The Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew

313 Pages·2003·4.73 MB·English

by  Bart D. Ehrman

Lost Christianities:
The Battles for Scripture
and the Faiths We
Never Knew
Bart D. Ehrman
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Lost Christianities
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2003
Oxford New York
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Copyright © 2003 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016
www.oup.com
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ehrman, Bart D.
Lost Christianities : the battles for scripture and
the faiths we never knew / Bart D. Ehrman
p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-19-514183-0

1. Apocryphal books (New Testament)—Criticism, interpretation, etc.

2. Heresies, Christian—History—Early church, ca. 30–600.
3. Church history—Primitive and early church, ca. 30–600.
I. Title.

BS2840.E4 2003 229'.9206—dc21 2003053097

Illustration credits
Pages 25: Caire (Le), Insitut français d’archéologie orientale. 34: Erich Lessing/Art Resource,
NY. 43: Scala/Art Resource, NY. 50: Rylands Library, University of Manchester. 62: Institute
for Antiquity and Christianity, Claremont, CA. 75: SuperStock, Inc. 125: Institute for Antiquity
and Christianity, Claremont, CA. 166: Courtesy of Robert M. Grant. 208: Cameraphoto/Art
Resource, NY. 218: Photo courtesy of Bruce Metzger: Manuscripts of the Greek Bible, Oxford
University Press. 245: British Library, London.
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
To Sarah
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Contents

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1 The Ancient Discovery of a Forgery: Serapion and the

Gospel of Peter ��

2 The Ancient Forgery of a Discovery: The Acts of Paul and

Thecla ��

3 The Discovery of an Ancient Forgery: The Coptic Gospel of

Thomas ��

4 The Forgery of an Ancient Discovery? Morton Smith and the

Secret Gospel of Mark ��

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5 At Polar Ends of the Spectrum: Early Christian Ebionites and

Marcionites ��

6 Christians “In the Know”: The Worlds of Early Christian

Gnosticism ���

vii
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7 On the Road to Nicaea: The Broad Swath of Proto-orthodox

Christianity ���

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8 The Quest for Orthodoxy ���
9 The Arsenal of the Conflicts: Polemical Treatises and Personal
Slurs ���
10 Additional Weapons in the Polemical Arsenal: Forgeries and
Falsifications ���
11 The Invention of Scripture: The Formation of the Proto-orthodox
New Testament ���
12 Winners, Losers, and the Question of Tolerance ���
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Preface

This is a book about the wide diversity of early Christianity and its sacred
texts. Some of these texts came to be included in the New Testament. Others
came to be rejected, attacked, suppressed, and destroyed. My goals are to ex­
amine some of these noncanonical writings, see what they can tell us about the
various forms of Christian faith and practice in the second and third centuries,
and consider how one early Christian group established itself as dominant in
the religion, determining for ages to come what Christians would believe, prac­
tice, and read as sacred Scripture.
Unless otherwise indicated, translations of texts are my own.
I would like to thank a number of people who have provided their generous
support, without whom the book could not have been written. First is Bruce
Nichols, who suggested the book and helped me refine its character at the
preliminary stages. Robert Miller, senior executive editor at Oxford University
Press, and Laura Brown, president of Oxford University Press, USA, convinced
me that Oxford was the best venue for publication; I am grateful for their sup­
port all along the way, and especially for the extensive help Robert has given
over the years.
In the early stages of my research, I was helped by my reliable and insight­
ful graduate students, Stephanie Cobb, now teaching at Hofstra University,
and Diane Wudel, now teaching at Wake Forest Divinity School. An inordinate
amount of the research assistantship fell on the shoulders of my current gradu­
ate student, Carl Cosaert, who bore the burden with remarkable ease.
I have been given unusually helpful advice by those who read the book in
manuscript, Robert Miller and Peter Ginna at Oxford University Press, and schol­
ars and friends who went well above and beyond the call of collegial duty in
lending a hand to another scholar in the field: Elizabeth Clark at Duke, Michael
ix