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The Apocryphal Gospels

A Very Short Introduction

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The Apocryphal Gospels

By: Paul Foster
Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck
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About this listen

This Very Short Introduction audiobook offers a clear, accessible, and concise account of the apocryphal gospels - exploring their origins, their discovery, and discussing how the various texts have been interpreted both by the Church and beyond.

Looking at texts from the Gospels from Nag Hammadi to the Dialogues with the Risen Savior, Paul Foster shows how the apocryphal gospels reflect the diversity that existed within early Christianity and examines the extent to which they can be used to reconstruct an accurate portrait of the historical Jesus. Including discussions of controversies and case studies such as the alleged hoax surrounding the discovery of Secret Mark, Foster concludes that the noncanonical texts, considered in the correct context, offer us an important window on the vibrant and multifaceted face of early Christianity.

©2009 Paul Foster (P)2021 Tantor Bible Study Bibles & Bible Study Christianity

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This was pretty interesting, about the bits that were left out of the official bible, and how they were recovered centuries later. Best bit was the non-canonical gospel concerning Jesus as a murderous little boy. He had definite Prince Joffrey vibes! Those gospels trying to explain away inconvenient elements like Jesus's brothers and the overwhelming likelihood that Jesus's father would have been his mother's husband were also interesting. Had to groan about the guy who came into possession of a centuries-old document and decided to freeze it, destroying the binding. The author's assertion that the fanciful elements of the non-canonical gospels make them unlikely to be true was interesting, since that would only be the case if you assume that none of the supernatural stuff about Jesus was true to begin with. If he really was the son of God, then surely nothing would be off the table, however fantastical. Bit weird to have a book by a male English author read by an American female narrator, I thought. You want the narrator to be as close to the author's voice as possible, unless e.g. it's a novel with a female protagonist. But she reads it well.

Interesting

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