Lost Books of the Bible
There is
much talk these days about lost books of the Bible. From cults to the
New Age, people make all sorts of claims about how the Bible is missing books,
books that help justify what they hope to believe. Sometimes people
claim that the Bible was edited to take out reincarnation, or the teaching of
higher planes of existence, or different gods, or ancestor worship, or
"at-one-ment" with nature.
The "lost books" were never lost.
They were known by the Jews in Old Testament times and the Christians of the
New Testament times and were never considered scripture. They weren't
lost nor were they removed. They were never in the Bible in the first
place.
The additional books were not included in the Bible
for several reasons. They lacked apostolic or prophetic authorship, they
did not claim to be the Word of God; they contain unbiblical concepts such as
prayer for the dead in 2 Macc. 12:45-46; or have some serious historical
inaccuracies.
Nevertheless, the Roman Catholic church has added
certain books to the canon of scripture. In 1546, largely due in
response to the Reformation, the Roman Catholic church authorized several more
books as scripture known as the apocrypha. The word apocrypha means
hidden. It is used in a general sense to describe a list of books written by
Jews between 300 and 100 B.C. More specifically, it is used of the 7
additional books accepted by the Catholic church as being inspired. The entire
list of books of the apocrypha are: 1 and 2 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, the Rest of
Esther, the Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, (also titled Ecclesiasticus), Baruch,
The Letter of Jeremiah, Song of the Three Young Men, Susanna, Bel and the
Dragon, The Additions to Daniel, The Prayer of Manasseh, and 1 and 2 Maccabees.
The books accepted as inspired and included in the Catholic Bible are Tobit,
Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees Wisdom of Solomon Sirach (also known as
Ecclesiasticus), and Baruch
The Pseudepigraphal books are "false
writings." They are a collection of early Jewish and
"Christian" writings composed between 200 BC and AD 200.
However, they too were known and were never considered scripture.
The deuterocanonical (apocrypha) books are those
books that were included in the Greek Septuagint (LXX) but not included in the
Hebrew Bible. The recognized deuterocanonical books are "Tobit,
Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus (also called Sirach or Ben Sira),
Baruch (including the Letter of Jeremiah), 1 and 2 Maccabees, and additions to
the books of Esther and Daniel. The canon of the Greek Orthodox community also
includes 1 Esdras, the Prayer of Manasseh, Psalm 151, and 3 Maccabees, with 4
Maccabees as an appendix."
The
most thorough listing of all the lost books, should we say, those simply not
included in the bible for one reason or another, can be found at http://www.pillar-of-enoch.com/biblio.html
Another
good listing and links to the books can be found at :
Some of
these books were once part of the Bible but were either considered
supplemental or of questionable authorship. Whether factual or
inspirational stories, many of the works were read aloud to the various
branches of the early church and considered to be of significant value in
the building of the spirit and the ascension of one's focus. |
And
more Lost Books of the Bible can be found at these links
· Lost Books of
the Bible, so-called.
http://www.carm.org/lostbooks.htm
· The Lost
Books Of The Bible.
http://www.bibleufo.com/anomlostbooks.ht...
· Lost Books
Bible - Amazon
http://Amazon.com/books
· Lost Books of
the Bible
http://www.ch-of-christ.beaverton.or.us/...
· The Straight
Dope: What's up with the "lost books of the Bible"?
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_...
· THE ODES OF
SOLOMON
http://www.goodnewsinc.net/othbooks/odes...
· A List of the
'Lost Books' of the Bible
http://www.bismikaallahuma.org/Bible/Tex...
· Walk Thru the
Bible
http://www.walkthru.org
· Are there
lost books of the Bible?
http://www.carm.org/lost/intro_noncanoni...
· Lost Books of
the Bible at Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0...
· Amazon.com:
Books: Lost Books of the Bible
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/det...
· Amazon.com:
Books: Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books ...
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/det...
·
Lost Books of the Bible
http://www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net/L...