Is there a complete list of the gnostic books that were left out of the bible?

Question

Along with the list, I'm also looking for a few more pieces of information. When was the committee formed to decide which books were going to be considered as 'canon', and how long did the process take? Who were the people that made the decisions, and how many were there? Along with the books that didn't make the cut, did the committee give information as to why the books weren't included or did they just say yes or no (I mean, now we can give educated guesses as to why they weren't included, but I was wondering if there was any information given at the time)? Also, is there a decent book/translation that someone could recommend that is a collection of these other books? I know it's a lengthy question, and I thank you all in advance for your answers.

Answer 1

This includes gnostic and non-gnostic writings.

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/

and

http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/

plus

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/fathers/

and coming soon........

http://www.openscrolls.org/

Answer 2

The books of the Bible were cannonized by various people throughout the ages long before the Catholic church or any other denomination came into being. The gnostic books as well as the Apocrypha, were not included in the early canons and were not used by the early church. The canons by Marcion (AD 140), Irenaeus (AD 180), Muratori Canon (AD 200), Eusebius (AD 325) and Athanasius (AD 367) did not contain these books. It is from the latter canons that the current Bible was based. In fact, the Apocrypha was not cannonized until the Catholic Council of Trent (1546) and then they were only accepted by the Catholic faith despite the numberous reasons that have been shown to dispute the "inspired" nature of these books.

The 66 books that in the Bible today do not in any way reference any of the gnostic books nor the Apocrypha. The early church did not quote from these books and some contemporary writers of the time disputed their authenticity.



Here is a brief synopsis on the early writings and compilations of the scriptures: (see source for complete info)

I. By around A.D. 100, God had given all the information to man that He was going to give (Jude 3; Rev. 22:18-19; II Pet. 1:3).
A. Immediately upon completion of these writings, copies were necessary (cf. Col. 4:16; I Thess. 5:27).
B. The only means of duplication until the fifteenth century (in A.D. 1454 Johannes Gutenburg invented the printing press) was by manual handwriting.
C. It is by these handwritten copies, handed down through the centuries, that we have the text of the Bible today.
D. The "autographs" (the very documents that were penned by the inspired authors, Paul, Peter, John, Matthew, Luke, etc.) have not been preserved for us today. We have copies of the autographs.
II. The autographs were written in the "Koine" Greek language; the universal language of the Roman world in the first century. The earliest copies of these autographs are, therefore, in this original language. III. We have noticed that Greek copies are the primary source of our Bibles. However, there are other sources worthy of consideration...
A. Ancient Versions – There was not only a need for copies of the Scriptures in the Greek language, but in various other languages as well. (E.g. Syriac, Coptic, Latin, etc.) The ancient versions serve as a valuable witness to the New Testament text.
B. Church "Fathers" – Several writings by early Christians have survived the centuries. In personal letters and correspondences these Christians often quoted New Testament passages. These quotations are also an important contribution to our biblical text.
C. Ostraca – Pieces of pottery used by the poor on which to write the Scriptures.
IV. With all these different sources, how well attested is the Bible? Do we have an adequate amount of these sources to know if we now have the original words of the apostles and prophets of the first century?
A. Let's first consider some other writings of ancient history and their witnesses...
1. The History of Thucydides (400 B.C.) – 8 manuscripts
2. Tacitus, a Roman Historian (A.D. 100) – 2 manuscripts
3. Gallic Wars – 10 manuscripts
4. Homer's "Iliad" – 643 manuscripts
B. How does the New Testament compare to these other books of antiquity.
Phil Sanders 8 How We Got the Bible (NSOP)
1. There are over 5,000 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament available to us today.
2. Over 2,200 Lectionaries (Books used in worship that cite the Bible).
3. Ancient Versions – 9,000 manuscripts (largely due to the advance of the Roman religion that spread the Latin Vulgate throughout Europe).
4. Church "Fathers" – ca. 36,000 citations – scholars say that all but four verses of the entire New Testament text could be reconstructed from the citations of the early Church Fathers alone!
5. The New Testament is the best attested book of antiquity by far! - (Mt. 24:35)

Answer 3

Basically it is this Catholic council that formed the books of the Bible.

Council of Rome (382)
Local church council under the authority of Pope Damasus, (366-384) gave a complete list of canonical books of the OT and NT which is identical with the list later approved by the Council of Trent.

The Council of Trent was formed because of the Reformation. Luther took books out of the Bible after almost 1,200 years of use.

Answer 4

Yes, type in gnostic books of the bible, and you will get resources on the search page.

Answer 5

* Gnostic: The Gospel of Thomas
* Gnostic: The Secret Book of James
* Gnostic: Basilides
* Gnostic: Naassene Fragment
* Gnostic: Gospel of Mary
* Gnostic: Dialogue of the Savior
* Gnostic: Gospel of the Savior
* Gnostic: Marcion
* Gnostic: Epiphanes
* Gnostic: Ophite Diagrams
* Gnostic: Ptolemy
* Gnostic: Gospel of Truth
* Gnostic: Excerpts of Theodotus
* Gnostic: Heracleon
* Gnostic: Acts of Peter
* Gnostic: Acts of Thomas

Answer 6

From what I understand, Catholic's did not remove books from the bible. And they didn't leave books out.

They simply did not include certain books, and it could have been because they were completely unaware of them, or it could have been intentional. Of that we will never know.

Answer 7

As to "complete", who knows - that was a long time ago - some of it could have been lost or destroyed.

I think the name of the book you seek is the "Apocrypha". Good luck.