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. 

Barnabas
The Book of Enoch
The Book of Enoch(another version)
The Secrets of Enoch
Book of James
Clement
Excerpts from the Gospel of Mary
First Book of Adam and Eve
Second Book of Adam and Eve
Gospel of Bartholomew
Gospel of Peter
"Scholar" Translation of the Gospel of Thomas
Hermas
Infancy I
Infancy II
Infancy III
Infancy IV
Letters of Agbarus and Jesus
Letters of Herod
Magnesians
The Apostle's Creed
The Arabic Gospel of the Infancy of the Saviour
The Gospel of Phillip
The Book of Jubilees
The First Book of Maccabees
The Gospel of Nicodemus
The Gospel of Nicodemus (version 2)
The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew
The Gospel of the Lord
The Gospel of the Nativity of Mary
The Letters of Aristeas
The Lost Gospel of Peter
The Secret Gospel of Mark
The Story of Ahikar
Trallians

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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...