The Many Gospels of Jesus: Sorting Out the Story of the Life of Jesus

For the past few years we've heard the psuedoscholars talk about "suppressed" and "banned" and "lost" "gospels" and the like. Fiction authors like Dan Brown try to pass their wild tales off as history, even though every historian is laughing at them. Here, finally, is an accessible, yet scholarly, book that looks at all of the myth-making, the falsities and the real history of these matters. Turns out there was no gestapo-like suppression of these books. All of them post-date the Bible gospels. Gnostics weren't and aren't Christians and nor were they ever the great, threatening force the psuedoscholars claim they were. So, if you get your religion history from novels, the History Channel, or the 6 o'clock news, check this book out for a dose of well-researched scholarship (even includes copies of a lot of the "suppressed" gospels). See also The Case for the Real Jesus: A Journalist Investigates Current Attacks on the Identity of Christ and Judas and the Gospel of Jesus: Have We Missed the Truth about Christianity?.

In the last few years there has been a proliferation of media products related to the various "gospels" of Jesus. Some are presented as fact, while others are presented as fiction. In either case, there are writings which are called "gospels" which are under consideration. What are these books? Are they things that should have been included in the Bible, but were left out for religious-political reasons? Are they heretical writings? What is a gospel, anyway? These are the issues which Comfort and Driesbac address. The authors do a very good job of addressing the subject at hand. They have addressed it fairly. They have also addressed it in a manner that is accessible to the common man. This book is not only for the academic, but for the people in the pews. It is also for those who aren't in the pews, but are interested in this subject none the less. At the outset the authors take the time to describe to us the situation before us. They describe to us how the gospels that are in the Bible came to be there. They also give to us a working description of what a gospel is. They then explain why the "gospels" that get so much attention today were not included in the canon of Scripture. The next step is to identify the "newer" gospels. (They are newer, by the way.) We are given a run down of where they were found, what time they were written, as well as what sort of people wrote them (i.e. What they believed, etc.). The authors then give us the text of the New Testament Gospels as well as the more recent "gospels." Even a quick comparison shows that they truly stand in contrast one to another. All in all, this is a very good and informative book. Whether one simply wants to give it a quick read over to get a brief idea of these "new gospels", or they want to read it and study it in depth; this book gives much of the materials necessary for that. What would I have wanted added if I were producing/editing the book? Only one thing. I would have asked the writers to give commentary on the "new gospels" so as to show more clearly the belief system that they develop. As it is, one can do that on his own, if he wishes. In a day in which practically anything that contradicts or modifies true Christianity is accepted and embraced, this book will help the Christian understand why the "new gospels" were not accepted and should not be accepted.