The Lost Books
3-27-24
We met for lunch and I brought up a few current events that have startled me or alarmed me of the impending collapse of our government structure as we know it. She looked at me wide eyed and agreed that even that small glimpse into current events was shocking but then admitted that she is oblivious of any of those kinds of things. She went on to explain that she never watches the news and she lives in a shielded bubble in her job and home life. She laughed a little when she said she is happy in her bliss with her head in the sand.
She is a dear friend and I totally get where she comes from. I’ve been there myself. There is a degree of false safety in oblivion. It’s kind of nice not to have to worry about impending chaos if you can get away with it but where do we draw the line?
What if you never heard of Christ before? Are you still better off if you remain unaware? What if you have heard of Christ but you’ve never read the bible? Are you better off? What if it isn’t even about eternity but it’s only about something far more simplistic. What if you are in grade school and the teacher hands out books. Do you advance in life if you refuse to read the books? What about love? If the perfect person for you lives next door but you never leave your own house does it make you better off? Are you missing out? What if your neighbor is completely unaware of anything related to Jesus? Does minding your own business with your head in the sand benefit either one of you?
In addition to our short talk about current events on the horizon I brought up the fact that I’ve been reading some of the “lost” books of the bible and mentioned a few interesting tidbits that’s I’ve read. I was careful to explain that the (Apocrypha) “lost” books each have a unique reason why they were initially excluded from what we have come to accept as the “Divine Inspired Word”. I made very sure to explain that I am being diligent to really investigate where each book was found, who wrote it, its origins and history and content before I read it. I am careful to ask for Gods wisdom and discernment on the issue. Then I read with the mindset that there must be a reason it didn’t stand the test of time. There are two reasons for this. One reason could be that God did not support those works and allowed them to be “lost”. Another reason could be that evil has been busy since the beginning of time chipping away at anything evil can get a chisel into. One verse here, another verse there…a whole book here and there.
I have a whole list of ways the dark side has been slowly but surely corrupting our Christian heritage one tiny compromise at a time. See it here.
I see Christians reading books written by modern day preachers, teachers, self-proclaimed prophets, priests and everyday people. They read dozens of these books every year and share what they have learned in their small groups and bible studies and everywhere they go. These books shape who they are, how they worship our Savior and every other part of their lives. Great, it’s good to be always learning, but I would ask, what makes these modern-day writers more significant than a historical book that has stood the test of time? Are these “lost” books taboo in our modern day simply by association?
Aside from the bible, how many books do you know of that were written even as far back as 1500? What about the year 1000? Or 900? But the lost books have survived. Surely that has to count for something? If you’ll spend 7 hours reading the Christian Book Stores top seller, why would you NOT read this historical collection? What are you afraid of?
Lets take that a step further and ask the question, how come all these Christians are spending so much time reading all these Christian how to books and yet so many of them have never read the entire bible?
Doesn’t the bible say that we are to study the Word?
“Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” – 2 Timothy 2:15
Colossians 2:8 alerts us saying, “Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.” And Jesus told the religious Pharisees, “And why do you, by your own traditions, violate the direct commandments of God?” (Matthew 15:3)
There are too many who are teaching and preaching their own agendas, false doctrines, and causing many to reject Christ because they themselves cannot live out what they preach or say.
So…in order to NOT be deceived, you have to read the word of God and study it for yourself. Don’t read it just once and think you are done, read it to know it like the back of your hand, memorize it, study it.
So, for anyone with their “head in the sand” living your gloriously unaware life, I would ask, is this the best thing for you at this stage of your life? If you were more aware of current events, past history, the nature of our Creator, would it enrich your life? Would you be better equipped for the battles ahead? Would you be better equipped to have an answer for the questions your kids might ask? Or your lost neighbor? Or trusted friend?
I’ve already gotten flack from my own husband and my own sister and a friend about having anything to do with the lost books as if they are somehow taboo to Christians everywhere.
My sister told me (and she isn’t wrong) that in order to recognize a fake, you don’t study the fake, you study the authentic thing so when a fake shows up it is intuitively obvious.
I completely agree with that statement…but that statement cannot be applied as easily to the subject of whether or not the lost books have merit. First of all, how can you say they are worthless if you have absolutely no idea what is in them? Second, let’s just say for the sake of argument that they are not the “inspired” word of Yahweh. Does this mean they are all bad and we can’t still learn something from them? They are an account of history. What about the back to back top sellers from the Christian book store, are they without merit because they are not part of what we accept as the bible?
Think of the interesting relationship between Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. Both men were renowned artists with wildly different styles. If you asked them to both paint a picture of the same thing you would get two radically different images but both images would give you an idea of not only the subject but also a glimpse into the artist himself. Is this the fear people have about the lost books? They were not written by Matthew, Mark, Luke or John so they are not a worthy account of history? Is the writing of the lost books so distorted it is like the Picasso? ..or the Matisse? ..or is it simply, one historical writers account of what happened according to the knowledge available to him at the time?
What about the history books we give our kids in school? Are those an accurate account of history? Or are they told from the perspective of what the publisher wants your kids to learn? Who is telling the publisher what to include? From whose perspective are those accounts being told? Public school books are a pathetic attempt to tell the real story of our past. Just the fact that they omit all mention of the events of the bible are an abomination and yet year after year we usher our kids off to school to “learn” something. We turn them over to strangers 6-9 hours a day to absorb someone else’s idea of education then we bring them home for a precious few hours each day too tired to pour out the kind of wisdom they really need.
Allow me a moment to expound on one example. The “Lost” books of Daniel include: The Prayer of Azariah, The Song of the Three Holy Children, the story of Susanna and the Elders, the story of the Priests of Bel, the story of Daniel Slaying the Dragon, the story of Daniel Returning to the Lion’s Den and the rarely seen Seventh Vision of Daniel.
In these accounts of Daniel, we are given a wider picture of the events leading up to his being thrown to the lions. These accounts lend support to the who, what, where, why and when of Daniel and the lions den.
But wait…
Most Protestant Bibles do not have these chapters because most Protestant churches believe these chapters are apocryphal. The Additions to Daniel are not found in the Hebrew or Aramaic text of Daniel. These stories are in the Greek Septuagint and a translation by the writer Theodotion.
While some conservative scholars hold that Daniel existed and his book was written in the 6th century BCE, most scholars agree that Daniel is not a historical figure and that much of the book is a cryptic allusion to the reign of the 2nd century BCE Hellenistic king Antiochus IV Epiphanes.
So which is it, The book of Daniel as we know it is the inspired Word of Yahwweh?? ..or a cryptic allusion? Which part is cryptic? Can we dissect the parts we believe from the parts we don’t?
I’m not wearing rose colored glasses, I realize there are some issues with the validity of the Lost books but I do believe there is still some merit to be had from them even if only from a historical standpoint as told by men like Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse…from their own perspective, to the best of their ability.
At the end of the day, I think we can benefit as much (or more) from reading these “lost” books as we do from modern day writers who puff themselves up and sell their banter on the open marketplace for a profit to line their own pockets.
One thing I will say before I go is that one major controversy about one subject in the lost books is that Jesus was married. Please, before you go off on a long tangent about how this discredits the entire collection of works keep in mind that the LGBTQ movement says that David and Jonathan were in a male/male relationship based on their interpretation of the accepted bible. Before we all get on some bandwagon against the lost books, maybe we need to read for ourselves and see if that’s what it really says or if there’s any chance that something has been taken out of context and assigned a truth that doesn’t exist. (I haven’t gotten to Enoch yet, Ill keep you posted)
Before you jump to conclusions and begin to harass me about what I am spending my time reading, maybe consider doing your own homework so that when the subject comes up you can help me understand the parts I’ve misinterpreted, misunderstood or fell for like a gullible sucker. Alternately, maybe you will learn something from me if you are brave enough to pull your head out of the sand and check out the world around you. It’s a beautiful and complex world we live in come check it out. Remember, iron sharpens iron. I may not be the only person you run into that will ask about these kinds of things. Be ready with an answer.
1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.
Finally, I would like to add, I pray diligently and daily and I often pray and ask Yahweh for wisdom and discernment so I don’t fall for anything that comes down the pike. I ask God to steer me away from things I don’t need to be reading and to give me a right perspective about what I allow to enter my mind. So, if the lost books have no merit, then would you have me believe that my prayers have gone unanswered and the Creator of the world wants me to stumble? ..or is there something to be learned?