{"title":"Christian Bible Apocrypha \u0026 Pseudepigrapha","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"lostscriptures-booksthatdidnotmakeitintothenewtestament","title":"Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament","description":"\u003cp\u003eWe may think of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament as the only sacred writings of the early Christians, but this is not at all the case. Lost Scriptures offers an anthology of up-to-date and readable translations of many non-canonical writings from the first centuries after Christ--texts that have been for the most part lost or neglected for almost two millennia.\u003cbr\u003e\nHere 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 Acts originally 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 horrendous torments 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 Apocalypes and Secret Books, and several Canon lists. Ehrman has included a general introduction, plus brief introductions to each piece.\u003cbr\u003e\nLost Scriptures gives readers a vivid picture of the range of beliefs that battled each other in the first centuries of the Christian era. It is an essential resource for anyone interested in the Bible or the early Church., ISBN13: 9780195141825 ISBN10: 0195141822 Material Type: hardcover\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CheapBookDepot","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46107806204067,"sku":"A-STR_UBD_H00010E3","price":13.23,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0607\/9227\/5107\/files\/71_k3ShIjBL_fd35c5ca-0884-411a-8026-e39b1f9c0249.jpg?v=1754536580"},{"product_id":"tn_str_ubd_h0000nei","title":"The Other Gospels: Non-Canonical Gospel Texts","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis anthology of gospel literature contains texts that are not a part of the New Testament but are of great importance for the study of Christian origins. Containing some of the writings from the Nag Hammadi library, these sixteen texts constitute what remains of the non-canonical Gospels from the first and second centuries. They transmit sayings of Jesus and relate stories about Jesus., ISBN13: 9780664244286 ISBN10: 0664244289 Material Type: paperback\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CheapBookDepot","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46124774949027,"sku":"TN_STR_UBD_H0000NEI","price":10.69,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0607\/9227\/5107\/files\/61Y8dAN78YL.jpg?v=1754823647"},{"product_id":"a-28-4-f_04-29-25_art_h000078m","title":"Lost Books of the Bible For Dummies","description":"\u003cp\u003eLost Books of the Bible For Dummies is your one-stop guide to once-hidden works that add a new dimension to Biblical teachings. Most people have heard about the discovery of strange ancient religious writings that are not part the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament, such as the Gnostic Gospels. Now, you will find new insights and a fresh perspective on long-lost works that may have once been in the running for Biblical inclusion, but didn't make the final cut.\u003cbr\u003e\nThis easy-to-understand guide examines the sometimes weird, provocative, and profoundly moving texts that have been \"lost\" as well as those hotly debated works that are in some Bibles and not others. You will come away with a clearer understanding of the Judeo-Christian religion and the development of the Biblical canon. You’ll learn about the origins of the Bible, explore early scriptures, and understand why translations affect the meanings of texts. You’ll even learn how the Greek influenced early Biblical writing. Find out how to: Explain what the term “lost books” means Understand the definition of “canon” Take translation differences into consideration Divide early writings into style categories Take another look at scripture with the Dead Sea Scrolls See how the Greeks influenced early scripture Decode apocalyptic visions\u003cbr\u003e\nComplete with a list of ten of the weirdest Jewish lost books, ten of the weirdest Christian lost books, ten sayings of Jesus NOT in the Bible, and ten “lost books that every student of the Bible should read, Lost Books of the Bible For Dummies is your one-stop guide to understanding and reading the Biblical lost books., ISBN13: 9780470243800 ISBN10: 0470243805 Material Type: paperback\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CheapBookDepot","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46124879577251,"sku":"A.28.4 F_04-29-25_ART_H000078M","price":44.82,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0607\/9227\/5107\/files\/61F0qKs2ffL.jpg?v=1754829681"},{"product_id":"beyond-belief-the-secret-gospel-of-thomas","title":"Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas","description":"\u003cp\u003eSpecial edition including the complete text of the Gospel of Thomas\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eElaine Pagels, one of the world’s most important writers and thinkers on religion and history, and winner of the National Book Award for her groundbreaking work The Gnostic Gospels, now reflects on what matters most about spiritual and religious exploration in the twenty-first century. This bold new book explores how Christianity began by tracing its earliest texts, including the secret Gospel of Thomas, rediscovered in Egypt in 1945.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen her infant son was diagnosed with fatal pulmonary hypertension, Elaine Pagels’s spiritual and intellectual quest took on a new urgency, leading her to explore historical and archeological sources and to investigate what Jesus and his teachings meant to his followers before the invention of doctrine–and before the invention of Christianity as we know it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe astonishing discovery of the Gospel of Thomas, along with more than fifty other early Christian texts unknown since antiquity, offers startling clues. Pagels compares such sources as Thomas’s gospel (which claims to give Jesus’ secret teaching, and finds its closest affinities with kabbalah) with the canonic texts to show how Christian leaders chose to include some gospels and exclude others from the collection we have come to know as the New Testament. To stabilize the emerging Christian church in times of devastating persecution, the church fathers constructed the canon, creed, and hierarchy–and, in the process, suppressed many of its spiritual resources.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDrawing on new scholarship–her own, and that of an international group of scholars–that has come to light since the publication in 1979 of The Gnostic Gospels, Pagels shows that what matters about Christianity involves much more than any one set of beliefs. Traditions embodied in Judaism and Christianity can powerfully affect us in heart, mind, and spirit, inspire visions of a new society based on practicing justice and love, even heal and transform us.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eProvocative, beautifully written, and moving, Beyond Belief, the most personal of Pagels’s books to date, shows how “the impulse to seek God overflows the narrow banks of a single tradition.” Pagels writes, “What I have come to love in the wealth and diversity of our religious traditions–and the communities that sustain them–is that they offer the testimony of innumerable people to spiritual discovery, encouraging us, in Jesus’ words, to ‘seek, and you shall find.’”, ISBN13: 9780375501562 ISBN10: 0375501568 Material Type: hardcover\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CheapBookDepot","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46126361510051,"sku":"A_STR_H0000FAQ","price":11.03,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0607\/9227\/5107\/files\/91WyJEpQPFL.jpg?v=1754886996"}],"url":"https:\/\/usedbookdepot.com\/collections\/christian-bible-apocrypha-pseudepigrapha.oembed","provider":"Used Book Depot","version":"1.0","type":"link"}