I think the Good Book is missing some pages.


The library of pseudepigraphal books censored and ignored by Christians (past and present alike) is divided into two groups. What follows are the Old Testament volumes, also called The Forgotten Books of Eden. They have been cobbled together by various scholars over the past several hundred years. If one or two copies of a given book survived the censorship of the early church, they invariably wound up on the fringes of Rome and Europe's power; Ethiopia, Scandinavia, Egypt, and the like. As early the 1700s these books began to surface and be translated, but they are usually left out of modern renditions of the Bible. Some, like The Secrets of Enoch and Psalms of Solomon were included in the Vulgate (Latin) and Septuagint (Greek) Bibles.

Today these are all considered pseudepigrapha (works of creative fiction), deuterocanonical (of uncertain authority), or apocrypha (damn heathen lies) by churches and/or biblical scholars. They are gaining some popularity among Christians eager for the lost elements of their religion. It is important, however, to remember that these books have been rejected by people who know a lot more about the subject than you or I. The political stirrings of a dogmatic church notwithstanding, the source documents, linguistic mannerisms, historical allusions, and other esoterica deserve consideration.

The Forgotten Books of Eden can themselves be broken up into two parts: The Genesis narratives and biblical treatises, and the testaments of the twelve patriarchs. The former provide a fascinating look into the early Christian-Hebrew ideas on God, Satan, man, and woman. So much of our modern impression of Satan seems to have its origin here, from his fall from grace, to his vow to destroy humanity. Apologists of Satan will note that, in these books, he comes off as quite an ass hole. The testaments of the twelve patriarchs are intended as the dying statements of the twelve sons of Jacob, or the twelve pillars of Israel. They follow the lives of Joseph and his brothers, and preach on sobriety, chastity, and other boring topics.

As spiritual works, they are as (in)significant as the rest of the canonical Christian-Jewish bible. As a window into historical Judaism and primordial Christianity, they can be quite enlightening. Jesus and his contemporaries were undoubtedly familiar with these works. The philosophy, mythology, and theology accredited to Jesus can be plainly seen in many of these works. However, it is impossible to know just when most of these were written, or how heavily they were edited to conform to the early Christian Church. Indeed, there are countless "prophesies" of a coming messiah, supposedly predating the arrival of Jesus. Of course, that would be trivial to counterfeit.

Anyway, students of Christianity and religion will find these works interesting, and are encouraged to read them.

This collection was culled from various Internet and print sources, most notably The Lost Books of the Bible and The Forgotten Books of Eden by Meridian Press, www.bible2000.org, and www.goodnewsinc.org/othbooks/othbks.html.

First Book of Adam and Eve
Second Book of Adam and Eve
The Book of Enoch ("Ethiopian Enoch" or "1 Enoch")
The Book of Enoch (Different version)
The Book of the Secrets of Enoch ("Slavonic Enoch" or "2 Enoch")
Psalms of Solomon
The Odes of Solomon
The Letter of Aristeas
Fourth Book of Maccabees
The Story of Ahikar

The Testament of Reuben
The Testament of Simeon
The Testament of Levi
The Testament of Judah
The Testament of Issachar
The Testament of Zebulun
The Testament of Dan
The Testament of Naphtali
The Testament of Gad
The Testament of Asher
The Testament of Joseph
The Testament of Benjamin