Forgotten Scriptures

by McDonald, Lee Martin

• ISBN13: 9780664233570
• ISBN10: 0664233570
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-07-20
• Publisher: Westminster John Knox Pr

Summary

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.

Author Biography

Lee Martin McDonald is President Emeritus and Professor of New Testament Studies at Acadia Divinity College.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Abbreviations	p. xi
Challenges and Direction	p. 1
Introduction	p. 3
The Problem of Adequate Language	p. 11
The First Testament Scriptures	p. 35
The Lost Scriptures of Early Judaism	p. 37
The Ancient Manuscripts: What They Tell Us	p. 65
Ancient Translations of the Jewish Scriptures	p. 85
The Text and Stabilization of the Jewish Scriptures	p. 99
The Scriptures of Jesus and the Early Church	p. 123
The Second Testament Scriptures	p. 151
Ancient Christian Manuscripts and Their Contents	p. 153
Texts and Translations of Scripture	p. 173
Conclusion	p. 193
Postscript: The Search for a Perfect Bible	p. 201
Notes	p. 223
Bibliography	p. 267
Ancient Sources Index	p. 289
Author/Name Index	p. 302
Subject Index	p. 306
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