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The Forgotten Books of Eden

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This is a compendium of (mainly) nineteenth-century translations of ancient works concerning Biblical events and characters which never made it into standard Jewish and Christian canons. They date from Roman times to the early Middle Ages (in the form given, some possibly a bit later). When originally published in the early decades of the twentieth century, it was an inexpensive alternative to R.H. Charles' two-volume collection of "Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament," and the scholarship was not yet too out date. It has become increasing creaky with the passing of time, and the editing and publishing of new and better text editions of the works included, as well as enormous advances in linguistic and literary scholarship.

"Forgotten Books of Eden" is sometimes handy for verifying quotations in older secondary literature (studies and surveys), and some of the translations, notably those by Rendel Harris, are quite attractive. However, either the two massive volumes of James H. Charlesworth's collection of "Old Testament Pseudepigrapha," or "The Apocryphal Old Testament" (actually Pseudepigrapha), edited by H.F.D. Sparks as a partial replacement for Charles, would be better as a long-term investment. There are also various separate translations of some of the works included in these translations, and, less reliable but still worth some attention, separate reprints of some of the translations edited by Charles.

These are all considerably more expensive, however, and "Forgotten Books" is not an unreasonable addition to a personal library -- if you remember that anything in it you want to use should be checked against more authoritative versions. If it contained all, instead of about half, of S.C. Malan's 1882 translation of the Ethiopic "Conflict of Adam and Eve" (with Satan) as "The Book of Adam and Eve," considered too recent for the Charlesworth collection, it might still be a must-have.

The collection has also been bound with another set of obsolete translations, this time of New Testament Apocrypha, "The Lost Books of the Bible," which is also published separately.

Having studied Jewish and Christian scriptures over many years, one develops a recognition of flavour of these scripts. To this I can only say that having read `The forgotten books of Eden', I found nothing to disagree with those scripts as we have them in the Christian bible. The scripts contained within `The forgotten books of Eden', add to the beauty and wonder of the Jewish and Christian scriptures; this in my opinion, enhances ones faith.

For those of you who have not studied how we have gotten the bible, it most be noted that it was decided essentially by people over time (Council of Trent etc), that certain scripts would be included and others left out. Some may say that the bible is totally inspired and put together by God, of this I could not disagree in part, but looking at history, I cannot but see that many actions have been done in the name of God that were obviously not the will of a loving God and other actions that obviously bear the taint of humanity.

I have also read the books of the `Apocrypha'. These are scripts that relate to the period between the end of the Old Testament (Malachi 400 BC) and the New Testament. (4 BC). It is said that these books were written in this period also. There is controversy with these books being included with the Bible, mainly due to conflicts of scripture. The Catholic Church accepts most of these books and one can find reference to Purgatory (place between heaven and hell - Dante, Abrahams Bosom (?)) contained therein. Personally I found these books a little dry and recall them being mainly associated with the wars conducted in the periods mentioned above. It may be helpful to read the `Apocrypha' to understand the history of this period and the expectations of the Jewish people. I mention the Apocrypha in that I found `The Forgotten books of Eden' to be much more colourful and enjoyable to read. To those Christians who live in fear of reading these scripts, I would say "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling", be willing to recognise that if you search for absolute truth with a sincere heart, you walk in the company of angels.

As reading this book, you can see the insite of the life of Adam & Eve, what they went through, do to there fall in the garden of Eden.
There hope to go back to the the garden of eden,longing for the smell of the trees, the tast of the frut, and seeing Adam & Eve heart broken! as they both saw there bodys, the way they where,and then seeing there bodys changed to mortal flesh! YET! you will see where God keeps his promise to all his creation...............