Appendix C: Lost, Buried, and Banned - A Guide to Non-Canonical Texts

This chapter is part of the book The Sacred Editors: Christianity.

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Not everything that shaped Christianity made it into the Bible. Some texts were lost. Others were buried. And a few were banned on purpose."

The New Testament canon represents only a fraction of the writings circulating in early Christianity. Between the second and fourth centuries CE, communities across the Mediterranean produced gospels, letters, acts, apocalypses, and theological treatises—many claiming apostolic origins. Some were revered. Others were denounced. A few vanished entirely, only to resurface centuries later in desert caves or monastery vaults.

This appendix offers a guide to the most significant non-canonical Christian texts—grouped by genre, with historical context, theological significance, and reasons for exclusion.

Key Terms

Apocryphal: "Hidden" texts; books not included in the canonical collection but sometimes valued for spiritual instruction

Gnostic: Relating to salvation through secret knowledge (gnosis) rather than faith alone; often associated with dualistic theology

Heresiological: Writings by church fathers aimed at identifying and refuting heretical teachings

Pseudepigraphic: Texts attributed to famous figures (apostles, prophets) but likely written by later followers

Patristic: Relating to the church fathers and their writings (c. 100-800 CE)

Discovery Timeline Overview

Alternative Gospels

The Gospel of Thomas

📅 Date: c. 50-140 CE
📍 Discovery: Nag Hammadi (1945)
📖 Content: 114 sayings attributed to Jesus without narrative framework
🔑 Key Features:

• Emphasizes inner spiritual knowledge over external ritual
• "Split wood, I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there" (Saying 77)
• No crucifixion, resurrection, or birth narratives

❌ Why Excluded: Lacks salvation narrative central to orthodox Christianity; viewed as promoting esoteric knowledge over communal faith

🎯 Modern Significance: Central to scholarly debates about early Christian diversity; influences contemporary mystical and contemplative traditions

The Gospel of Mary (Magdalene)

📅 Date: 2nd century CE
📍 Discovery: Berlin Codex (1896), additional fragments at Nag Hammadi
📖 Content: Dialogue between Mary Magdalene and other disciples after Jesus's resurrection
🔑 Key Features:

• Mary receives special revelations from Jesus
• Peter challenges her authority: "Did he really speak with a woman without our knowledge?"
• Levi defends Mary: "If the Savior made her worthy, who are you indeed to reject her?"

❌ Why Excluded: Challenged male apostolic hierarchy; associated with Gnostic currents emphasizing individual revelation

🎯 Modern Significance: Foundational for feminist biblical scholarship; evidence for women's early Christian leadership

The Gospel of Peter

📅 Date: Mid-2nd century CE
📍 Discovery: Akhmim, Egypt (1886)
📖 Content: Passion and resurrection narrative with distinctive details
🔑 Key Features:

• Dramatic resurrection scene with talking cross
• Shifts blame for crucifixion from Romans to Jews
• Angels described as reaching from earth to heaven

❌ Why Excluded: Theological inconsistencies; potentially anti-Jewish; rejected by Bishop Serapion of Antioch (c. 200 CE)

🎯 Modern Significance: Illustrates early passion narrative variations; important for understanding anti-Jewish polemic development

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas

📅 Date: 2nd century CE
📍 Discovery: Multiple manuscripts across centuries
📖 Content: Stories of Jesus as child performing miracles
🔑 Key Features:

• Jesus creates sparrows from clay, brings them to life
• Strikes dead a child who bumps into him, later revives him
• Demonstrates supernatural wisdom in school

❌ Why Excluded: Portrayed Jesus as capricious and potentially sinful; incompatible with sinless savior doctrine

🎯 Modern Significance: Popular in medieval Christianity; influenced artistic depictions of Jesus's childhood

The Gospel of Judas

📅 Date: 2nd century CE
📍 Discovery: Codex Tchacos (1970s; published 2006)
📖 Content: Conversation between Jesus and Judas before the betrayal
🔑 Key Features:

• Judas portrayed as Jesus's most understanding disciple
• Betrayal recast as obedience to divine plan
• Gnostic cosmology and critique of orthodox Christianity

❌ Why Excluded: Radically reinterprets betrayal narrative; promotes Gnostic theology over emerging orthodox consensus

🎯 Modern Significance: Major media attention; illustrates ongoing potential for manuscript discoveries

Letters and Teachings

The Didache (Teaching of the Twelve Apostles)

📅 Date: c. 70-110 CE
📍 Discovery: Greek manuscript (1873)
📖 Content: Manual of ethics, ritual, and church organization
🔑 Key Features:

• "Two Ways" teaching (life vs. death)
• Instructions for baptism, Eucharist, and church leadership
• Guidelines for testing traveling prophets

❌ Why Excluded: Revered as teaching tool but not attributed to specific apostle; classified as church manual rather than Scripture

🎯 Modern Significance: Earliest Christian manual; provides window into primitive church practices

The Epistle of Barnabas

📅 Date: c. 70-135 CE
📍 Discovery: Included in Codex Sinaiticus
📖 Content: Allegorical interpretation of Hebrew Scripture
🔑 Key Features:

• Christians as true inheritors of Jewish covenant
• Heavy anti-Jewish polemic
• Symbolic reading of Old Testament laws

❌ Why Excluded: Initially popular but increasingly problematic theology; anti-Jewish stance became concerning

🎯 Modern Significance: Documents early Christian-Jewish tensions; example of allegorical interpretation

The Shepherd of Hermas

📅 Date: Mid-2nd century CE
📍 Discovery: Widespread early circulation
📖 Content: Visions, parables, and moral commands
🔑 Key Features:

• Elaborate allegories about church and repentance
• Vision of the church as an ancient woman becoming young
• Emphasis on post-baptismal forgiveness

❌ Why Excluded: Highly regarded in Rome but deemed too late and non-apostolic by later standards

🎯 Modern Significance: Influenced Christian art and theology; early Christian visionary literature

Acts and Apocalypses

The Acts of Paul and Thecla

📅 Date: 2nd century CE
📍 Discovery: Multiple manuscripts
📖 Content: Story of female disciple who follows Paul's teaching
🔑 Key Features:

• Thecla breaks engagement to follow Christianity
• Survives attempted execution by fire and wild beasts
• Baptizes herself when no male minister available
• Establishes Christian communities independently

❌ Why Excluded: Popular among women but challenged patriarchal norms; eventually deemed fictional by church authorities

🎯 Modern Significance: Evidence for women's early Christian leadership; popular in feminist theology

The Apocalypse of Peter

📅 Date: 2nd century CE
📍 Discovery: Akhmim and Nag Hammadi
📖 Content: Vivid tour of heaven and hell
🔑 Key Features:

• Detailed descriptions of punishments and rewards
• Influenced medieval vision literature
• Early competitor to Revelation

❌ Why Excluded: Eventually displaced by Revelation (Apocalypse of John) as preferred apocalyptic text

🎯 Modern Significance: Precursor to Dante's Divine Comedy; shaped medieval afterlife imagery

Texts Known Only Through Citations

Many important works survive only as fragments quoted by church fathers or references in heresiological writings:

Lost Jewish-Christian Gospels

• Gospel of the Hebrews: Used by Jewish-Christian communities; emphasized Jesus's Jewish identity
• Gospel of the Ebionites: Rejected Paul; insisted on Torah observance for Christians
• Gospel of the Nazarenes: Aramaic gospel used by Syrian Jewish Christians

Lost Gnostic Literature

• Gospel of the Egyptians: Linked to ascetic practices; emphasized spiritual over physical
• Gospel of Eve: Known only through heresiological condemnation
• Books of Jeu: Advanced Gnostic cosmological teachings

Lost Apocalyptic Works

• Apocalypse of Paul: Heavenly journey narrative; influenced medieval literature
• Visions of Ezra: Jewish-Christian apocalyptic visions
• Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs: Moral teachings attributed to Jacob's sons

Comprehensive Exclusion Analysis

Primary Reasons for Exclusion

Institutional Factors

• Political Considerations: Texts supporting hierarchical authority favored
• Cultural Adaptation: Greek/Roman philosophical compatibility
• Practical Concerns: Liturgical usability and memorization
• Theological Standardization: Consistency with emerging creeds

The Process of Exclusion

1. Initial Circulation (50-150 CE): Wide variety of texts in use
2. Early Screening (150-250 CE): Local communities develop preferences
3. Conciliar Decisions (250-400 CE): Formal canonical lists emerge
4. Imperial Enforcement (400-500 CE): Legal and institutional standardization
5. Manuscript Suppression (500+ CE): Non-canonical texts increasingly rare

Why These Texts Still Matter Today

Historical Understanding

These writings reveal early Christian diversity that official histories often obscure:

• Competing Christologies: Jesus as wisdom teacher, cosmic revealer, divine child, martyred prophet
• Alternative Authority Structures: Women leaders, charismatic prophets, democratic communities
• Theological Experimentation: Different approaches to salvation, resurrection, gender roles
• Cultural Adaptation: How Christianity engaged Greco-Roman, Jewish, and local religious traditions

Contemporary Relevance

• Biblical Interpretation: Understanding canonical choices helps evaluate interpretive assumptions
• Gender and Leadership: Evidence for women's early Christian authority informs modern debates
• Theological Diversity: Models for engaging religious pluralism and denominational differences
• Scholarly Method: Demonstrates how historical investigation can challenge traditional narratives

Spiritual and Cultural Impact

• Mystical Traditions: Gospel of Thomas influences contemporary contemplative Christianity
• Feminist Theology: Gospel of Mary provides historical foundation for women's ordination arguments
• Popular Culture: Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code drew on suppressed gospel traditions
• Interfaith Dialogue: Gnostic texts show early Christian engagement with diverse philosophical traditions

Accessing Non-Canonical Texts Today

Primary Sources

• The Nag Hammadi Scriptures (ed. Marvin Meyer) - Complete translations of major discoveries
• New Testament Apocrypha (ed. Schneemelcher/Wilson) - Comprehensive scholarly collection
• The Apocryphal Jesus (ed. Burke) - Recent discoveries and analysis
• Lost Scriptures (Bart Ehrman) - Accessible translations with historical context

Digital Resources

• Early Christian Writings: www.earlychristianwritings.com - Free online texts and translations
• Nag Hammadi Library: www.gnosis.org/naghamm/nhl.html - Complete Coptic and English texts
• Christian Apocrypha: www.christianapocrypha.org - Scholarly blog and resources
• Westar Institute: www.westarinstitute.org - Contemporary scholarly research

Academic Study

• University courses in Early Christian Literature and Gnostic Studies
• Seminary programs increasingly include non-canonical literature in curricula
• Society of Biblical Literature sessions on Christian Apocrypha
• International Association for Apocryphal Studies conferences and publications

The Ongoing Discovery Process

The story of non-canonical texts continues to unfold through:

Archaeological Discoveries

• Ongoing excavations in Egypt, Syria, and Palestine continue yielding manuscripts
• Digital imaging reveals previously illegible texts in existing collections
• Climate preservation in desert regions may preserve additional ancient libraries

Technological Advances

• Multispectral imaging recovers erased palimpsest texts
• AI manuscript analysis identifies new fragments and scribal patterns
• Virtual reconstruction assembles scattered manuscript pieces

Scholarly Collaboration

• International digitization projects make manuscripts globally accessible
• Crowdsourced transcription enables broader participation in manuscript study
• Interdisciplinary methods combine archaeology, linguistics, and computer science

The Bible we know emerged from choices, debates, and exclusions that continue to shape Christianity today.Understanding the rich diversity of early Christian literature—both canonical and non-canonical—reveals not a faith that was uniform from the beginning, but one that developed through vibrant theological conversation, institutional negotiation, and ongoing spiritual discernment.

These "lost, buried, and banned" texts remind us that Christian tradition is larger than any single canonical collectionand that the conversation between ancient wisdom and contemporary faith remains as dynamic today as it was in the earliest Christian communities.