The Lost Books of the Bible

by Rutherford Hayes Platt (Editor)

This book is a collection of New Testament Apocrypha, including many works which were admired and read by the early Christians, but which were later excluded from the canonical Bible. It includes accounts of the young Jesus, particularly the Gospel of Mary and the Protevangelion, which provides additional folklore about the birth and youthful adventures of Jesus. Of note are the letters of Paul and Seneca, and the letters of Herod and Pilate, which are most likely a forgery, but add more depth to the question of the historicity of Jesus. There are also a number of non-canonical epistles, such as Laodiceans. Also worth a close read are the three books of the Shepherd of Hermas, which uses apocalyptic and symbolic imagery. This collection is an invaluable selection of portions of the New Testament which illustrates the fluid nature of the early Biblical canon, and provides access to all of the 'spare parts.'

The Gospel of the Birth of Mary
The Protevangelion
The First Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ
Thomas's Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ
The Epistles of Jesus Christ and Abgarus King of Edessa
The Gospel of Nicodemus, Formerly Called the Acts of Pontius Pilate
The Apostles’ Creed
The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Laodiceans
The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to Seneca, with Seneca's to Paul
The Acts of Paul and Thecla
The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
The Second Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
The General Epistle of Barnabas
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Philadelphians
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnæans
The Epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp
The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians
The Shepherd of Hermas
The Second Book of Hermas, Called His Commands
The Third Book of Hermas, Which Is Called His Similitudes
Letters of Herod and Pilate
The Lost Gospel According to Peter
Table I.
Table II.

649 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2011

About the author

Rutherford Hayes Platt Jr. was an American nature writer, photographer, and advertising executive.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutherf...

Reviews

[Owlseyes]

[Doug Brunell · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not religious or a Biblical scholar, but the existence of this book has always fascinated me. After reading it I can say that unless you are religious or a Biblical scholar, this book probably has little in the way of value with but one exception: the parts about Jesus' younger years.

Young Jesus was a bit of a jerk. Much like Anakin Skywalker, a young Jesus sometimes abused his power for trivial things like bumping into him. He made kids go blind and worse. Sometimes, though, he just used his powers to amuse friends, such as the time he fashioned some small animals from mud and then made them come alive.

That is such a small section of this book, however, and the rest is filled with visions about why you should worship God and Jesus and forsake evil -- things that are already in the Bible, just told a different way.

[Beverly J. Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

All I can say is WOW

I love researching the history of Christianity. Especially during the time of Jesus Christ. Some of the things I’ve read made sense & seemed believable. And some made it out to be fables. It’s just sad that some of the stuff you read can’t be believed because people want to put their own thoughts in the translations. Why can’t they just be honest and let each person come to their own conclusions. But no the devil has to try and make the gospel out to be something bad, untrue, never happened. There are some of us who would really like to know what’s real. We want to know what our Savior went through for us. What the early disciples heard & saw cause they were there. What actually took place back then. It’s bad enough we can’t even share our books, but we have to pay for false information, half truths?

[Rita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but probably not all true or from reliable sources.

[Dianna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh I was surprised to find this among my dad's things after he passed. When I read it I was less than impressed.