The Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden

Rating:
Summary: Gaps Are Filled In
Review: Being raised Southern Baptist with a strong emphasis on the KJV of the Bible and later converting to Catholicism because my husband was Catholic and then spending many years working for a Jewish law firm, I was exposed to many different religious beliefs, customs, traditions and aspects. When I became older, I wanted to know "more". Just from a purely logical standpoint, there had to be a beginning, a middle and an "end"...yet there were too many gaps in the "history" depicted by the Bible. Yet I do believe in God and I am in Christian in that I believe in Jesus being the only son of God, but there were parts of the story missing. This book fills in all those gaps. It is beautifully written. It is easy to read. It is comprehensive. It is rational. It is direct. I do not dare to believe that one religion is the "perfect" religion and I think anyone in this modern day and time who does think that way has a lot to learn. This book fills in the gaps from where Adam and Eve left the garden, how their bodies transformed into their "animal" state, and explains many, many, many other details that make the bible really make SENSE to those of us who need that little boost of logic sometimes to help edge that faith on just a bit. It is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it to anyone who would like to fill in all those gaps and empty spots that are left by the beautifully written, yet very incomplete KJV of the bible. Even the Catholic version of the bible which has more books than the KJV does not do justice to these beautiful books that were left out. I am appalled that in the 21st Century these books are still not included. But not so very long ago, women could not vote, blacks were segregated from whites, illegitimacy was a social tabu, women had no rights to own a business, get a phone, or even get a credit card...so why am I not surprised that these beautiful books are still "not included" in our modern day bibles? I think it is time for people to wake up, know what all the facts are, and then they will find plausible explanations for things that make it even "easier" to confirm their faith...rather than the 2,000 years of being led by a select few in determining what we "need to know".

Rating:
Summary: Interesting enough to read, blasphemous enough to not buy
Review: How are these "the lost books of the Bible?" We cannot forget that the Bible is the word of God. It was inspired by God Himself. This book makes it seem as though God did not do a good job in keeping His word together. The Bible is complete. Let nobody add or take away of His word! This book gets a big TWO THUMBS DOWN! I gave it one star only because that is the lowest rating I can give. I just don't like what this book claims to be.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting and Insightful
Review: I'm in the beginning stages of reading this book, so I cannot comment on all of it just yet. I will say, however, that it has answered some of the questions that I've often had about principles characters in the bible. I've also often wondered why these books were left out of the bible. As a woman, I found it very uplifting to read the story of Mary's childhood as well as other stories that mentioned or focused on women. From what I've read so far, I definitely recommend it!

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Summary: NOT for one who believes in the Bible
Review: If the Bible is to you just a collection of stories then doubtless you'll find this interesting. But if you do believe in God and in Christ then you will find these texts horribly offensive and blasphemous. In particulaur the Infancy Gospel, which portrays Jesus as a spoiled brat with supernatural powers. Contrary to the review below, NO Bible writer quoted from these books. If God inspired these texts, He would have assured their inclusion in the Bible. Don't read these myths and fables; study the prophetic Word of God!

Rating:
Summary: Buy it!
Review: If you are researching Apocrypha, then there is no excuse not to buy this book. It contains the letters of Clement, Barnabus, and Ignatius; the Infancy Gospels of Mary & Jesus; 1&2 Adam+Eve; 2Enoch; the gorgeous Psalms & Odes of Solomon; Ahikar; Aristeas; 4Maccabees; and the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. While I would gladly argue that none of these texts are equal to the 66 of inspired Scripture, these books nonetheless are well-worth preserving and studying. BUY IT ALREADY!!!

Rating:
Summary: Blasphemous?
Review: Let's start with the orgin to the bible, it was compiled by the ROMAN emporer Constantine to save his crumbling empire.He gathered all the Gnosis scholars collected documents containing ANY story of Jesus and EDITED the image of Jesus into what we have today.Any mention of him being less than a perfect person was destroyed or hidden!God let this happen...why you ask? He moves mysterious ways.These books are well translated and easy to read,and least we forget that books of the Bible have been removed or added for centries and WHOLE revisions of the books in the bible are as common as a hundred years ago.This book claimes to be lost stories of a forgotten past,one twised to conform to what a DEAD DICTATOR wanted.If you want to see some rewrithing look at a KJV Gen 49:6 than a NIV there is a hell of a difference between the two passages!But the word of God can't be wrong,can it? nope but people are.People are imperfect bags of bones we mess up and when we mess it up we hide books like this one.We cover up what we don't like to keep dogma alive.These are excellent books well worth the read.These texts come from a purer source than anyone of the Gospels could ever hope to be.We now have the back storie,which completes the whole picture.Now wouldn't you think God would want that,after all he would make sure that salvation would be found anyway nessisary?This book follows up where HIDDEN books like the Enoch texts leaves out.Read these books and decide for yourself are these really BLASPHEMOUS? or just lost historie?

Rating:
Summary: Good, but be sure to read the introductions to each book
Review: Liking or not liking these books has nothing to do with one's sociopolitical ideologies. As one reads the introductions of each book, clearly some have more credibility than others. Some are clearly at odds with other related books, and therefore their credibility is questionable. Others were actually considered genuine by some Christian and/or Jewish authorities and then later were not--just like the Catholic and Protestant versions of the Bible differ by both not having all the same books. Does that make one "evil" and the other not? Of course not. Yet one cannot help but wonder what the rationales were how a book can be credible and then not.

But let's face it: Something is either the word of God or it isn't. Thus some things just are, and they are not open to a popularity vote. But it wasn't so much God, but brute force, that determined which sect of Christianity ulitimately won out. Then those alternative Christianities that Catholicism couldn't convert, forcibly or otherwise, it killed their members and also burned their books. Hardly congruent with the behavior of a non violent Jesus, but very much so with pseudo spiritual opportunists who are more interested in politics, money and power.

Along with this book I'd highly recommend "Mystical Life of Jesus" by H. Spencer Lewis, the Complete Gospels, The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You to Read, and the Gnostic Bible. They will make some of the passages in Lost Books of the Bible more clear and provide a context since otherwise you end up reading this book in a vacuum. At all times think for yourself.

If this has aroused your curiosity then check out my reader's guide for more startling info. on alternative Christianity.


Rating:
Summary: Good, but be sure to read the introductions to each book
Review: Liking or not liking these books has nothing to do with one's sociopolitical ideologies. As one reads the introductions of each book, clearly some have more credibility than others. Some were acutally canonical and then later were not--just like the Catholic and Protestant versions of the Bible differ by both not having all the same books. Does that make one "evil" and the other not? Of course not. Yet one cannot help but wonder what the rationales were how a book can be canon and then not. I mean, let's face it: Something is either the word of God or it isn't just like fire is hot and rain is wet. Thus some things just are, and they are not open to a popularity vote.
Along with this book I'd highly recommend "Mystical Life of Jesus" by H. Spencer Lewis. It will make some of the passages in Lost Books of the Bible more clear and provide a context since otherwise you end up reading this book in a vacuum accepting many of the popular assumptions about Jesus and His life and times perhaps without even being aware of it thus having your perceptions distorted. At all times think for yourself.

Rating:
Summary: Q: Lost Books ? A: False Teachings from False Teachers
Review: People these books are not lost, they where discarded. The Church has always known they existed they where left out because they ARE NOT THE WORD OF GOD. These books ARE either the writings of heritics or a later edition that someone wrote and slapped some Prophet or Apostles name on it. There is no evidence that any of these books where ever considered conanicle by the Church which is (1 Tim 3:15). All of Gods word is contained in the Bible. If you want to read the lost books get yourself a copy of "The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha" NRSV.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting and Insightful
Review: The book contains a nice variety of works from early Christianity and to some extent the old testament era. If you are a beginer of the study of such works this is a nice starting book as you can see a small sampling of each of the many types of works that were written and the very different messages these books sometimes gave (part of why they aren't widely studied today in Churchs). However, every book contained in this work is to be found in other collections and I know of single collective books that contain most of these works and more with better translations. A nice starting point but not something that is really valuable to someone who has been already been studying other works from the time of the formation of the cannon.