Customer Reviews

Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A good variety and collection of books which, for whatever reason, were excluded by the early Church (Catholic) councils from what became the Old Testament and New Testament. Initially published in 1926, each one of the "Lost Books" includes a brief introduction giving background and history. Like the editors of this two-part volume, I do not feel it is necessary to share my opinion of the historicity of these works, each reader can decide for him or herself what is shadow and what is reality, and consider the debate which at one time engulfed some of these books.

This volume is divided into two sections. The first is called "Lost Books of the Bible", and includes works which deal with Jesus & company, and may at one time have been considered part of the New Testament Gospel. Includes are the following 26 "lost" books:

Mary, Protevangelion, I. Infancy, II. Infancy, Christ and Abgarus, Nicodemus, The Apostles' Creed, Laodiceans, Paul and Senica, Paul and Thecla, I. Clement, II. Clement, Barnabus, Ephesians, Magnesians, Trallians, Romans, Philadelphians, Smyrnaeans, Polycarp, Philippians, I. Hermas-Visions, II. Herman-Commands, III. Hermas-Similitudes, Letters of Herod and Pilate, The Last Gospel of Peter

Part the Second is titled "The Forgotten Books of Eden", and includes works which are suited to the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament. They too were excluded by Jewish (and some Christian) councils due to doubts about their age and origins. Includes are the following 20 books:

The First Book of Adam and Eve, The Second Book of Adam and Eve, The Secrets of Enoch, The Psalms of Solomon, The Odes of Solomon, The Letter of Aristeas, The Fourth Book of Maccabees, The Story of Ahikar, The Testament of Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Joseph, Benjamin

This affordable book offers a thought provoking read for those with a general interest "outside of the box". While the translations are somewhat dated, they are not difficult to understand.

The Lost Books of the Bible is a very interesting book, albeit one which uses very outdated translations and is far from being complete. If you are intrigued by the Da Vinci Code or Gnosticism and want to know more about those books that were not picked for the Bible, this book would not be a bad place to start if the translations were not so antiquated. There are many newer books with more up-to-date translations of these "lost books" that are more useful today, such as The Nag Hammadi Library in English by James Robinson, which contains a different selection of works but gives a better overview of the Gnostic Gospels. The original translations in this book date from approximately a century ago, long before the discoveries of the Dead Sea Scrolls and at Nag Hammadi, so do not expect to find any of that stuff in here.
The Lost Books of the Bible contains some very interesting books, particularly the very unorthodox Gospel of Thomas, which portrays Jesus as somewhat of a nasty boy growing up. Still, I found some of the books more readable than others, with the Books of Eden being a chore to get through due to the translation. My bottom line is that there are better books than The Lost Books of the Bible for those interested in Gnosticism and its related works.

First of all, I took off a star for the very poor print quality of this book. It is poorly organized, hard to read, sometimes too small and crammed on the page. The type needs to be reset in a modern font and format to make it easier to read and comprehend the works in this volume.

As far as the actual content in this book goes, it is very good and useful. Most commentators and critics disparage and denigrate the "Pseudepigrahpa" because they were written at a much later time and by anomymous scribes who credited thier work to a hero or patriarch of the Bible, such as Enoch, Adam, Solomon, The Twelve Patriarchs, etc.

The editor makes a lot of excellent points in his INTRODUCTION to THE LOST BOOKS OF EDEN: "Writers sought to SHELTER THEMSELVES behind the names of the great dead. In this THEY WERE GUILTY OF NO FRAUD. They imagined what Solomon or Enoch would say upon a particular theme under given circumstances. It was NOT REALLY THEY THEMSELVES, but THIER Enoch, Solomon, or Enoch IN THEM, who uttered the new prophesies or temple praises... that body of literature, called by modern scholars 'PSEUDEPIGRAPHA' that is, writings erronously, un-historically, YET SINCERELY ascribed to heroic figures summed up from the vasty deep by a SELF-DENYING imagination, eager to ALTER MAN'S BELIEF OR CUSTOM, to interpret his hope or sorrow, WITHOUT PERSONAL GAIN OR FAME, and also, may one add, WITHOUT THE DETERRENT OF PERSECUTION OT ARREST FREE UTTERANCE!"

"NOW IT IS A FOOLISH MODERN PREDJUDICE AGAINST AN ANCIENT PIECE OF LITERATURE THAT ITS AUTHOR VEILED HIS PERSON IN THIS FASHION. The ONLY question is: Was the writing of INHERENT VALUE? DID IT EXERCISE INFLUENCE?

Some of these books are boring and a pain to get through, and some are innacurate to traditional Christain doctrine (THE ACTS OF PAUL AND THECLA as an example). Some, like HERMAS are not worth reading.

But I will take the words of "Enoch" in THE BOOK OF THE SECRETS OF ENOCH (the best work in this collection) literally:

"For the BOOKS ARE MANY and in them you will LEARN ALL THE LORD'S WORKS, all that has been from the beginning of Creation and will be to the end of time. And if you OBSERVE MY HANDWRITING, you WILL NOT SIN AGAINST THE LORD, because there is no other except the Lord..."
"And DISTRIBUTE THE BOOKS...amoungst the nations that have the sense to fear God, let them recieve them and MAY THEY COME TO LOVE THEM more than any food or EARTHLY SWEETS, and READ THEM and apply themselves to them. And those who understand not the Lord, who fear not God, who ACCEPT NOT, but reject, who do not receive them (sc. THE BOOKS), A TERRIBLE JUDGEMENT AWAITS THESE.
"BLESSED is the man who shall BEAR THIER YOKE and shall DRAG THEM ALONG, for he shall be released on the day of the great judgement."

You'll find information here on topics not addressed directly or in much detail in the Bible. For example, additional (probably fictional) details about the early life of Jesus and the perpetual virginity of Mary. Also, you'll find one early church father's discussion of the importance of the three-fold ministry of bishop/priest/deacon, and you'll read why this same author is willing to die for his faith. Even the topic of abortion is addressed by one of the early Christian writers (an associate of Paul). I didn't find the section partaining to the "old testament" quite as interesting, but maybe others will. Of course, the authorship of many of these books is questionable, but these days you could say that of many of the books of the Bible as well.

The following is a listing of writings included in this book from the Index. Many times the index left out "Testament" in front of the titles, etc. I just copied them exactly as seen in the two indexes.

From the segment "Lost Books of the BIBLE"

Mary hath chapters (The Gospel of the Birth of Mary)
Protevangelion
I. Infancy
II. Infancy
Christ and Abgarus
Nicodemus
The Apostles' Creed
Laodiceans
Paul and Seneca
Paul and Thecla
I. Clement
II. Clement
Barnabus

(Letters of Ignatius)
Ephesians
Magnesians
Trallians
Romans
Philadelphians
Smyrnaeans
Polycarp
Philipians

(Book of Hermas split into 3 parts)
I. Hermas
II. Hermas
III. Hermas

Letters of Herod and Pilate
The Lost Gospel according to Peter




Index titled "The Forgotten Books of Eden"

The first book of adam and eve
the second book of adam and eve
the secrets of enoch
the psalms of solomon
the odes of solomon
the letter of aristeas
the fourth book of maccabees
the story of ahikar
the testament of reuben
simeon
levi
judah
issachar
zebulum
Dan
Naphtali
Gad
Asher
Joseph
Benjamin

This is an interesting compilation of apocryphal books.
Every book has a short,but helpful Introduction.
There are a handful of books that stand out from the rest for me.

The General Epistle of Barnabas.
"This Epistle lays a greater claim to canonical authority than most others."
May be the best book included.

The Gospel of Nicodemus.
Formerly called the "Acts of Pontius Pilate",this book is believed a forgery.It is an entertaining read about Christ's trial,crucifixion and some of the events surrounding it.

The Shepherd of Hermas.
The origin of this book is known. It has wisdom and is a useful book.

The Secrets of Enoch is included in this book.This is the Slavonic version which I would rate lower than the Ethiopic version.
This collection runs the gamut.You will find gnostic writings,legitimate early church age writings,and bizarre fiction.

If you are interested in literature from that age or gnosticism,this book will be of more value to you.

While I have yet to purchase this volume, I have read some of it online. I have a problem in the forward where the author identifies "The Sons of God" of Genesis 6 (this applies to the Book of Enoch, which greatly expands on the enigmatical v 2-6 of that chapter) as the Godly line of Seth (Seth being Adam's third son after the murder of Abel by Cain), and the "daughters of men" being pagan cannanite women. Every ecclesiastical as well as scholastic authority states that the "Sons of God" were fallen angels (also known as the Watchers), and that is plainly evident in the Book of Enoch (which the author of the forward obviously didn't read or just missed that part). I've only read The Second Book of Adam (as well as Enoch and the aforementioned forward) as well as some reviews which say that some of the books should be ignored.

My main purpose in writing this review is to correct the aforementioned error for the benefit of those who might purchase this book.

This book helps a person to see the rest of THE STORY about Jesus Christ and leaves you wondering why such a wealth of material was left out of the Bible. The story of Jesus, redemption and salvation and belief is so simple. It looks like to me the reason we have so many different denominations today is the nature of mankind to want to posess something exclusive, something that no one else knows or has, like a secret or the keys to salvation. Example: The Catholic Church leads us to believe that only through their leadership and direction can salvation be achieved. The Baptist Church expressly teaches that there are several things a person "MUST" do to achieve salvation. The requirements for salvation are as varied and as many as the number of different Christian denominations that exist today. It is a good thing to learn everything that we can about the Christian belief, the life, death and resurection of Christ and first hand accounts need not be excluded or banned. Some of the other gospels are just different accounts of the same story as told by totally different people.

Very good read...very interesting and makes you wonder why these books were left out of our Bible.

This book is full of knowlege wisdom and understanding. It is a must read for anyone that loves the Word of God. These books should have never been left out of the Bible. Being in the place in time that we are now I think we should reread these books to see if they should be a part of our Christian experience. There is more than forty books in this collection. Hermas would have to be the best. Don't miss it.