10 Ancient Religious Texts Not Included in the Bible

The Shepherd of Hermas

The Shepherd of Hermas was written around the turn of the first century, perhaps as late as the middle of the second century. It is attributed to a former slave of the name Hermas and was a widely read text among Christians through at least the end of the third century. In his epistle to the Romans, Paul sent greetings to a Hermas, identified as a Christian in Rome, however, it is possible the reference was to another of that name (Romans 16:14). The Shepherd of Hermas first appeared in Rome and thus was likely written there. Others have suggested the work was written by a brother of Pope Pius I, who reigned as Pope beginning in the mid-second century.

In the first two centuries following the death of Jesus debate among the early Christians on the subject of his divinity was common. Some believed that Jesus was the Incarnate Word, divine before taking human form, while others believed that he was a mortal man adopted by God, a philosophy referred to as adoptionism. In one of the book’s parables, Hermas appears to support the theory of adoptionism which was ultimately rejected by Church authorities. The book contains references to the Gospel of John, and some scholars believe its writer to have been familiar with all four of the Gospels, as well as several of Paul’s epistles.

The book contains five visions which were experienced by its author and presents twelve commandments and ten parables, which demonstrate the commandments. In the fifth vision the “Angel of Repentance” appears to the author in the form of a shepherd, from which the text received its name. The book stresses the Christian values of repentance, penance, and forgiveness, and the necessity of humility. While it stresses the necessity of repentance it also clearly states that forgiveness of sin is not possible without penance.

The book was cited as an authoritative text for many years, including by some early popes prior to it being determined to be, in the words of Tertullian, “…judged by every Council of the Churches…among the apocryphal and false.” Despite the book’s exclusion from the Biblical Canon it remained popular among early Christians and was still being copied in Western Europe as late as the Middle Ages, though its use in the Eastern Church seems to have fallen out of favor.

As with many other early Christian texts, it was formally excluded because of the book’s evident conflicts with the results of the Council of Nicaea, which settled the issue of the divinity of Jesus and produced the early canon law, as well as the beginning of the Nicene Creed, then the definitive statement of Christian faith. The issue of its true authorship was also a disputed aspect of the book. Prior to its falling in disfavor it had been listed in the New Testament between the Acts of the Apostles and the Acts of Paul, another book no longer contained in the Christian Bible.

The Epistle of Barnabas

The Epistle of Barnabas (not to be confused with the Gospel of Barnabas, which is a separate work) was first written in Greek and may have been written during the first century, though scholars disagree on when it first made an appearance. It is based more on oral traditions than on written gospels or other early Christian texts. This indicates that its author was unfamiliar with the early written gospels. Where it first appeared is also uncertain, as the Greek language in which it was written was in use in a wide area of the Eastern Mediterranean region.

The author presents the work as a lesson, rather than as a reflection on the life of Jesus and the teachings of the early Christian church. It presents the followers of Jesus as the possessors of a covenant with God and asserts that the Jews were no longer the chosen people, having rejected their former covenant. In the author’s view, Jewish ceremony and sacrifice had been replaced by the new covenant as taught by Jesus Christ.

Barnabas teaches that the Jewish proscription against eating pork was based on the spiritual lesson that they are not to live like pigs. Pigs make noise, squealing and grunting when they are hungry or frightened. Otherwise, they are usually silent. The lesson he had is that people are not to address God only when they desire food or water, or if they are anxious or afraid. While there are no direct quotations from any of the New Testament Gospels, there are numerous quotations from the Old Testament, usually in a manner in which Jewish interpretation is disputed in the light of the New Covenant.

The Epistle of Barnabas was written for Christian Gentiles, and towards the end of the second century, it was cited by Christian theologians and philosophers. Who wrote it is debatable, traditionally it was believed to have been written by the Barnabas referred to in the Acts of the Apostles, others believe that it was written by Barnabas of Alexandria. Before the closing of the biblical canon, it appeared at the end of the New Testament, in the form of an appendix, along with other books.

The Epistle of Barnabas was one of the first Christian texts to advocate for a complete separation of Jewish traditions and laws from the Christian faith and cited its reasons in terms often interpreted as being harsh on those who rejected the newer covenant between God and His chosen people. Because of its uncertain authorship and the objections by many to its interpretation of what Christians call the Old Testament and Jesus called the scriptures, it was excluded from the Canon and fell into disuse.

The Book of Maccabees 1 and 2

There are seven books which are accepted in the Biblical Canon by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, but are rejected by the Jewish Bible (called the Tanakh) and most Protestant. Catholics refer to these books as deuterocanonical, Jews and Protestants call them apocryphal. All of them were, and in the cases of Catholics and Eastern Orthodox still are, in what is called the Old Testament. Most of them were initially removed from the Christian Bibles by Martin Luther, because they contained references to issues he considered to be outside of doctrine.

Among these are two books of Maccabees. The two books relate the story of the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid Empire. In the two books of Maccabees, Emperor Antiochus issues decrees which ban Jewish religious practices and worship and requires them as subjects to instead worship Greek gods. The revolt becomes a guerrilla war against the Seleucids until a large army is sent to deal with the rebellion. After the death of Antiochus, the army is withdrawn by the leader Lysias and the Hasmonean Dynasty was established.

The two books describe the Hasmonean Dynasty, the retaking of Jerusalem, and the retaking of the Temple and its cleansing (which today is celebrated by Hanukkah). It then describes Hasmonean rule up to the end of the dynasty. The Hasmonean rule included a civil war and war with the Seleucids, which ended when Rome intervened and Herod the Great became the King of Israel, so named by the Roman Senate as King of the Jews.

Luther’s objections to the two Maccabees books were based on his emerging doctrine. Luther did not believe in the Catholic doctrine of praying for those that have died, and for the repose of their souls. Nor did he accept the concept of Purgatory as a place where the souls of those who had died in a state of sin were sent to have their infractions purged as preparation for eventual entry into heaven. The award of indulgences which lessened the amount of time a soul would be required to wait in purgatory was one of Luther’s perceived sources of corruption within the Roman Catholic Church.

It remains a source of spirited, even hostile debate, over whether Luther removed 1 and 2 Maccabees for reasons of disagreement with the Roman Catholic Church or if it was done for other reasons. Many who deny that they were removed because of their references to a place where the soul is purged cite Luther’s often quoting from the removed books in his writings. Luther when he removed the books did not deny that they were worthy of reading, in fact, he argued that they were, but he considered them to be Apocryphal. It should also be said that Luther didn’t really remove the books, he simply adopted the Jewish Canon rather than the Roman Catholic.

The Apocalypse of Peter

The Apocalypse of Peter is presented as a discussion between Peter and Jesus after his Resurrection, in which Peter is given visions of both heaven and hell. Its authorship is unknown. It refers to another work which was known to have appeared around the year 100 AD, so it had to have been written later than that, making its author the Apostle for which it is named impossible since it is known that Peter died in Rome under the reign of Emperor Nero. It was known to be widely read in the Christian communities in Rome and elsewhere.

Heaven is presented in the book as a place where all residents are possessed of skin which is pure white, clothed in brilliant light. The ground upon which they walk (there is no mention of wings for former resident of earth) is covered with flowers and trees which are always in bloom, spices and oils – rare and expensive in the second century – are plentiful. Halos are of flowers and light. Everyone is both peaceful and beautiful of countenance, and there is nothing but blissful existence. Song is everywhere.

According to Peter, the torments of the damned as later described by Dante in his Inferno, are in some instances much worse. Adulterous women are hanged by the hair above boiling muck. Homosexual men are forced to climb a cliff to be flung off and then climb it again in an unending circle. Those who committed blasphemy in life hang by the tongue after death. But unlike other similar literature, the torments of hell are not eternal, eventually, the prayers of the heavenly redeem the souls of the damned and they too will be welcomed in heaven.

The book was widely read and considered by many to be part of the Christian Canon during the second and third century, although there is evidence that it was not used within the churches during worship, rather read as additional literature outside of formal worship. The Muratorian fragment, the earliest known list of the books which comprised the New Testament, does include the Apocalypse of Peter, but in a manner which indicates it was known and read, but not during formal worship. Interestingly it makes similar comments about the Apocalypse of John, today is known as the Book of Revelations.

The book was included as part of the New Testament at least through the end of the second century and probably through the third. More than one hundred manuscripts of another work which translates from Arabic as The Apocalypse of Peter are known to exist written in Arabic. It is possible that the manuscript was referenced by Nostradamus while formulating some of his prognostications. Why the book was rejected for the Bible while the Revelation of St. John was accepted is likely because of the question of authorship, because the book was influential on early Church leaders.

The Book of 1 Clement

The Book of 1 Clement is an Epistle which is in fact anonymous and which was addressed to the Christian church in Corinth. It is usually dated around the end of the first century AD and a reference within its text to a period of difficulties experienced by the Roman Church is believed to address the persecution of Christians during the reign of Emperor Domitian. If the most widely accepted date for its authorship is correct it is likely the earliest known Christian document which is not included in the Canon of the New Testament.

The Epistle addresses changes in the Church at Corinth which led to the dismissal of several of the members of the church hierarchy, for charges which the author found to be insufficient. It refers to both scriptures of the Old Testament and the New, including several instances where it admonishes the leaders of the Corinthian church to study the Epistles of Paul. The Epistle refers to the execution of Paul and hints at the execution of Peter. If in fact Peter was already dead and the letter was written by Clement of Rome and at the time believed by most scholars, it was a letter from the Pope.

Pope Clement I was the reigning Pontiff from 88 AD until 99 AD. The letter which he sent to the Corinthians addressed the authority of the presbyters – which roughly corresponds to today’s Catholic priests or Protestant ministers – as administrators of the Church. The letter establishes the higher authority of Bishops but makes no reference to himself as the highest authority of the Church. It does assert that the presbyters had authority over their church and answered upwards, not to the local congregation.

The letter was read in worship services in Corinth and elsewhere and by the fourth century, its inclusion in the Canon was taken for granted. Several codices and other documents which listed the Canon of the New Testament included 1 Clement in the fifth century, and in at least some locations the letter was considered to be part of the New Testament. It was found in three languages, Latin, Greek and Coptic, in manuscripts which date back to antiquity.

Although the letter known as 1 Clement was likely written by a very early Pope and was popular for several hundred years it was excluded from the Biblical Canon, possibly because it extended the authority of the priests and bishops and did not address the primacy of the Bishop of the Roman Church, now known as the Pope. The issues of Papal authority over all of the clergy (and lay members of the Church) are at odds with the assertions listed by Clement. A letter included in the Bible which did not support that authority, extended to the line of Popes back to Peter, ordained by Jesus, was simply not acceptable.

The Gospel of Thomas

Of unknown authorship and date, the Gospel of Thomas is a controversial book which was written during a period which is disputed as being shortly after the life of Jesus to the beginning of the third century AD. It is not a description of the life and ministry of Jesus but is instead a collection of statements and sayings attributed to him. The complete text of the book was discovered in 1945 in Nag Hammadi. Papyrus fragments of the Gospel which were written in Greek and discovered much earlier were determined to be from the Gospel of Thomas following the discovery of the complete text, one of the fragments was dated from 130 AD.

At least two ancient writers, Hippolytus of Rome and Origen of Alexandria referenced the Gospel of Thomas in their writings early in the third century. Hippolytus found it to contain heresies, a position echoed by some early Church Fathers. Cyril of Jerusalem wrote that it was not the work of one of the Twelve Apostles, the Thomas who expressed doubt about the Resurrection until he had seen Jesus with his own eyes. The sayings listed in the Gospel of Thomas do not follow the same timeline as they do in the works of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, indicating that the author of Thomas did not have access to them as references.

Instead, there is a clear relationship between Thomas and the Gospel of John, where the sequence of John appears to answer the sequence of the sayings in Thomas. This has led scholars to suggest that John was written in response to Thomas, and the Gospel of John is the only one of the four in the Christian Canon in which Thomas has any role or is represented as having spoken. Thomas also assigns to James the role of leadership in the Church, rather than Peter, who in the Gospel of Thomas is unable to grasp Jesus’ mission and significance.

The Gospel of Thomas was well known to the early Church and its leaders, and a sect was built around it which was referred to as the Thomasines. It was also considered by some of the early leaders to have been written by a disciple of the prophet Mani, the founder of an ancient religion known as Manichaeism, now extinct. Despite this, it contains many similarities to some of the writings of Paul. Although it contains many of the sayings of Jesus which appear in similar form in the other Gospels included in the Canon, it does not contain the teaching of what we now call the Lord’s Prayer.

It is clear why the Gospel of Thomas was not included in the Canon of the New Testament. It is of uncertain authorship, disputes the authority of Peter as Jesus’ choice to lead the Church, and was considered by many of the early Church to be heretical. None of the Christian religions considers the book to be an authoritative account of the teachings of Jesus. Still, it offers another view of both Jesus of Nazareth and the early formative days of the Christian Church.

The Gospel of Peter

The work known as the Gospel of Peter identifies its author as the Apostle called Peter by Jesus through first-person statements and by name, using the name Simon Peter. The complete Gospel no longer exists, or at least it has yet to be discovered. A fragmentary manuscript which contains a description of the passion absolves Pontius Pilate from ordering the execution of Jesus and instead assigns that responsibility to Herod and the scribes. The description of the passion contains much greater detail than those in the canonical Gospels.

It also implies that Jesus did not die on the cross. According to the book Jesus called out, “My power, my power, thou hast forsaken me,” as he hung on the cross after which he became silent, according to Peter, “…as though he felt no pain.” Peter names the centurion sent to keep watch on the tomb as Petronius, and describes himself and the other disciples hiding from the authorities. The Gospel of Peter has the Resurrection of Jesus occurring on the third day, but the Resurrection is a precursor to the immediate Ascension into heaven as the aftermath of the Resurrection.

The existence of the Gospel of Peter was well known to early Church authorities, who rejected it as heretical and denied that the author had been Peter the Apostle. For most of the twentieth century the book was believed to be simply a passion narrative, but in 1972 other fragments were discovered which revealed conversations between Peter and Jesus well before the events of his trial, torture, and execution outside of Jerusalem.

According to Origen of Alexandria, the Gospel of Peter was the source of the doctrine of the Catholic Church describing the perpetual virginity of Mary. As early Church fathers condemned the work as docetic, meaning that it supported the argument that Jesus in human form was an illusion, and that rather than a divine being becoming a man he was a divine being imitating a man, its use was limited to those who studied it for other reasons than religious dogma. As early as the beginning of the third century the book was considered heretical.

Speculation as to who it may have been written by has been superseded by to whom it was written. Scholars almost universally agree that the book was not written by the Apostle for whom it was named. Nonetheless, it is clear that the work found an abundant audience in the early Church from the number of criticisms directed towards it, and the number of condemnations it earned. Unless and until more of the text is found and studied, the truth about the Gospel of Peter will remain a secret of antiquity.

The Book of Tobit

Tobit is one of the deuterocanonical books which are included in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox canon, and not included in the Jewish and most Protestant Canons. It was one of the seven books stricken by Martin Luther, probably for the reason that it was not included by the Jews as part of the Scriptures in their own Canon. Its absence from the Jewish Tanakh was for a long time ascribed to erroneous reasoning.

Until 1952 scholars believed that Tobit, as well as the other six Old Testament books absent from the Jewish Canon, were excluded because they had not originally been written in Hebrew. The discovery of scrolls and fragments of all seven of the excluded books among the Dead Sea Scrolls ended this theory. Further theory regarding Tobit assigned its exclusion to its late authorship, but the Dead Sea Scrolls demonstrated that theory to be incorrect as well. The fragments revealed that the Book of Tobit was at least as old as the Book of Daniel, perhaps even older.

The book itself praises the sanctity of marriage and is often used in weddings. The angel Raphael figures prominently in the book, leading it to be cited as supporting the doctrine of angelic intercession in earthly affairs. It includes references to Mosaic Law and quotes from the Book of Amos, which places its authorship after those, and the first two chapters are written in the first person, although the actual authorship is unknown. It is often cited for its support of the value of humble prayer, charitable giving, and fasting.

So why was it excluded from the Jewish Canon, which led to its exclusion by Martin Luther, which led to its exclusion in most Protestant religions? It may be that a verse it contains which refers to a wedding describes the father of the bride writing the marriage certificate, in violation of a rabbinical law which requires that the marriage document be written by the bridegroom. Despite this there has been a drive in recent years for the Book of Tobit to be included in the Jewish Canon.

What a change to the Jewish Canon in which Tobit is included would do to its status with Protestant religions is a matter of conjecture. While the versions found to have been written in Aramaic and Hebrew are fragmented there are two differing versions in Greek, one much longer than the other. The majority of the Latin and English translations of the Book of Tobit are from the longer of the two Greek versions of the book.

The Book of 2 Clement

The Book of 2 Clement was not written by the author of the Book of 1 Clement, who is generally regarded to be Clement of Rome, one of the early Popes of the Church according to most lists of the papal line of succession. The identity of the author of the book designated 2 Clement was in doubt as early as the third century and today it is considered to have been written anonymously as the text of a sermon delivered to the Church in Corinth sometime before the year 140 AD, and possibly as early as 95 AD, which would put it within Clement of Rome’s lifetime.

But it would not align it with Clement’s only other known work, the epistle known as 1 Clement, also outside the accepted Canon of the New Testament. There is no introduction within the document, which is typical of an Epistle, along with the greetings of the writer, and it addresses the subject of paganism in sermonesque tones. If as most scholars believe it is a sermon it is the oldest surviving text of a Christian sermon, if one does not count the Sermon on the Mount recounted in the Gospels as delivered by Jesus himself.

Originally written in the Greek language the sermon discusses aspects of paganism in a manner which indicates it was written for the attention of former pagans rather than those converted from Judaism or to convert others from Judaism. At one point the text reads that the writer would read aloud from Scripture, a clear indication that it was originally delivered verbally rather than as a written text in the form of an epistle. There are quotes allegedly from Jesus which are not found elsewhere in the written record, as well as some from the Canonical Gospels, demonstrating a familiarity with both the Gospels and the oral tradition among early Christians.

It is clear from the content of the text that the speaker or writer (or both) considers both the texts of the Old Testament and the words of Jesus to be Holy Scripture. Research into 2 Clement has revealed that it references both the Gospel of Peter and the Gospel of Thomas, an indication of how widespread both of those later discredited works were in the early days of the Christian Church. The sermon, or epistle if that is what it is, remains outside of the official Canon, although it does not appear to be in conflict with any Church teachings.

It is likely excluded from the Biblical Canon because of its unknown authorship. Since it is believed to be from the first century its dating would not alone be a reason for its exclusion from the Canon. Nor would its message, other than its apparent reliance on the already considered heretical Gospels of Peter and Thomas as sources for its message. It is recognized by both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches as a work by one of the Apostolic Fathers of the Church, but neither ascribes it to a specific person.

Where did we find this stuff? Here are our sources:

“Apostolic Fathers, the Greek Texts and English Translations”, by Michael Holmes

“Brethren of the Lord”, Catholic Answers.

“Martin Luther”, entry, Brittanica.com

“Martin Luther and the Birth of Protestantism”, by James Atkinson

“The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth”, by John Marco Allegro

“The Historical Jesus, a Comprehensive Guide”, by Gerd Thiessen and Annette Merz

“Who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?”, by Andrew Lawler, The Smithsonian Magazine, January 2010

“Mysterious Dead Sea Scroll deciphered in Israel”, BBC News, January 22, 2018