Lost Christianities: The Battles of Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.71 (910 Votes) |
| Asin | : | B00G6QC31Q |
| Format Type | : | |
| Number of Pages | : | 481 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2015-05-17 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
The early Christian Church was a chaos of contending beliefs. 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. 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. 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.. Ehrman offers a fascinating look at these early forms of Christianity and shows how they came to be suppressed, reformed, or forgotten. Some groups of Christians claimed that there was not one God but two or twelve or thirty. Certain sects maintained that Jesus was human but not divine, while others said he was divine but not human. Some believed that the world had not been created by
Excellent book. The book was content-heavy. Not a difficult read, but I did need more breaks than when I read a couple of other Ehrman's books, such as, Misquoting Jesus and How Jesus Became God. Sometimes books have what I call, "filler" in them that take up your time but have no meaningful content. This book had no "filler. "A Dubious Disciple Book Review" according to Dubious Disciple. One of Ehrman’s best, I think. Thought-provoking and speculative, yet grounded, this book explores alternative early Christianities before “Proto-Orthodox Christianity” won the battle and shoved the rest aside. You’ll read about the Ebionites, the Marcionites, Gnosticism, and the evolv. Gilbert C. Pogany said Lost Christianities. For any one interested in the history, authenticity of the New Testament books, this is a must reading. The author successfully makes the reading interesting and, more importantly, very readable. There are occasions of repetitiveness but aside from that I highly recommend the book but it needs to be approache