The books that I find most compelling to look into are books that are quoted by canonical writers.
If a canonical author quotes a book then that gives me enough interest to look into what it has to say.
There has to have been some level of faith put into their writings for their works to have been included in the Bible and their quotation of these books gives me reason to look into the others.
The Book Of Enoch was quoted by Jude and Jasher was quoted by Joshua & 2 Samuel
The books that I find most compelling to look into are books that are quoted by canonical writers.
If a canonical author quotes a book then that gives me enough interest to look into what it has to say.
There has to have been some level of faith put into their writings for their works to have been included in the Bible and their quotation of these books gives me reason to look into the others.
The Book Of Enoch was quoted by Jude and Jasher was quoted by Joshua & 2 Samuel
And (likely) other NT writers, though not by name. And Jude ascribes some authority to it, calling it prophecy:
Jude 1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
Probably not a good candidate for canon, though. It wasn't really written by Enoch nor during his time. Less that 300 years before Christ, it seems. And, well,.... about those 3000-cubit tall giants. Hmmm. (Does that raise some question about the book of Jude?)
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Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
And (likely) other NT writers, though not by name. And Jude ascribes some authority to it, calling it prophecy:
Jude 1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
Probably not a good candidate for canon, though. It wasn't really written by Enoch nor during his time. Less that 300 years before Christ, it seems. And, well,.... about those 3000-cubit tall giants. Hmmm. (Does that raise some question about the book of Jude?)
One would probably have the exact same thing to say about Revelation had it not already been in the canon.
People would roll their eyes at all of the fantastic imagery.
What is you thoughts on the "lost books of the Bible"?
Would you want to read them?
Do you believe they were lost?
Do you believe in the Dead Sea Scrolls?
How about the Septuante (sp) do you believe it is authentic?
The Septuagint was the Bible of the first century apostles and accounts for almost all of the quotations of the Old Testament found in the New. It is also the source of the names of the Old Testament books (Genesis, Exodus, etc) that we use.
I was reading the Hypostasis of the Archons online the other day. It's part of the Nag Hammadi Library of Gnostic texts. Most of the so-called "lost books of the Bible" are Gnostic in origin.
It's interesting. If you've got a lot of down time and enjoy reading comparative literature it can be rewarding. It would be good to also read something like an historical criticism of the works you're looking at. There are usually pretty good reasons why the books were "lost."
The Dead Sea Scrolls are important because in addition to the ancient copies of many books from the Bible, we also have quotations within other works that give us a complete Old Testament - sans the book of Esther (sorry).
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