Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never KnewThe early Christian Church was a chaos of contending beliefs. Some groups of Christians claimed that there was not one God but two or twelve or thirty. Some believed that the world had not been created by God but by a lesser, ignorant deity. Certain sects maintained that Jesus was human but not divine, while others said he was divine but not human. In Lost Christianities, Bart D. Ehrman offers a fascinating look at these early forms of Christianity and shows how they came to be suppressed, reformed, or forgotten. All of these groups insisted that they upheld the teachings of Jesus and his apostles, and they all possessed writings that bore out their claims, books reputedly produced by Jesus's own followers. Modern archaeological work has recovered a number of key texts, and as Ehrman shows, these spectacular discoveries reveal religious diversity that says much about the ways in which history gets written by the winners. Ehrman's discussion ranges from considerations of various "lost scriptures"--including forged gospels supposedly written by Simon Peter, Jesus's closest disciple, and Judas Thomas, Jesus's alleged twin brother--to the disparate beliefs of such groups as the Jewish-Christian Ebionites, the anti-Jewish Marcionites, and various "Gnostic" sects. Ehrman examines in depth the battles that raged between "proto-orthodox Christians"--those who eventually compiled the canonical books of the New Testament and standardized Christian belief--and the groups they denounced as heretics and ultimately overcame. Scrupulously researched and lucidly written, Lost Christianities is an eye-opening account of politics, power, and the clash of ideas among Christians in the decades before one group came to see its views prevail. |
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Page iv
... Testament)—Criticism, interpretation, etc. 2. Heresies, Christian—History—Early church, ca. 30–600. 3. Church history—Primitive and early church, ca. 30–600. I. Title. BS2840.E4 2003 229'.9206—dc21 2003053097 Illustration credits Pages ...
... Testament)—Criticism, interpretation, etc. 2. Heresies, Christian—History—Early church, ca. 30–600. 3. Church history—Primitive and early church, ca. 30–600. I. Title. BS2840.E4 2003 229'.9206—dc21 2003053097 Illustration credits Pages ...
Page viii
... Arsenal: Forgeries and Falsifications 903 11 The Invention of Scripture: The Formation of the Proto-orthodox New Testament 999 12 Winners, Losers, and the Question of Tolerance 247 Notes 259 Bibliography 281 Index 289 viii CONTENTS.
... Arsenal: Forgeries and Falsifications 903 11 The Invention of Scripture: The Formation of the Proto-orthodox New Testament 999 12 Winners, Losers, and the Question of Tolerance 247 Notes 259 Bibliography 281 Index 289 viii CONTENTS.
Page xiv
... Testament Known only from quotations by later authors, a defense (“apology”) for Christian belief against pagan attacks A set of Homilies and biographical acounts (Recognitions) about and allegedly by Clement of Rome that describe his ...
... Testament Known only from quotations by later authors, a defense (“apology”) for Christian belief against pagan attacks A set of Homilies and biographical acounts (Recognitions) about and allegedly by Clement of Rome that describe his ...
Page 3
... Testament? It is because there was no New Testament. To be sure, the books that were eventually collected into the New Testament had been written by the second century. But they had not yet been gathered into a widely recognized and ...
... Testament? It is because there was no New Testament. To be sure, the books that were eventually collected into the New Testament had been written by the second century. But they had not yet been gathered into a widely recognized and ...
Page 5
... Testament—comprising twenty-seven books that supported these leaders' vision of the church and their understanding of doctrine, ethics, and worship. These gains are obviously significant and relatively well known. Less familiar are the ...
... Testament—comprising twenty-seven books that supported these leaders' vision of the church and their understanding of doctrine, ethics, and worship. These gains are obviously significant and relatively well known. Less familiar are the ...
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accepted Acts already ancient apostles appears became become beginning believed bishop body called canon century chapter Christ church claims Clement comes completely consider copies course death disciples discovery discussion divine documents early Christian Ebionites eventually evidence example existence fact faith Father followers forged forgery give Gnostic Gospel Greek groups hand heresy heretical human important indicates interpretation Jesus Jewish Jews John kind knowledge known later letter living lost Luke manuscripts Marcion Mark matter mean never original orthodox Paul Paul’s person Peter possibly practices proto-orthodox question readers religion Roman Rome sacred salvation scholars Scripture Secret seen significant simply Smith spirit story suffering teachings Tertullian Testament texts Thecla things Thomas thought tion tradition translation true truth understanding views women writings written