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Lost Christianities

 By Bart D. Ehrman
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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.

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Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew
By Bart D. Ehrman
Published by Oxford University Press US, 2003
ISBN 0195141830, 9780195141832
294 pages

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Contents

Recouping our Losses
1
Simon Peter, Jesus, Apocalypse
Forgeries and Discoveries
9
Gospel of Peter, Gospel of Thomas, docetic
The Forgery of an Ancient Discovery? Morton Smith and
67
Carpocratians, Gospel of Mark, Clement of Alexandria
Heresies and Orthodoxies
91
Ebionites, Marcion, proto-orthodox Christians
Winners and Losers
159
Phibionites, heresiologists, Marcion
Forgeries
203
adoptionists, Christology, docetic
more »
The Formation of the Protoorthodox
229
Muratorian canon, Gospel of Peter, Shepherd of Hermas
Winners Losers and the Question of Tolerance
247
Maximian, Gospels of Matthew, Constantine
Notes
259
Nag Hammadi Library, Apostolic Fathers, Dead Sea Scrolls
Bibliography
281
Christian, Philadelphia, Bible
Index
289
BART D, Teaching Company, Lost Christianities
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Popular passages

Rather, the Kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living Father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty. - Page 70

Appears in 109 books from 1977-2008

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. - Page 41

Appears in 213 books from 1867-2008

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. - Page 171

Appears in 517 books from 1832-2008
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By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. - Page 232

Appears in 369 books from 1828-2008

On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. - Page 171

Appears in 302 books from 1864-2008

If the flesh came into being because of spirit, it is a wonder. But if spirit came into being because of the body, it is a wonder of wonders. Indeed, I am amazed at how this great wealth has made its home in this poverty. - Page 69

Appears in 42 books from 1977-2008

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen. - Page 171

Appears in 278 books from 1834-2008

When you disrobe without being ashamed and take up your garments and place them under your feet like little children and tread on them, then will you see the Son of the Living One, and you will not be afraid. - Page 68

Appears in 79 books from 1947-2007

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. - Page 100

Appears in 400 books from 1944-2008
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Reviews

What if Marcion's canon-which consisted ...
... only of Luke's Gospel and Paul's letters, entirely omitting the Old Testament-had become Christianity's canon? What if the Ebionites-who believed Jesus was completely human and not divine-had ... more » ruled the day as the Orthodox Christian party? What if various early Christian writings, such as the Gospel of Thomas or the Secret Gospel of Mark, had been allowed into the canonical New Testament? Ehrman (The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture), a professor of religion at UNC Chapel Hill, offers answers to these and other questions in this book, which rehearses the now-familiar story of the tremendous diversity of early Christianity and its eventual suppression by a powerful "proto-orthodox" faction. The proto-orthodox Christians won out over many other groups, and bequeathed to us the four Gospels, a church hierarchy, a set of practices and beliefs, and doctrines such as the Trinity. Ehrman eloquently characterizes some of the movements and Scriptures that were lost, such as the Ebionites and the Secret Gospel of Mark, as he outlines the many strands of Christianity that competed for attention in the second and third centuries. He issues an important reminder that there was no such thing as a monolithic Christian orthodoxy before the fourth century. While Ehrman sometimes raises interesting questions (e.g., are Paul's writings sympathetic to women?), his book covers territory already well-explored by others (Gregory Riley, The River of God; Elaine Pagels, Beyond Belief), generating few fresh or provocative insights. (Oct.) FYI: Oxford will simultaneously release Ehrman's edited anthology Lost Scriptures: Books That Did Not Make It into the New Testament, which contains new translations of many of the non-canonical writings analyzed in this book. « less
Lost Christianities. by Bart D. Ehrman. I feel I have learned a lot from this book. You hear the term heresy and heretic thrown around frequently, ...
blogspot.com
Lost Christianities provides a fascinating overview of the events, writings, and politics that eventually led to the New Testament as we know it today.
deliriumsrealm.com
Bart D. EHRMAN, Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. pp. 294. $30.00 hd. ...
catholicbooksreview.org
Evangelical Christians take their stand on the inerrancy of the scriptures that make up the New Testament, yet most probably know little about the origins ...
ukfsn.org
more »
book reviews: · general fiction · chick lit/romance · sci-fi/fantasy · graphic novels · nonfiction · audio books · Click here for the curledup.com RSS Feed ...
curledup.com
Review of Bart Ehrman's Lost Christianities. by ra Baker. Probably due to an undercurrent of anti-Catholic sentiment in the United States that began ...
churchhistory101.com
Lost Christianities: The Battle for Scriptures and Faiths We Never Knew by Bart D. Ehrman review by $author -- If there is disagreement, even animosity, ...
popmatters.com
Some members bookmarked this website to share with others and gave a short description of the website, for more information on Book Review Lost ...
startaid.com
Books by Bart D. Ehrman MISQUOTING JESUSS: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why · LOST CHRISTIANITIES: The Battle for Scripture and the Faiths We ...
faithfulreader.com
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References from web pages

Michael Heintz - Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture ...
Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Pp. xv + 294. $30. ...
muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_early_christian_studies/v013/13.2heintz.html

Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We ...
Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew by Bart D. Ehrman. December 11, 2007 by Book Dragon ...
booklove.wordpress.com/2007/12/11/lost-christianities-the-battles-for-scripture-and-the-faiths-we-never-knew-by-bart...

Christian Intellectualism and Apologetics Research: A Critique of ...
Christian Intellectualism and Apologetics Research. This Blog is devoted to the research and apologetical truths of Christianity. ...
randiss.blogspot.com/2007/02/critique-of-bart-ehrmans-lost.html

explore faith : Knowing More: Discovering the Lost Christianities ...
Knowing More Discovering Lost Christianities. One of a series of articles posted in 2004, also including Exploring the Legacy of the Gnostics ...
www.explorefaith.org/ford/ehrman.html

Lost Christianities: The Battle for Scripture and the Faiths We ...
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
www.buzzle.com/editorials/9-19-2003-45623.asp

more »

Hypotyposeis: Ehrman, "Forgery of an Ancient Discovery?" in <i ...
Bart D. Ehrman, Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003). ...
www.hypotyposeis.org/weblog/2003/10/ehrman-forgery-of-ancient-discovery-in.html

Lost Christianities | The Battles for Scriptures and the Faiths We ...
Lost Christianities | The Battles for Scriptures and the Faiths We Never Knew
www.ralphmag.org/DQ/christianity.html

Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We ...
Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew. By BART D. EHRMAN. Pp. xv + 294 . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. ...
jts.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/57/2/700?rss=1

Interview with Bart Ehrman about Lost Christianities--the belief ...
... was a chaos of contending beliefs, according to Bart Ehrman, author of Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew. ...
www.beliefnet.com/story/150/story_15091_1.html

Scholar Bart Ehrman, 'Lost Christianities' : NPR
Ehrman is the Bowman and Gordon Gray professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina. His newest book is Lost Christianities: The Battle ...
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3250048

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References from books

Marcion and Luke-Acts: A Defining Struggle

Marcion and Luke-Acts: A Defining Struggle

by Joseph B. Tyson - Religion - 2006 - 192 pages
Building on recent scholarship that argues for a second-century date for the book of Acts, Marcion andLuke-Acts explores the probable context for the authorship not only of Acts...
The Dark Side: How Evangelical Teachings Corrupt Love and Truth

The Dark Side: How Evangelical Teachings Corrupt Love and Truth

by Valerie Tarico - Religion - 2007 - 284 pages
Tarico's book, The Dark Side, examines the moral and rational contradictions that caused her toabandon those beliefs that once structured her life.
A Brief History of Christianity

A Brief History of Christianity

by Carter Lindberg - Religion - 2005 - 216 pages
This brief history tells the story of Christianity from its origins to the present day.
show more »

Other editions

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

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

by Bart D. Ehrman - Religion - 2005 - 294 pages
In Lost Christianities, Bart D. Ehrman offers a fascinating look at these early forms of Christianityand shows how they came to be suppressed, reformed, or forgotten.

References from scholarly works

Key terms

Places mentioned in this book

Nag Hammadi - Page 127
One of the most intriguing documents found in Nag Hammadi comes without a title. Based on its opening lines, it is usually called the Gospel of Truth. ...
more pages: 51 59 65 115 121 126 129 138 264 269
Akhmim - Page 23
contained the same account of Joseph of Arimathea asking for Jesus' body that is found in the larger copy discovered in the monk's tomb in Akhmim. ...
more pages: 16 24
Jerusalem - Page 40
An Indian merchant arrives in Jerusalem, looking for a skilled carpenter to build a castle for the king of India. ...
more pages: 19 21 47 71 83 84 148 150 170 183
more »
Cairo - Page 16
That changed dramatically during an archaeological excavation conducted by a French team operating out of Cairo, digging in upper Egypt in the town of ...
more pages: 52 53
Rome - Page 127
But its point of view coincides in many ways with the teachings of a famous Gnostic teacher from the second century, who taught in Rome and, ...
more pages: 73 149 166 177 216 241 246 254 269 273
Edessa - Page 174
Waco - Page 1
And there are the followers of David Koresh — still today — who think the world has already started to end, beginning with the events at Waco, ...
Florence - Page 43
down through the Middle Ages, with a brilliant portrayal by Giotto, still on view in the Peruzzi chapel of the Church of Santa Croce in Florence. ...
Berlin - Page 67
Kujau claimed that the diaries had been pulled from a downed German plane trying to escape Berlin in 1945 and had remained in East Germany until ...
Emmaus - Page 226
Philadelphia - Page 144
One of the final letters Ignatius wrote was addressed to the Christians in the Asia Minor city of Philadelphia, which he had passed through on his ...
Hamburg - Page 168
Athens - Page 192
Tertullian completely rejects the infusion of philosophy into the truth of the Christian gospel; as he famously asks, "What indeed has Athens to do ...
Amsterdam - Page 76
Some additional research showed that this was the edition of the letters of Ignatius produced by the seventeenth-century Amsterdam printer Isaac Voss. ...
Princeton - Page 69
My own professor in graduate school, Bruce Metzger, had been a student of Coleman-Norton in the classics department at Princeton before the war. ...
Peabody, Mass - Page 285
Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1997. . Review of Geoffrey Mark Hahneman, The Muratorian Fragment and the Development of the Canon. ...
Paris - Page 53
French scholar of antiquity, Jean Doresse, whom he had known in Paris — known fairly well, in fact, as the director had proposed marriage to Mrs. ...
Chico, Calif - Page 284
Chico, Calif.: Scholars Press, 1984. Holmes, Michael W. Review of Geoffrey Mark Hahneman, The Muratorian Fragment and the Development of the Canon. ...
Milan - Page 240
It is named for the eighteenth-century scholar LA Muratori, who discovered it in a library in Milan. In 1740Muratori published the manuscript that ...
Berkeley, Calif - Page 282
Berkeley, Calif.: Seastone, 1998. Davies, Stevan L. The Revolt of the Widows: The Social World of the Apocryphal Acts. Carbondale: Southern Illinois ...
more pages: 285
Harrisburg, Pa - Page 286
Harrisburg, Pa.: Trinity Press International, 1999. Dutch original, 1998. Rudolph, Kurt. Gnosis: The Nature and History of Gnosticism. ...
Washington, DC - Page 283
Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1948. Fairer, James Anson. Literary Forgeries. London: Longmans, Green, 1907. Fee, Gordon D. ...
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