The Apocryphal Gospels: The History of the New Testament Apocrypha Not Included in the Bible

by Gustavo Vázquez Lozano, Charles River Editors

*Includes pictures *Includes excerpts from the apocrypha *Includes a list of the apocrypha, online resources, and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents Between 50 and 90 CE, the various writings that comprise the New Testament were written, including the Four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles of Paul, and other letters to more general communities of the early Church. But what is recognized as the 26 books of the New Testament today, in literally hundreds of English translations, actually took several more centuries to be determined as “canonical” by the Church. In fact, it was not until a synod in Rome in 382 that the Church in the West formally adopted a list of the canonical books of the New Testament. For the intervening three centuries, there was much discussion among different writers over the many manuscripts circulating among the early Christian communities. Many of the manuscripts were anonymously authored by members of early heretical groups of Christians who shaped supposedly inspired writings to provide support for their doctrinal positions. Many more had the veneer of inspired texts because they were attributed to one of the Twelve Apostles or Mary, the mother of Jesus; they claimed to offer details of Jesus’ life not covered in depth in the Four Gospels (such as his infancy and childhood), or the activities of the named apostle, or doctrinal teachings. The process of determining the Canon of the New Testament was a long one. It involved numerous scholars directed by the teachings of the Church sifting through numerous manuscripts with various attributed authorships. The 29 that made it into the canon were those that passed muster in terms of apostolic authorship and conformity to orthodox Church teaching. Most of those that did not make it in failed on those two accounts. Others were not included because they were judged not to have been written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Whatever the reason they were excluded, the writings that comprise the New Testament Apocrypha, while not inspired Scripture, do show something of the context in which the early Church developed its doctrines and its writings. Even today, not every branch of the Christian church agrees on which writings should be regarded as "canonical" and which are "apocryphal", even though some apocryphal texts often have noticeable links with books regarded as "canonical". Regardless, the New Testament Apocrypha refers to texts written by early Christians that were not included in the Bible used by the main branches of Christianity today. These texts vary in subject matter, with some being accounts of Jesus, others being about the nature of God, and still others being accounts and teachings of Jesus’ apostles. What makes them fascinating is not just the history behind why they are considered non-canonical, but what they tell us about the early Church and early Christianity. Moreover, they offer insight into what sources were used to write them, and whether they shared the same sources as the texts that comprise the Bible today. Given their historical and religious importance, there is still a fierce debate over the authenticity of many of these texts. The Apocryphal The History of the New Testament Apocrypha Not Included in the Bible looks at some of the famous texts that were kept out of the Bible. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the apocryphal books like never before.

87 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 9, 2016

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fine introduction to the New Testament Apocryphal Books

This book is a quite fascinating survey of a large number of New Testament apocryphal texts. These vary from Gnostic versions of the Gospels to completely spurious works such as the “Acts” of various disciples of Christ to “The Gospel of Thomas” which may be genuinely part of the developing stream of early sayings of Christ.

The approach is scholarly, even-handed and sensible. There are no spectacular revelations or conspiracy theories. The footnotes are useful for anyone not used to specific Biblical terms and an excellent Bibliography can send the reader forth on further exploration.

The book is free in Kindle Unlimited and inexpensive to buy outright.

[Loredelcarmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es un libro con una buena investigación de los libros apócrifos. Nunca me imagine la gran cantidad de documentos que existen, pero como bien dice en este libro, no todos son verdaderos.

[Marcus Goncalves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read, but this is a history of the non-canonical books of the New Testament, not the books themselves. It describes how some gospels were found, how pieces of many were lost, and how authorship was determined. The inconsistency concerns me, though. The book lists 26 books of the NT in one place and then 29 in another, when there are actually 27.

[Joel Herbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great intro to the world of the apocryphal Jesus writings

By no means exhaustive, I commend this book to you as a fantastic overview and a quick and interesting read that will serve as a great launching point for anyone who wants to dig deeper.

[Chris Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing addition to my bible studies!!! must have! read again and again type of a books! should of been included in the bible.

[Cindi · Rating 2 out of 5]

We listened to this as a family during a project of going through Bible stories. This book isn't what I'd expected, but it was informative, and as part of the Kindle Unlimited library, it was ok. The narration for the audio was a bit annoying. Overall, it was ok, it provided some information. But I don't think I'd ever listen or read it again.