Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew

Bart D. Ehrman

Sep 2005 · Oxford University Press

About this ebook

The early Christian Church was a chaos of contending beliefs. Some groups of Christians claimed that there was not one God but two or twelve or thirty. Some believed that the world had not been created by God but by a lesser, ignorant deity. Certain sects maintained that Jesus was human but not divine, while others said he was divine but not human. In Lost Christianities, Bart D. Ehrman offers a fascinating look at these early forms of Christianity and shows how they came to be suppressed, reformed, or forgotten. All of these groups insisted that they upheld the teachings of Jesus and his apostles, and they all possessed writings that bore out their claims, books reputedly produced by Jesus's own followers. Modern archaeological work has recovered a number of key texts, and as Ehrman shows, these spectacular discoveries reveal religious diversity that says much about the ways in which history gets written by the winners. Ehrman's discussion ranges from considerations of various "lost scriptures"--including forged gospels supposedly written by Simon Peter, Jesus's closest disciple, and Judas Thomas, Jesus's alleged twin brother--to the disparate beliefs of such groups as the Jewish-Christian Ebionites, the anti-Jewish Marcionites, and various "Gnostic" sects. Ehrman examines in depth the battles that raged between "proto-orthodox Christians"--those who eventually compiled the canonical books of the New Testament and standardized Christian belief--and the groups they denounced as heretics and ultimately overcame. Scrupulously researched and lucidly written, Lost Christianities is an eye-opening account of politics, power, and the clash of ideas among Christians in the decades before one group came to see its views prevail.

Ratings and reviews

He was and is w h I t e LOOK into many facts about that from c h a p l a I n B o b, R o b e r t S e p h r, B e r t r a n d Co m p er e t, H I s to r y D e b u n k e d of historical facts. The corrupted few in charge don't want us to know ! ! Yes I'm from NC from up north to and tired of the com m I e s lies behind so called institutions of schools to also wasn't one of the universities in NC connected to this p l a n d em I c. I know the truth to and can expose you corrupt few responsible for lies in many so called colleges and d e s c r I m I n a t i o n s of ours! ! Btw! ! Just so you guys know ! !

Essential reading for anyone wondering what Christian beliefs were in the first five centuries of Christianity.

A well written and thoroughly researched book that shows the diverse range of beliefs held by the early Christians. A must have book for all who are interested in early Christianity.

About the author

Bart D. Ehrman is Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the author of The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings and Jesus, Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium.