Books read by year

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

The Complete Gospels ~ edited by Robert J. Miller

The Complete Gospels : Annotated Scholars Version ~ edited by Robert J. Miller, 1994

Presents for the first time anywhere all twenty of the known gospels from the early Christian era, offering a fuller and more fascinating picture of early Christian origins than found in the four canonical gospels alone — or in any other source.  Each of these gospel records offers fresh glimpses into the world of Jesus and his followers, including:
  • GOSPEL OF THOMAS reveals that Jesus, contrary to the popular image of him as an apocalyptic preacher of damnation and salvation, was actually a wisdom teacher who taught about the true origins of humankind.
  • GOSPEL OF MARY suggests that women held prominent roles in the early church, and provides a startling look at what may have been the first attempts to suppress their leadership.
  • SAYINGS GOSPEL Q, the controversial reconstruction of the first gospel used by Jesus' original followers, contains only Jesus' sayings and none of the dramatic stories about his life later told in the New Testament gospels.
  • SIGNS GOSPEL is almost entirely a catalog of Jesus' miracles, intended to demonstrate that he was the Jewish Messiah, the Anointed.
  • SECRET BOOK OF JAMES relates that immediately prior to his ascension, Jesus imparted a private revelation to James and Peter, which James presents here as a letter.
  • GOSPEL OF PETER contains what may have been the original passion narrative later adapted in the New Testament synoptic gospels' accounts.
Four new pieces have been added to this third expanded edition: the three Jewish-Christian gospels and the Greek fragments of the Gospel of Thomas.  Each gospel is translated into lively, contemporary English, recapturing the spirit ofthe original.  Exciting both to read and to hear, this Scholars Version (SV) translation has — as one reader put it — "a vitality that jumps off the page."

2 comments:

  1. This, as well as the two others that you've reviewed looks quite promising!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I tried to figure out which two (other) books you meant, along with this one, and came up with these:

    A New New Testament ~ edited by Hal Taussig, 2013 (posted Tuesday)
    http://bonniesbooks.blogspot.com/2013/09/a-new-new-testament-edited-by-hal.html

    The Complete Gospels ~ edited by Robert J. Miller, 1994 (this book, also posted Tuesday)
    http://bonniesbooks.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-complete-gospels-edited-by-robert-j.html

    The Idolatry of God ~ by Peter Rollins, 2012 (posted Friday)
    http://bonniesbooks.blogspot.com/2013/09/beginning-with-apocalypse-which-has.html

    Are these the ones you meant?

    ReplyDelete

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