Summary
While most people think that the twenty-seven books of the New Testament are the only sacred writings of the early Christians, this is not at all the case. A companion volume to Bart Ehrman's Lost Christianities, this book offers an anthology of up-to-date and readable translations of manynon-canonical writings from the first centuries after Christ--texts that have been for the most part lost or neglected for almost two millennia. Here is an array of remarkably varied writings from early Christian groups whose visions of Jesus differ dramatically from our contemporary understanding. Readers will find Gospels supposedly authored by the apostle Philip, James the brother of Jesus, Mary Magdalen, and others. There are Actsoriginally ascribed to John and to Thecla, Paul's female companion; there are Epistles allegedly written by Paul to the Roman philosopher Seneca. And there is an apocalypse by Simon Peter that offers a guided tour of the afterlife, both the glorious ecstasies of the saints and the horrendoustorments of the damned, and an Epistle by Titus, a companion of Paul, which argues page after page against sexual love, even within marriage, on the grounds that physical intimacy leads to damnation. In all, the anthology includes fifteen Gospels, five non-canonical Acts of the Apostles, thirteen Epistles, a number of Apocalypses and Secret Books, and several Canon lists. Ehrman has included a general introduction, plus brief introductions to each piece. This important anthology gives readers avivid picture of the range of beliefs that battled each other in the first centuries of the Christian era.
Author Biography
Bart D. Ehrman is Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the author of The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings and Jesus, Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium.
Table of Contents
General Introduction |
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1 | (6) |
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7 | (84) |
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The Gospel of the Nazareans |
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9 | (3) |
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The Gospel of the Ebionites |
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12 | (3) |
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The Gospel According to the Hebrews |
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15 | (2) |
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The Gospel According to the Egyptians |
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17 | (2) |
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The Coptic Gospel of Thomas |
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19 | (10) |
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Papyrus Egerton 2: The Unknown Gospel |
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29 | (2) |
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31 | (4) |
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35 | (3) |
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38 | (7) |
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45 | (7) |
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52 | (5) |
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The Infancy Gospel of Thomas |
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57 | (6) |
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The Proto-Gospel of James |
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63 | (10) |
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The Epistle of the Apostles |
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73 | (5) |
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The Coptic Apocalypse of Peter |
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78 | (4) |
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The Second Treatise of the Great Seth |
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82 | (5) |
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The Secret Gospel of Mark |
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87 | (4) |
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Non-Canonical Acts of the Apostles |
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91 | (64) |
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93 | (16) |
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109 | (4) |
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113 | (9) |
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122 | (13) |
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135 | (20) |
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Non-Canonical Epistles and Related Writings |
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155 | (94) |
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The Third Letter to the Corinthians |
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157 | (3) |
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Correspondence of Paul and Seneca |
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160 | (5) |
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Paul's Letter to the Laodiceans |
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165 | (2) |
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167 | (18) |
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185 | (6) |
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The ``Letter of Peter to James'' and its ``Reception'' |
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191 | (4) |
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195 | (6) |
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Ptolemy's Letter to Flora |
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201 | (6) |
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The Treatise on the Resurrection |
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207 | (4) |
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211 | (8) |
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219 | (17) |
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236 | (3) |
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239 | (10) |
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Non-Canonical Apocalypses and Revelatory Treatises |
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249 | (80) |
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251 | (29) |
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280 | (8) |
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288 | (9) |
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297 | (10) |
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On the Origin of the World |
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307 | (9) |
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The First Thought in Three Forms |
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316 | (8) |
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324 | (5) |
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329 | |
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331 | (4) |
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The Canon of Origen of Alexandria |
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334 | (3) |
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337 | (2) |
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The Canon of Athanasius of Alexandria |
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339 | (2) |
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The Canon of the Third Synod of Carthage |
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341 | |