Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew
Many Christians would be surprised to find that the early Christian church was not one with a common theology with only very minor differences between them. In fact there were many major differences between the early churches. Some believed that Christ was entirely human and not divine at all. Others believed he was entirely divine and not human at all. And, of course, there were a wide variety of beliefs between those extremes. This is just one of the examples of how widely apart the early Christian church was in terms of theology, soteriology, and even the purpose of the church in the world.
There were also many different "scriptures" supposedly written by the apostles or those who were in direct contact with the apostles. Some of these are patently forgeries; others are hard to tell. What were these writings? What was their significance? Did any of the early churches treat them as part of their canon of sacred scriptures? If they did then why were they not included in the current canon of the New Testament? How did these affect the beliefs of the early church or how did the beliefs of the early church affect how these were written?
Bart D. Ehrman takes on all of these questions through his riveting account of the "Lost Christianities", the beliefs and scriptures of the various early Christian churches. This is a very readable and well-organized treatise that is sure to become a commonly referred book for anyone interested in this historical aspect of the Christian Church. "Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew" is a highly recommended read.
Author: Bart D. Ehrman
Publisher: Oxford University Press, Inc.
198 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
Copyright: 2003
ISBN: 0195141830
Pages: 279 plus bibliography and index