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Summary: Interesting ancient Christian writings
Review: A collection of ancient Christian documents, some of which were considered and rejected when the New Testament was being compiled. I found it very interesting, particularly regarding Jesus's and Mary's childhoods.
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Summary: Excellent book! Very insightful!
Review: An incredible resource for all Christians. Gospel of Nicodemus gives incredible insight to events surrounding the Crucifixion. Very insightful works also attributed to Clement, Barnabas, Hermas and letters sent between Herod and Pilate.
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Summary: Truely, these are prophets annointed for our latter days.
Review: As I read these books I am awed by the power to tell a story. How dry as a desert, Adam and Eve's tale was until it sank in that this isn't a fable in some never-never land. This is as real as real can be. I thank God that I never had to go through what they did. I also thank God that He has the authority to reissue HIS books without the need to resurect the dead for their permission or that of the false prophets who gained authority over the original issue in spite of those long dead ancients. John S. Leiren
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Summary: Holding a degree in theology, I highly recommend this book
Review: I have to say that this book (of books -- like the Bible) contains literally dozens of early Christian writings with excellent intros about the "reasons" some church fathers left them out of the cannon. NOTE: Each intro tells you which early fathers accepted the different books as well. That's very important to know.I love the Books of Hermes, Visions, Paul & Thecla, the Gospel of Peter, Commands and more. Why many don't I suspect is do to the fact that the teachings are very very strict like Jesus' teachings were and speak of how one lives their life, how one's works come into play in their salvation, and just a lot of attention on works of the individual. You find the same idea in the four Gospels Mat, Mk, Lk & Jn, and also in 1John and James, plus the Revelations message to the 7 churches about works. For those who value James 2:24 in your lives, BUY THIS BOOK!!
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Summary: Holding a degree in theology, I highly recommend this book
Review: I have to say that this book (of books -- like the Bible) contains literally dozens of early Christian writings with excellent intros about the "reasons" some church fathers left them out of the cannon. NOTE: Each intro tells you which early fathers accepted the different books as well. That's very important to know. I love the Books of Hermes, Visions, Paul & Thecla, the Gospel of Peter, Commands and more. Why many don't I suspect is do to the fact that the teachings are very very strict like Jesus' teachings were and speak of how one lives their life, how one's works come into play in their salvation, and just a lot of attention on works of the individual. You find the same idea in the four Gospels Mat, Mk, Lk & Jn, and also in 1John and James, plus the Revelations message to the 7 churches about works. For those who value James 2:24 in your lives, BUY THIS BOOK!!
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Summary: Think About It
Review: I would imagine that, after reading this book, the similarity between myth and current belief would be clearer; but I guess this isn't the case. It seems obvious why these books were eliminated from the Bible: in "Infancy I", Jesus is portrayed as an ancient version of Carrie. This and other examples show what nonsense second-rate mythologers can create, as opposed to the more interesting tales spun by first-rate storytellers.
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Summary: Test the Spirit with Your Spirit and Know For Yourself
Review: I've own this book for over 7-years now, I read it along side of the Holy Bible to recomfirm what has been said about GOD, the WORD OF GOD, and The HOLY SPIRIT. These books fill-in the missing questions one would have about the Bible's omissions. Especially, Jesus going into Hell releasing the captives, maked an open show of saint. And what is written in psalms about O Ye Gates open and let the every lasting King can come in... But, one must first have read the Holy Bible and then be introduce to The Lost Books of the Bible and The Forgotten.
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Summary: Understand what you are reading
Review: If you are looking at this book, most likely you are a Christian. You may be a a scholar, or simply curious, but I assume that Christians are most likely to be interested in this subject. If this is the case, be careful. On the back flap, the publisher writes "we can now judge these texts for ourselves." However this is risky. The Christians of the early church thought differently than we did, simply because they lived in a different time. They lived in a time when there were no such things as human rights, democracy (even Athens was really a Republic), and most importantly reason and logic were the concerns of philosophers, not the people. So when we see these texts, we must assume there were flaws in the theology that the early Christians saw which may not be apparent to us. The original editor saw this, in his introduction he argues that the accepted scriptures are his authority, that these should be viewed as anecdotes. However the book itself does a poor job clarifying this. If you look at the preface in the preview pages, you will see a morose description of the Council of Nicea, where Arius was deemed a heretic. Yes, they destroyed his writings in the 4th century, but the editors never say why. They do not mention that his followers rejected the idea that Jesus was divine, but merely another creation of God's. Thus Arius denies the trinity, central to 99% of today's Christianity. I do not say it is improper to hear his argument, or any of the others in this book, but it demonstrates the irresponsiblity of the editors in not explaining why the works in this volume were rejected. I welcome anyone with interest in Christianity to read these works. They provide an interesting look at the different types of Christianity that grew up and then collapsed, but neverthe lesss influenced the faith from which current Christianity developed in all its diversity. This is why I gave it 3 stars, its an important work. But I must beg all who read it to realize that these are simply Christian stories and not Scripture. In some cases they contradict not only the established beliefs of the faith but common sense. Sometimes they agree, but what does that mean except that the authors of the text agreed with Scripture?
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Summary: Please think logically about these "lost books"
Review: In my opinion there are two different ways to approach the material contained in "The Lost Books of the Bible". You are either reading them as a Christian, who has faith in Jesus Christ ... or you are reading them as a non-Christian who has faith in believing that Jesus was "just a man". If you are reading it as a Christian, that means that you believe the Bible is God's word. Now why would God have given us the New Testament Bible, yet left out these works if they really were valid and accurate? If you believe that God is good and perfect, does it make sense that God would give us an incomplete story of the most important event in history, leaving out potentially extremely important information? I would say no, and therefore would say that these books, while possibly interesting, must not be elevated to the same level as the material contained in the Bible. If you are reading it as a non-Christian, you don't believe that the Christian God is true and that He came to earth as Jesus Christ. So, to a non-Christian, what books make up the Bible don't really matter, and these are just as good as any others, including the ones in the canonical Bible. So the question of whether these books should/shouldn't have been included in the Bible is rather moot. Either way, in my opinion, the question of what the "real" books of the Bible are depends on whether a person is Christian or not. For a person believes in Jesus Christ, they must also believe in the validity of the Bible, and thus that these "lost books" may have been "lost", and they may be interesting to read or study, but they are not lost books "of the Bible", and they were not included in the Bible because they are not part of God's intended communication to us. I hope that makes sense. :)
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Summary: Please think logically about these "lost books"
Review: In my opinion there are two different ways to approach the material contained in "The Lost Books of the Bible". You are either reading them as a Christian, who has faith in Jesus Christ ... or you are reading them as a non-Christian who has faith in believing that Jesus was "just a man". If you are reading it as a Christian, that means that you believe the Bible is God's word. Now why would God have given us the New Testament Bible, yet left out these works if they really were valid and accurate? If you believe that God is good and perfect, does it make sense that God would give us an incomplete story of the most important event in history, leaving out potentially extremely important information? I would say no, and therefore would say that these books, while possibly interesting, must not be elevated to the same level as the material contained in the Bible. If you are reading it as a non-Christian, you don't believe that the Christian God is true and that He came to earth as Jesus Christ. So, to a non-Christian, what books make up the Bible don't really matter, and these are just as good as any others, including the ones in the canonical Bible. So the question of whether these books should/shouldn't have been included in the Bible is rather moot. Either way, in my opinion, the question of what the "real" books of the Bible are depends on whether a person is Christian or not. For a person believes in Jesus Christ, they must also believe in the validity of the Bible, and thus that these "lost books" may have been "lost", and they may be interesting to read or study, but they are not lost books "of the Bible", and they were not included in the Bible because they are not part of God's intended communication to us. I hope that makes sense. :)
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