Forgotten Scriptures: The Selection and Rejection of Early Religious Writings

Lee McDonald
Cover of Forgotten Scriptures: The Selection and Rejection of Early Religious Writings
  • ISBN: 0664233570, 9780664233570
  • Page count: 304
  • Published: 2009
  • Format: Paperback
  • Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press

We know that the early Christian church had a variety of scriptures and other source material that informed their faith and shaped their thinking. We also know that after a few centuries the church decided to keep the twenty-seven books of our present New Testament and to treat them as canonical in faith and practice. But the other books did not simply disappear. In fact, many of them remain valuable for understanding the diversity of the early Christian church and the astounding claims of faith on which the church was founded. Learning about these ancient documents need not threaten the church's current orthodoxy and authority; in fact, learning about these texts can help today's Christians form a deeper understanding of the early church.

Get the Book

Buy print
Categories: Academic, Biblical Studies, Church History

Similar Books

About the Author

Lee McDonald

Lee Martin McDonaldis President Emeritus and Professor of New Testament Studies at Acadia Divinity College and past President of the Institute for Biblical Research. He is the author or editor of over thirty books and more than 160 articles and essays and writes extensively on canon formation, includingThe Canon Debate;The Biblical Canon: Its Origin, Transmission, and Authority;Formation of the Bible: The Story of the Church's Canon; The Origin of the Bible: A Guide for the Perplexed;and The Story of Jesus in History and Faith: A Introduction.He also coedited with James CharlesworthJewish and Christian Scriptures: The Function of "Canonical" and Non-Canonical Religious Textsand coedited with Joel B. GreenThe World of the New Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts.He has lectured widely in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East.