Rating: 
Summary: "Scholarly" tripe for those who don't know non-canonical lit
Review: Alright, some people need to start taking certain things more seriously. For example, this book is published by Harpercollins, which is not a mainstream scholarly resource company such as IVP or Fortress. I am a Biblical scholar and have researched and written plenty on non-canonical literature, I know its function for the Christian and Jew alike. I bought this book, and not only did IT wanna make me wretch, but other people's opinions on this board made me want to.I fall in the middle of you all in my opinions on this book. The contents are important, I am not gonna be the typical Christian enthusiast and say that they are not in the Bible and shouldn't be read, but on the other hand, there are reasons as to why they aren't in the Bible, we must realize that these books were not "lost" but not put in because they did not fit well, we know that most of the writings if not all are written by someone other than they were attributed to, the dates they were written during do not coincide with canonical scripture of the same genres, and basically, they contradict certain things in scripture, which prove that they are not to be taken AS scripture. These are important for the serious scholar or for the layman who does not take these works seriously. They are purely historical value and are not divinely inspired. That is why it makes me upset when these are collected and released to the mainstream public as the "lost books". As one reviewer said, "Make up what [you] want to believe", but the Bible clearly states what we are supposed to believe. If you want to know a proper approach to take this from, start reading books by people like James Charlesworth and John Collins. In fact, Charlesworth has the definitive set of the OT Pseudepigrapha which is two volumes and Schneelmelcher has the definitive set of NT Apocrypha. THESE guys know the original languages and can understand everything. This book was just put out by some guy wanting to stir up some controversy and make cash on the side. And then those who want to take this as literature to study magic with, well, I'm not even gonna go there and waste my time, that's just plain silly. The documents are still important to study, though the two main problems with this book is that it treats them as scripture and that the editor probably doesn't even know Hebrew or Greek, nor does he have a degree in Biblical Studies and original languages.. They are not divinely inspired and don't come close to canonical scripture. Come on, people, what makes you think we're so different from those thousands of years ago that decided what would go into the Bible and what wouldn't? The NT was written by people who WITNESSED Christ. These NT documents are not written by those whose names are on them. Therefore, it makes more sense. Read my list of important non-canonical literature collections and be amazed at how wrong this book is and how much more satisfying research of non-canonical documents can be!
Rating: 
Summary: For the Serious A Must Read
Review: Although Barnstone's interest is Poetry, this is an invaluable source for the searching "theologian". I would recommend it to Bible College Student, Seminary Students, and those who wish to learn more about their Bible. Barnstone shows how writing practices affected our Modern Bibles, no matter which Version, it is a real eye-opener to see Literature that would easily resemble Sacred Scripture, every serious Bible student, Clergy or Lay, should own a copy.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent and exhaustive
Review: I absolutely love this book; it is a great source of faniciful stories, and enhances my appreciation for the canonical NT. The only flaw to this massive work is that it far too often includes only excerpts. However, this is a great intro to the subject of "Alternative" Scripture and if an excerpt intrigues you, Amazon.com is there to help you find a complete copy!
Rating: 
Summary: its ok, could have been more.
Review: I bought this one used and I guess I got what i paid for. It has some interesting information in it but a lot of it is pretty innane and largely incomplete. If you are thinking aboout getting it then buy it used.
Rating:
Summary: A magnificent source work for the intellectual intuitive
Review: I personally found this to be an incredibly useful resource at a very reasonable price. Here, in one book, is the actual gnostic and hermetic source material for your ready reference and deep contemplative study. One great benefit of such a one-volume text is that you cannot help but to see the common "golden thread" that runs through all of the great mystical traditions. From the Egyptian Hermetics, to the Manicheans, to the Essenes, to the Jewish Kaballists, to the Neoplatonists, to the Christian Gnostics- all these mystics were in Resonance with a higher common Source. When you start to ponder these texts you will either find them to be obscure, nonsensical, and unreadable, or if you are ready, you will intuitively apprehend and "recollect" a great treasury of Wisdom emanating from the Source. It is all a matter of whether or not you have discovered that there is another higher, intuitive manner of gaining knowlege, other than the narrow analytical, materialist approach. If you are intrigued by this concept, you might find _The Only Tradition_ by Quinn to be informative, if not transformational.
Rating:
Summary: Good Overview Of Alternate Scriptures
Review: I'm not an expert on the subject of alternate scriptures. However it appears to me that this book provides a good sampling of many different books that never made it into the bible (for good reasons though). These samplings are short enough so as not to dwell too long on any one subject which could become boring if you're not really interested in a particular area too much. I felt the views expressed in the introductions were not biased towards any specific belief system and were almost scientfic. Those who don't believe in for example the Gnostic philosophy will probably wonder (as I did) how such an elaborate belief system and philsophy could be created if it wasn't inspired by some god or other. You really have to wonder why people would come up with something like this. The Raelian organization which wants to start cloning human beings follows some of these Gnostic ideas I believe. Some of these books were apparently written to entertain people like religious versions of Aesop's fables. However to me the events surrounding the life and death of Christ and His apostles don't lend themselves very well to entertainment purposes. The main reason I read this book was to pick up some ideas that might be true but which are not in the bible. I did find some of these items. For example a physical description is provided of Abraham's wife Sarah (she was one of the most beautiful women who ever lived) and it tells that Abraham knew the evil pharoah would want to kill Abraham and kidnap Sarah. In another place it says Abraham went into Egypt to confront the occult forces and the prophet Isaiah was sawed in half. There's a few good items about Moses also. But these possibly true ideas are few and far between. Most of this book is about things that the Christian and Jewish person will not believe. Many of these alternative philosophies are in direct contradiction to Jewish and Christian beliefs. For those who are familiar with the Christian gospels some of these alternate gospels which claim to quote Christ can actually be humorous because they don't sound quite the way you expect them to: Jesus said, "Blessed is he who came into being before he came into being." Jesus said, "Whoever has come to understand the world has found a corpse, and whoever has found a corpse is superior to the world." They showed Jesus a gold coin and said to Him, "Caesar's men demand taxes from us. He said to them, "Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, give to God what belongs to God, and give to me what is mine." "For so long as you do not call yourself mine, I am not what I am; but if you hear me, you also as hearer shall be as I am, and I shall be what I was, when you are as I am with myself; for from me you are what I am."
Rating:
Summary: Good Overview Of Alternate Scriptures
Review: I'm not an expert on the subject of alternate scriptures. However it appears to me that this book provides a good sampling of many different books that never made it into the bible (for good reasons though). These samplings are short enough so as not to dwell too long on any one subject which could become boring if you're not really interested in a particular area too much. I felt the views expressed in the introductions were not biased towards any specific belief system and were almost scientfic. Those who don't believe in for example the Gnostic philosophy will probably wonder (as I did) how such an elaborate belief system and philsophy could be created if it wasn't inspired by some god or other. You really have to wonder why people would come up with something like this. The Raelian organization which wants to start cloning human beings follows some of these Gnostic ideas I believe. Some of these books were apparently written to entertain people like religious versions of Aesop's fables. However to me the events surrounding the life and death of Christ and His apostles don't lend themselves very well to entertainment purposes. The main reason I read this book was to pick up some ideas that might be true but which are not in the bible. I did find some of these items. For example a physical description is provided of Abraham's wife Sarah (she was one of the most beautiful women who ever lived) and it tells that Abraham knew the evil pharoah would want to kill Abraham and kidnap Sarah. In another place it says Abraham went into Egypt to confront the occult forces and the prophet Isaiah was sawed in half. There's a few good items about Moses also. But these possibly true ideas are few and far between. Most of this book is about things that the Christian and Jewish person will not believe. Many of these alternative philosophies are in direct contradiction to Jewish and Christian beliefs. For those who are familiar with the Christian gospels some of these alternate gospels which claim to quote Christ can actually be humorous because they don't sound quite the way you expect them to: Jesus said, "Blessed is he who came into being before he came into being." Jesus said, "Whoever has come to understand the world has found a corpse, and whoever has found a corpse is superior to the world." They showed Jesus a gold coin and said to Him, "Caesar's men demand taxes from us. He said to them, "Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, give to God what belongs to God, and give to me what is mine." "For so long as you do not call yourself mine, I am not what I am; but if you hear me, you also as hearer shall be as I am, and I shall be what I was, when you are as I am with myself; for from me you are what I am."
Rating:
Summary: Essential collection of religious literature
Review: If one desires to gain a broader understanding of and exposure early post canonical Judeo folk beliefs, and early Christian/Gnostic ideas and writing, then this would be a fine investment. A wide variety of writings are sample or reprinted in whole form. One's purpose in reading will determine the relative worth of the selections. From a literary standpoint, sections containing "Wisdom Literature and Poetry," and "Histories and Narratives" are good reading. Most of the works, if only because of their ancientness and obscurity, are engaging. At times, however, general verbiage and passages laced with sincere but tiresome efforts at proving a specific doctrine or belief can incite restlessness in an impatient reader (and I can sometimes count myself among them). The advantage of a 736 page book (with the glossary of unfamiliar relgiious terms), though, is that another, perhaps more interesting, selection is available with only a few turns of the page. Those interested in theology/mysticism, particularly of the Christian sort, will also find exciting reading. Since I'm Christian, though, I might have a biased interpretation of the material. The different gospels were among my favorite readings, particularly the Gospel of Thomas. For the historian, too, Thomas' Gospel is interesting in its similarity with the 4 canonized versions. The Gospel of the Hebrews, though presented only in fragments equaling a page in length, is also of an early date. It is my belief that some of the gospels presented here, especially the "infancy gospels" were written and received, at least in part, with the purpose to entertain and mystify a curious populace regarding the life of Jesus. The regular book ends (there is still one writing, "The Ascent to Union with the One," which is listed as pagan, i.e., significantly based on neither Christianity or Judaism) with two short writings from Pseudo-Dionysius, the 6th century mystic that struck me as especially insightful and, of course, mystical. He does not say so explicitly, but from reading him I received the impression that, "consciousness is the activation of possibility," and, "the nothingness we seek is within everything, yet remains elusive." He calls it the "super-bright gloom." All in all, this 'other bible' is a worthy addition to the library of anyone interested in literature, especially the history of religious literature, or one with religious inclinations and an inquisitiveness as to what ideas and doctrines the earliest of believers might have encountered.
Rating:
Summary: Found Info
Review: It should be made clear to any potential buyer that this book is composed primarily of EXCERPTS from the various texts, not the complete works. While Barnstone is a talented translator in his own right, the translations in this book are not his. Rather, they are culled from various sources, many in the public domain, such as the R.H. Charles editions of the Pseudepigrapha. While these translations are passable, they are often not based in the latest scholarship. If you are looking for a Readers' Digest Condensed Apocrypha, this book might be worth it, but for serious study, your money would be better spent on the Charlesworth Pseudepigrapha, the Schneemelcher/Wilson New Testament Apocrypha, the Garcia Martinez Dead Seas Scrolls, and the Robinson Nag Hammadi.
Rating: 
Summary: An overview at best
Review: It should be made clear to any potential buyer that this book is composed primarily of EXCERPTS from the various texts, not the complete works. While Barnstone is a talented translator in his own right, the translations in this book are not his. Rather, they are culled from various sources, many in the public domain, such as the R.H. Charles editions of the Pseudepigrapha. While these translations are passable, they are often not based in the latest scholarship. If you are looking for a Readers' Digest Condensed Apocrypha, this book might be worth it, but for serious study, your money would be better spent on the Charlesworth Pseudepigrapha, the Schneemelcher/Wilson New Testament Apocrypha, the Garcia Martinez Dead Seas Scrolls, and the Robinson Nag Hammadi.
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