I'm trying to research the "lost books" of the Bible. I've always been interested in these manuscripts, and often do research on them. If you’ve never checked into them, I truly suggest you do so. Trust me – reading a few of these, or at least reading a summary of what they are about, is not heresy and is not going to send you to hell. The Odes of Solomon, Psalms of Solomon, and Wisdom of Solomon are all good. The Life of Adam and Eve is also good, as is the one that discusses Jesus as a child (Infancy Gospel of Thomas).
Now then, before I continue with this post, I want to make it understood that I am not saying that any or all of these “lost books” belong in the Bible. I’m also not saying that there isn’t a possibility some of them do belong. I enjoy reading them, and reading about them, trying to figure out how it was determined they didn’t belong, or if there would be any benefit to them belonging. Maybe they are simply stories and not the true written Word of God.
I could go into great detail on why I think some of them do belong (i.e. please open your Bible to Joshua 10:13.... and then please go to the Book of Jasher). And, there are reason to believe some are forgeries, false-prophet writings, heresy - such as the 6th and 7th Books of Moses, which are centered around magic/the occult.
What really bothers me, however, is how close-minded people are. They aren't even narrow-minded. The door is slammed shut. There is absolutely no way there could be books that were intentionally left out - unless of course the reason is that they were not written by God. Well, get a clue people. God didn't write ANY of the books. Man did. Yes, it was God-inspired. The Holy Spirit perhaps taking possession of man's hand. But it was still man's hand which wrote it. And, it was man who determined which books belonged within the Bible. And it was man who translated it (and if any of you have taken a foreign language, you KNOW nothing translates quite so easily).
What also irritates me is the excuses people give for why there can't be additional books which were left out....
I could go into great detail on why I think some of them do belong (i.e. please open your Bible to Joshua 10:13.... and then please go to the Book of Jasher). And, there are reason to believe some are forgeries, false-prophet writings, heresy - such as the 6th and 7th Books of Moses, which are centered around magic/the occult.
What really bothers me, however, is how close-minded people are. They aren't even narrow-minded. The door is slammed shut. There is absolutely no way there could be books that were intentionally left out - unless of course the reason is that they were not written by God. Well, get a clue people. God didn't write ANY of the books. Man did. Yes, it was God-inspired. The Holy Spirit perhaps taking possession of man's hand. But it was still man's hand which wrote it. And, it was man who determined which books belonged within the Bible. And it was man who translated it (and if any of you have taken a foreign language, you KNOW nothing translates quite so easily).
What also irritates me is the excuses people give for why there can't be additional books which were left out....
- These other books were not referenced by Jesus… therefore they do not belong.
- .... not all the books that are in the Bible were referenced either....
- The Jewish canon did not include them… therefore they do not belong.
- .... oh, well, ok then....
- They did not claim to be the Word of God
- Do all the others?
- They were not written by a prophet of God
- And just how do we know this?!?
- They did not tell the truth about God, man, history, science, etc.
- Hmm.... maybe they do tell the truth. Maybe we're just to narrow-minded to accept that fact
- They weren’t inspired by God.
- Again... just how do we know this?!?
- One site actually stated that although these books were quoted from and were accepted by church fathers as inspired… this doesn’t mean they were inspired... so yeah. Just because others claim they were not inspired, doesn't mean they weren't, either.
- The Bible claims it is complete. The Bible claims what is written is the only truth.
- Umm... how did whoever wrote those verses even KNOW what went into the Bible? Especially considering the Bible has changed... books added and removed.
- They tell of unbiblical concepts (prayer for the dead, magic, etc)
- and here's the truth ladies and gentlemen. We cannot have anything that disagrees with what the church had been teaching. There are a lot of verses saying magic is bad. Suddenly 5 or 6 books show up that say this person performed magic, or you have Moses giving special spells. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad! Burn 'em!
Anyway, as I'm saying... I really don't know if any of these books do or do not belong in the Bible. I'm not an expert on books, on Godly inspiration, or who was and who was not a prophet 3000 years ago. What I AM saying is that all of you reading this - you're not experts on all these things either. Do not be so quick to judge. Believing in the Bible is a wonderful thing. Jumping to the conclusion that the Bible cannot be anything more than it is...? That's actually closing your mind to God. That is mankind judging how God wants His Word. His Word is never changing... but I do believe it is constant. Things have been written before the Bible, and after the Bible, and today, which are inspired by God, by people whom have heard His voice and felt the Holy Spirit.
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