The Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden (Paperback)

by Frank Crane (Author) "THE blessed and ever glorious Virgin Mary, sprung from the royal race and family of David, was born in the city of Nazareth, and educated..." (more)
Key Phrases: thou didst transgress, bright nature, instructs his sons, Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus, Cave of Treasures (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Suppressed by the early Church fathers who compiled the Bible, these Apocrypal Books have for centuries been shrouded in silence. Now, for the first time in paperbound book, the reader can discover the hidden beauties of the Lost Books. To be found in this volume are the Apostles' Creed, the Psalms and Odes of Solomon, and other Apocrypal writings that have become part of our religious heritage. The story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife, of Adam and Eve, of the girlhood and betrothal of Mary, of the childhood of Jesus, are here in all warmth, intimacy, and humanity of their first telling.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 289 pages
• Publisher: A&b Publishers Group (March 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1881316637
• ISBN-13: 978-1881316633
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #678,406 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Documents; other texts have more detailed notes., May 27, 1998

By	Steven Augart (Lexington, Massachusetts U.S.A.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden (Meridian) (Paperback)

This text is a reprinting of two books (written in 1926 and 1927) containing "pseudepigrapha" -- books which some considered to be scripture in the past, but which were not included in the canonical Bible that almost all Christian churches use, nor in the Bible that almost all Jews use. Some of these books were quoted in books in the Christian New Testament; St. Paul quotes from 1 Enoch. The "Forgotten Books of Eden" half of this book will be of interest to students of the Jewish scriptures, and is available by itself through Amazon. Anybody who takes Bible scholarship seriously and who can afford to spend $10 should have a copy of these pseudepigrapha.

The original publication dates are important here, because biblical archaeology and textual studies have progressed substantially in the past seventy years. For example, this book predates the discovery of the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas, and accordingly does not include it.

The paperback edition of this book is the most economical way I know to get all of this material together. Some critical notes describing the origins of these texts are included. If you have a larger budget, the current standard editions of these texts (also available through AMAZON.COM) are Charlesworth's "Old Testament Pseudepigrapha" and Schneemelcher's "New Testament Apocrypha."

You can pre-read a chapter of this book by searching for the words "Infancy Gospel" on the web. The "Infancy Gospel", included in this book, tells stories of the early days of Jesus' life. It presents Jesus as divine, yet also having the personality of a five-year-old boy. For example, one of his playmates maltreats him, so: "When the Lord Jesus was coming home in the evening with Joseph, he met a boy who ran so hard against him, that he threw him down; To whom the Lord Jesus said `As thou hast thrown me down, so shalt thou fall, nor ever rise.' And that moment the boy fell down and died." (I infancy, Ch. XIX, vv. 22-24)

A good book to put some of this in context is James Kugel's "The Bible as it Was" (also available through AMAZON.COM).

34 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars To Go A Step Beyond, September 23, 2004

By	Richard R. Carlton (Ada, MI United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This book is a good choice to begin to learn about the amazing history of the Christian Church.

Especially Gnosticism and the early Christian Church, and especially the creation of the New Testament Bible. For a different review....here is my review of books that build on these interests, especially the "lost" books of the New Testament Bible and the concepts of Gnosticism.

Nearly all knowledgeable Biblical scholars realize there have been a wide range of writings attributed to Jesus and his Apostles..... and that some of these were selected for compilation into the book that became known as the Bible.....and that some books have been removed from some versions of the Bible and others have been re-discovered in modern times.

The attention focused on Gnosticism by Dan Brown's DaVinci Code may be debatable, but the fact is that increased attention on academics tends to be predominately positive, so I welcome those with first-time or renewed interest. At least first-timers to Gnosticism are not pursuing the oh-so-popular legends of the Holy Grail, Bloodline of Christ, and Mary Magdalene.

This is great......I seldom quote other reviewers, but there is one reviewer of Pagels' books who confided that he had been a Jesuit candidate and had been required to study a wide range of texts but was never was told about the Nag Hamadi texts. He said:

"Now I know why. The Gospel of Thomas lays waste to the notion that Jesus was `the only begotten Son of God' and obviates the need for a formalized church when he says, `When your leaders tell you that God is in heaven, say rather, God is within you, and without you.' No wonder they suppressed this stuff! The Roman Catholic Church hasn't maintained itself as the oldest institution in the world by allowing individuals to have a clear channel to see the divinity within all of us: they need to put God in a bottle, label the bottle, put that bottle on an altar, build a church around that altar, put a sign over the door, and create rubricks and rituals to keep out the dis-believing riff-raff. Real `Us' versus `them' stuff, the polar opposite from `God is within You.' `My God is bigger than your God' the church(s)seem to say. And you can only get there through "my" door/denomination. But Jesus according to Thomas had it right: just keep it simple, and discover the indwelling Divinity `within you and without you.'"

Here are quickie reviews of what is being bought these days on the Gnostic Gospels and the lost books of the Bible in general:

The Lost Books of the Bible (0517277956) includes 26 apocryphal books from the first 400 years that were not included in the New Testament.

Marvin Meyers' The Secret Teachings of Jesus : Four Gnostic Gospels (0394744330 ) is a new translation without commentary of The Secret Book of James, The Gospel of Thomas, The Book of Thomas, and The Secret Book of John.

James M. Robinson's The Nag Hammadi Library in English : Revised Edition (0060669357) has been around 25 years now and is in 2nd edition. It has introductions to each of the 13 Nag Hammadi Codices and the Papyrus Berioinensis 8502.

The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English (0140278079) by Geza Vermes has selected works....a complete work is more difficult to achieve than the publisher's marketing concept indicates. His commentary generates strong reactions.

Elaine Pagels has 2 books (The Gnostic Gospels 0679724532 and Beyond Belief : The Secret Gospel of Thomas 0375501568) that have received considerable attention lately. For many, her work is controversial in that it is written for popular consumption and there is a strong modern interpretation. She does attempt to reinterpret ancient gender relationships in the light of modern feminist thinking. While this is a useful (and entertaining) aspect of college women's studies programs, it is not as unethical as some critics claim. As hard as they may try, all historians interpret the past in the context of the present. Obviously there is value in our attempts to re-interpret the past in the light of our own time.

If you want the full scholarly work it is W. Schneemelcher's 2 volume New Testament Apocrypha.

Also, to understand the Cathars......try Barbara Tuckman's Distant Mirror for an incredible historical commentary on how the Christian Church has handled other points of view

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What Might Have Been: Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha, April 11, 2006

By	C. J. Hardman (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A decent 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.