Call no.:  220.920 5209 E33 

Reviewed by: Susan Walma

 Ever wondered how the New Testament came into being or whether or not there were other sacred writings known to early Christians? Then this book is for you. Here, Ehrman presents writings that were once considered sacred but were later excluded from the canon by orthodox Christianity. Some of these are translations from fragments, some are presented as quoted by early church fathers in their treatises since the originals are lost; others are excerpts from lengthy documents. Included are texts that were found at Nag Hammadi; which are known today as belonging to the “Nag Hammadi Library”.

 The categories comprise non-canonical gospels, non-canonical Acts of the Apostles, non-canonical epistles and related writings, non-canonical apocalypses, and non-canonical revelatory treatises as well as canonical lists. Each of the categories and texts are prefaced by an introduction briefly explaining its place in the history of Christianity.  A companion volume to the book: Bart D. Ehrman’s ‘Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scriptures and the Faiths We Never Knew’ discusses in detail the history and theology as to why these texts were not included in the present canon. When that book becomes available in our church library a book review will be done at that time.