t u destined how religion can be used to cause so much hatred and destruction. I would read this again as there is so much food for thought.

[Juniper Danielsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genuinely mystified that this isn't widely read by the Christian community as a staple piece of literature for mere historical and contextual reference at the very least. Also, the lack of internal education on the process in which the agreed upon books of the Bible were selected and a few subsequently destroyed (spoiler, it was a vote by religious leaders).... I think it's a tiny bit important to know all the contenders for the books that make up God's Guide, but what do I know... I'm a mere Christian who finds organized religion abominable.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been reading a lot of books recently on early Christianity, and this is EASILY my favorite so far. And excellent book, truly outstanding!

While it's easy to see why some of the books were left out of the New Testament, others offered such incredible insights that I think it behooves every Christian to read them. It is also quite interesting to me to see how even Christ's very own apostles, those who interacted with Him in life, often differed wildly in their individual teachings.

I think I'd like to read more from this author, this was too enjoyable.

[Brian Mikołajczyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of the known non-canonical works for early Christianity.
Each of these works was written by an early Christian with the idea that people would read and follow its teachings.
These did not make it into the present Bible for various reasons.
For me this collection loses 2 stars for having only the works themselves for the most part with little surrounding analysis or linkage to the early Christian movements, however it does regain a star for being a good all-in-one reference place for these works.

[Monica Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine reading the New Testament cover to cover. Reading Lost Scriptures is a bit like that. Sometimes you're just gonna have to push yourself to keep reading. However, Ehrman's introductions of each book are excellent (and he apparently translated some of the included books, too, which is impressive).

I found this compendium to be enlightening, both of what actually got into the New Testament and what didn't. It also throws light on the people making the decisions about what is considered Holy Scripture and what isn't.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, and pretty comprehensive on the gnostics. I’d recommend a working history with Christianity to appreciate the best parts. (Raises hand.) I can’t pick a favorite: flying apostles, talking lions, baby Jesus killing kids, grownup Jesus crashing a wedding night to talk the couple out of sex. Some bonus homoeroticism. Great stuff.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would be better with longer introductions and more annotations. I know it is intended to be a companion book to Lost Christianities, but it would be a more helpful resource if it had more explanatory and background content.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very much YMMV. Ehrman collects an assortment of apocrypha from the early church: gospels, stories of the apostles, letters, and apocalypses. If that stuff doesn't interest you, neither will the book.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice compendium of early heretical and orthodox writings. Ehrman of course has his own specific theory of church history that comes through in his introductions, but the content is largely just the writings themselves. Worth reading through them to actually understand what is in them.

[Arthur B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguingly illustrates many of the titular lost scriptures, and pleasingly casts its scope well beyond the Gnostic material everyone gets excited about to get deep into the theological weeds. Full review: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...

[Lolita Kringe · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not listen to anymore of this audio. It just didn't seem like it was Bible based. Some awful accounts were described offensively. I listened to 25% of it. I wish I didn't even listen to that much of it.

[Angela Clayton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I swear to god I read this one years ago, and I think both times I got bogged down eventually. I'm a Bart Ehrman stan, so it's not him, it's the book in this case. He's normally very entertaining, but let's be honest, there's a reason some of these books didn't make it into the NT.