The Long Lost Second Book Of Acts

Acts is the sequel to Luke's gospel and tells the story of Jesus's followers during the 30 years after his death. It describes how the 12 apostles, formerly Jesus's disciples, spread the message of Christianity throughout the Mediterranean against a background of persecution. With an introduction by P.D. James

One of my predecessors in the pastorate was a grandson of the great Emil Kautzsch, one of the first translators of apocrypha and pseudepigrapha in Germany more than 100 years ago. He wanted people to read the texts, and many did and knew very well. Not so today: even “Bible - Christians” have not read one single line, and that is really too bad. After having published a navigator to OT and NT apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, I will do now the same with neoapocrypha and modern gospels which are the subject of this book – I want to help spreading “the word” by helping readers to find freely available texts they can enjoy. I am convinced reading such material will provide much “cleansing work” in the mind of the reader in order to learn thinking in a more stringent, clear and restrained manner. This might help getting closer to “my own and personal thinking and guessing” when it comes to very deep questions on life, death, love, meaning, sense, God and the spiritual realm (as we use to say today).

Secret Scrolls is the very first examination of some forty novels in which someone discovers a new gospel. Sometimes it turns out to be a hoax; will it be debunked before it can work its mischief? If it proves genuine, will it be brought to light? Or will corrupt church officials manage to prevent it? The book evaluates what each author has to say about historical Jesus scholarship or New Testament research in general. Sometimes the authors have done their homework; other times they haven't bothered, and they wind up dishing up crazy rewrites of history and outlandish theories. These novels deal with abiding issues of faith, even without some new discovery. As soon as one engages in biblical apologetics, one has stepped onto the marshy ground of probabilistic arguments, an entirely different epistemology that automatically replaces simple faith. And so one comes to hold one's religious convictions more tentatively, having become genuinely vulnerable to new evidence. One may not remain a believer for long. On the other hand, one invites fanaticism if one's faith is dangerously predicated on the assurance that no new discovery will send one back to the drawing board. Secret Scrolls assesses what each author imagines it would take to derail and debunk Christianity. How mighty a blow must be dealt before the religion would fall? Dan Brown's notion that a married Jesus would debunk the Nicene Creed is laughable. As Wilbert Francis Howard once argued in his brief and fascinating history of New Testament research, there is a genuine "romance of New Testament scholarship," and many of us are delighted to have the adventure continue in the speculative imaginations of capable novelists. These books can both entertain and educate, and so will Secret Scrolls.

A strange teacher has come to Wisconsin and changed Angies life. He seems to be able to control the weather, make flowers grow in the snow, and heal a broken leg. But he has offended some prominent citizens. Can Angie remain a Christian and continue to associate with him and his young daughter? Angies touching story is the thread that ties together a group of esoteric writings known as the Madonna Discourses.

This book is a series of papers presented mainly at the Book of Mormon Round Table. It lays out a case for considering the Mormon scripture as the work of Joseph Smith in the nineteenth century, not an ancient document written by various Israelites in ancient America. But, author Robert M. Price argues, this is merely another case of "pseudepigraphy," the genre of fictive "as if" authorship common to the Bible as well. Price urges readers to a new appreciation of the intricate redaction and rewriting of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, and to a positive theological estimate of this approach by Latter-day Saint Christians. Critical studies of several passages in the Book of Mormon are included.

Jesus and the Manuscripts, by popular author and Bible scholar Craig A. Evans, introduces readers to the diversity and complexity of the ancient literature that records the words and deeds of Jesus. This diverse literature includes the familiar Gospels of the New Testament, the much less familiar literature of the Rabbis and of the Qur’an, and the extracanonical narratives and brief snippets of material found in fragments and inscriptions. This book critically analyzes important texts and quotations in their original languages and engages the current scholarly discussion. Evans argues that the Gospel of Thomas is not early or independent of the New Testament Gospels but that it should be dated to the late second century. He also argues that Secret Mark, like the recently published Gospel of Jesus’ Wife, is probably a modern forgery. Of special interest is the question of how long the autographs of New Testament writings remained in circulation. Evans argues that the evidence suggests that most of these autographs remained available for copying and study for more than one hundred years and thus stabilized the text. Key points and features: Written by popular author and Bible scholar Craig A. Evans Includes 20+ pages of high-quality color photos Walks readers through the various works of ancient literature, both biblical and non-biblical, that mention Jesus Critically analyzes important texts and quotations in their original languages and engages the current scholarly discussion

A companion volume to Lost Christianities, this remarkable anthology of long-lost Christian writings that were never included in the New Testaments includes fifteen additional gospels, thirteen epistles, five non-canonical Acts of the Apostles, Apocalypes and Secret Books, and brief introductions to each. History Dual Main. (Scripture)