The Lost Scriptures – books that did not make it into the New Testament.

Many people read the bible on a daily basis – few know how the book came into being – when it first appeared – and who decided it should be as we encounter it today. The New Testament did not emerge as a complete set of books immediately after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It took almost 400 years and the influence of St. Augustine of Hippo, at the Synod of Hippo for the list of 27 books of the New Testament to be widely accepted.

The Muratorian Fragment

“. . . at which nevertheless he was present, and so he placed [them in his narrative]. (2) The third book of the Gospel is that according to Luke. (3) Luke, the well-known physician, after the ascension of Christ, (4-5) when Paul had taken with him as one zealous for the law,  (6) composed it in his own name, according to [the general] belief.  Yet he himself had not (7) seen the Lord in the flesh; and therefore, as he was able to ascertain events, (8) so indeed he begins to tell the story from the birth of John. (9) The fourth of the Gospels is that of John, [one] of the disciples.”

This fragment is the oldest surviving New Testament canon list that exists (the word canon refers to the bible as a whole; canonical means a particular book that is included in the bible, i.e. the Gospel of Matthew is a canonical book). The document is named after L. A. Muratori, the Italian scholar who discovered it in a library in Milan in the eighteenth century. It begins mid-sentence describing the production of an unnamed Gospel – but continues by calling Luke the third Gospel and John the fourth; so it is assumed that Matthew and Mark were numbers one and two. The Muratorian Fragment contains twenty-two of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament canon. It leaves out Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, and 3 John. It also includes as canonical the Wisdom of Solomon and the Apocalypse of Peter. His list concludes by condemning forgeries made by various heretics such as Marcion and Montanists.  It is believed this list came into existence sometime in the mid second century. (information for this devotion comes from the book The Lost Scriptures – books that did not make it into the New Testament, by Bart D. Ehrman)

Do you have certain books of the Old or New Testament that are favorites? I do. I have certain books that I often return to again and again because of the message of comfort or insight that they provide the reader. All of the books are important because someone, or a group of someones decided they were important enough to include in the canon. Not all of the books that dealt with Jesus and the apostles were accepted to be read in the churches – or were accepted into the canon. Many of those books have only been passed along through the ages as mentioned by other authors. Over the next few devotions I will be talking about how the bible came into the shape we know of it today. And I will also be addressing some of those other books that did not make the cut. I hope you enjoy.

Pastor Dave

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”²²When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” ²⁴But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.²⁵So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

²⁶A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁷Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” ²⁸Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”³⁰Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. ³¹But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” John 20:19-31

Alternatively, the unfairly titled “Doubting” Thomas underscores a deep yearning for God’s presence in our world. Like Thomas, many in our “secular age” want “data” or indications of Christ’s presence in the world as we know it, with its pierced hands and side. Absent such data, faith in the triumph of light over darkness seems implausible or at least out of reach. Either or both of these trajectories may provide the pastoral concern as we read this text. Positively, this chapter chronicles “little” resurrections in the wake of Jesus, the Resurrected One. Resurrection is too magnificent to grasp or, if we do grasp the One in whom there is no darkness, our knowledge is fleeting. Indeed, apart from the Beloved Disciple (John 20:8), it seems as if the disciples were locked into familiar tombs: upon seeing the empty tomb, the disciples didn’t preach, they didn’t join the choir, they went home (John 20:10).

Mary Magdalene stands outside the empty tomb, weeping, seeing only strangers indifferent to her dilemma (John 20:11-15).

Then, later, the disciples (perhaps the ones who went home in vs. 10), lock themselves into a house for fear of persecution; and not least, Thomas insists he will not believe “until [he sees]” the marks of crucifixion in Jesus’ body. If we ever believed that resurrection would be a snap, these texts suggest a more nuanced account of what it is like for us to leave our own tombs, some of them self-made and to that extent seemingly impregnable. At the same time, each of these accounts suggests that the Jesus we would “see” on our own is vastly inferior to the Jesus who reveals himself as the Resurrected One.” (commentary on John 20, Robert Hoch, workingpreacher.org)

When we feel as if we have the freedom to name our doubts, and ask our questions, then we can be more genuine about inviting the Thomas’ (those doubters) we know to join us to be a part of a community of faith that includes people who are asking questions and seeking answers. You see, doubt is not the enemy faith – the unwillingness to forgive one another, the unwillingness to love one another, to offer grace to one another, and the audacity to name someone else’s questioning as a lack of faith – those things are the enemies of faith. 

We are Lutherans, we come out of the Reformation – one of the most significant religious movements that grew out of people who were seeking answers, asking questions, seeking G-d, naming Grace – this all grew out of doubts.  Blessed are the “Doubters” and the “Questioners” and the “Non-Questioners” – they all shall see Jesus face to face. 

Pastor Dave