The two volume set edited by James Charlesworth is probably the best collection of the pseudepigrapha in English. Each entry contains an intro with more into on the books included. It was published in the early 1980s so its a bit dated but a good point of entry into the literature.
Welcome! I haven't found any good gnostic Facebook groups. They're either unhelpful, full of conspiracies or weirdly orthodox with some stuff about chakras thrown in. This subreddit is small but good for discussion and learning.
If you don't already have one, get a print copy of the Nag Hammadi Scriptures. The introductions to each text, as well as the footnotes throughout, are invaluable and provide insight that is sometimes lacking when reading online.
For general books, check the list in the sidebar.
I think you need to look for the Nag Hammadi Library and the Berlin Codex. You can search around on Amazon for some others; here is a copy of the Nag Hammadi Scriptures
You can get it pretty inexpensively on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Enoch-Hermeneia-Translation-George-Nickelsburg/dp/0800699106
It is the most up-to-date translation you can find. The Hermeneia commentaries are also top-notch but that would cost you a lot more.
I would suggest Bart Ehrman's book God's Problem: The Bible Fails to Answer our Most Important Question -- Why We Suffer. I don't like the title of the book. It is really pretty misleading. The book talks at length about the answers the Bible gives. But then Ehrman dissects the reasons and finds them lacking.
I would read it apart from your friend, and don't use it to try to deconvert them. But I think the book is a pretty good book to give an atheist insights into how Christians use the Bible. Also, if your friend does have a loss you might be able to draw on some of the insights from the book.
Here is a link to Amazon. It isn't an affiliate link. The book is only $12.99 right now in paperback.
> Ehrman's The New Testament (amazon link) is one of the more widely used. Ehrman is very much on the "critical" end of critical scholarship, to the extent that his studies led to the weakening and eventual loss of his faith.
Ehrman says it was the problem of suffering rather than his scholarship which led him to become an agnostic with strong leanings towards atheism. See God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question--Why We Suffer
I live in France unfortunately, and since that kind of stuff isn't the best selling books, unless you live near a really big library, you have little chances of finding them irl. Best bet is amazon, I'm still waiting for my package of this one, but they sell a pdf version (i just like holding them okay): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0800699106/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00
I highly recommend you try 'Lost Christianities' (Amazon URL) by Bart Ehrman. Prof. Ehrman is a renowned scholar of the new testament and in this text he describes the theological beliefs and history of the earliest christian communities, with a special focus on the competing gospels, epistles, and history of the very early christian communities whose beliefs did not end up making it into the mainstream christian tradition later on. This book was eye opening and set me on a path of serious discovery and interest in scholarship of early Christianity and late antiquity.
This is the one to go for, all the translations in here are pretty reliable and the scholarly commentary for them is spot on and generally quite detailed.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nag-Hammadi-Scriptures-Translation-Complete/dp/0061626007
The context and language is very important, as well as the type of literature. For instance, it is clear that when Jesus tells a parable, it is not literal. But a large proportion of the Bible is intended as historical narrative. A book I will recommend is How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth
1 Enoch: The Hermeneia Translation by George W. E. Nickelsburg and James C. VanderKam
It might have been common knowledge that Peter, a fisherman by trade, would have had no ability to read or write, so assigning Peter's story to Mark might have been the most logical invention for creating apostolic tradition of the stories in Mark.
Also, be mindful of your reasoning here - just because there are no extant counter-traditions doesn't mean they didn't exist. Nearly all competing literature from early Christian tradition has completely vanished. The most we know about competing traditions tends to come from what was gainsaid in preserved 'orthodox' literature. Check out Erhman's primer "Lost Christianities" https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Christianities-Battles-Scripture-Faiths/dp/0195182499. Remember that every group of Christians believed their sect held the orthodox view that preserved the sacred tradition of the real Jesus as handed down by the original apostles. Every sect thinks that they are orthodox, and that their canon has merit.
We only have the preserved corpus of one sect - and only mentions or vanishing traces of the countless others.
Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew
The Bible is the inspired Word of God, given through people at specific times and places in their specific cultures and in their languages. We live in very different cultures, a very different time and speak different languages - some confusion is expected.
Try reading some old English stories, from many hundreds of years ago, like beowulf.They are hard to comprehend and were written in a culture and language more similar to ours than the Bible.
https://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Bible-All-Worth/dp/0310517826 is a great beginner's guide.
I am so sorry to see you in such distress. You might want to learn about exegesis. A great book for those who don't have a degree in theology is how to read the bible for all its worth
https://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Bible-All-Worth/dp/0310517826
One basic concept is prescriptive vs. descriptive scripture. The Bible is the inspired word of God, but delivered through human hands in specific times and places. Verses describing a male dominant culture are descriptive of a fallen world, not prescriptive of the way God made us to be. God did not make women to be inferior to men, He made them different from one another, but I think those specific differences are not clear, they are overshadowed by the false differences put on by human cultures, ancient AND modern.
King David is often referred to as "a man after God's own heart". He was full of sin, selfishness, sexual sin, he was a horrible husband and father. Does that mean God wants us all to live lives like David did? Of course not.
David's virtue lay in his repentance, he was open to God's correction. When the prophet Nathan accused David of adultery, David didn't have Nathan killed and ignore the warning, but he repented and begged for forgiveness.
God loves you, in a way that no human can. He is willing and able to help you live a fulfilling life on earth, and welcome you into heaven where he will heal you from all the damage of sin from our earthly lives.
Please don't put the blame on God for the sins of people.
This two-volume set of pseudepigrapha has no fewer than three extant versions of the Book of Enoch, as well as a great many other interesting and peculiar things. I read through the first volume, this past year, and considered it a worthwhile undertaking.
Fallen Angels referenced in James H Charlesworth - The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha ( 2 Volume set)
https://www.amazon.com/Old-Testament-Pseudepigrapha-set/dp/1598564897
fallen (evil). See also Lucifer; Satan
in Apocalypse of Abraham, 1:684
in 2 Baruch, 1:641
demons as, in Testament of Solomon, 1:952, 953
in 1 Enoch, 1:xxx, 9, 15, 19, 24, 44, 47-49. 63-64, 70, 957
in 2 Enoch, 1:96, 112-15, 130-33
evil as caused by, 1:xxx, 106 nle
in Pseudo-Philo, 2:301, 348
in Questions of Ezra, 1:594, 596-97
in Testament of Reuben, 1:784, 842 nóc
I highly suggest Hermenia!
I agree with Paul, in context. Do a bit of research on how to interpret the Bible. A great book is how to read the bible for all it's worth.
How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth: Fourth Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/0310517826/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_navT_g_5KXJDX55TD83XSR0WJQ0
You will see that some things were written to specific people in a specific time and/or place, and other things are written as guidance for us, while others are written as historical texts, and some as directives for us (go into all the world... great commandment and great commission)
IMHO, those directives of Paul were to address orderly worship in a particular society, not a directive for all people. At that time, there was much disorder, gossip, and strife coming from many women in some of the new churches. Some have speculated it was due to the newfound gender equality and learning how to handle it.
Sounds like she needs a professional and medication for the anxiety.
But if she reads or likes YouTube, get her to watch NT scholar Dr. Bart Ehrman's content on YouTube or buy his books.
In particular, Ehrman's books on forgery in the New Testament should convince most people that the Bible is not inspired, which is a core doctrine of Christianity. The main thesis of his work is that forgeries were being produced constantly in early Christian times, and these forgeries also appear in the Bible itself. For example, the majority of New Testament scholars believe that 7 of Paul's letters are fake. They weren't written by Paul and even try to contradict other letters that appear in the New Testament. And more -- 11 out of the 27 books of the NT are probably forged documents. And guess what? Scholars have believed/suspected that the letters were fake more or less for 100-200 years. It's old news, but most people in the pews don't know these things.
https://www.amazon.com/Forged-Writing-God-Why-Bibles-Authors/dp/0062012622 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF3nu4cYC78
I’m going to end it with this because I’m watch TV.
The reason I want non biased sources is because the primary way Christians wrote scripture is by forging it. Half of the epistles in the Bible are fake just like 1st and 2nd Peter. Peter couldn’t read or write either.
When there are so many forgeries we have to take a step back and figure things out.
https://www.amazon.com/Forged-Writing-God-Why-Bibles-Authors/dp/0062012622
Bishop John Shelby Spong has long been a favorite at my church. Not gay specific but very useful and many issues touching LGBT are discussed in depth.
Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060675187/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_N0Y3GZYEHVQS37HZ87BN
FYI, I forgot to mention I do have James H Charlesworth The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha ( 2 Volume set) - https://www.amazon.com/Old-Testament-Pseudepigrapha-set/dp/1598564897/
I believe these books were published 8nitially in the early 1980s, not sure if there are more up to date translations with updated academic criticism, etc:
Τhe Old Testament PSEUDEPIGRAPHA, VOLUME ONE, Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments & VOLUME TWO, Expansions of the "Old Testament" and Legends, Wisdom and Philosophical Literature. Prayers, Psalms, and Odes. Fragments of Lost Judeo-Hellenistic Works:
Apocalypse of Abraham
Apocalypse of Adam
Testament of Adam
Life of Adam and Eve
Ahiqar
Letters of Aristeas
Aristeas the Exegete
Aristobulus
Artapanus 2 Baruch
3 Baruch
4 Baruch
Cleodemus Malchus
Apocalypse of Daniel
More Psalms of David
Demetrius the Chronographer
Eldad and Modad Apocalypse of Elijah
1 Enoch
2 Enoch
3 Enoch
Eupolemus
Pseudo-Eupolemus
Apocryphon of Ezekiel
Ezekiel the Tragedian
Fourth Book of Ezra
Greek Apocalypse of Ezra
Questions of Ezra
Revelation of Ezra
Vision of Ezra
Fragments of Pseudo-Greek Poets
Pseudo-Hecatacus
Hellenistic Synagogal Prayers
Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah
Ladder of Jacob
Prayer of Jacob
Jannes and Jambres.
Testament of Job Joseph and Aseneth
History of Joseph Prayer of Joseph
Jubilees
3 Maccabees
4 Maccabees
Prayer of Manasseh
Syriac Menander
Testament of Moses
Orphica
Philo the Epic Poet
Pseudo-Philo
Pseudo-Phocylides
The Lives of the Prophets
History of the Rechabites
Apocalypse of Sedrach
Treatise of Shem
Sibylline Oracles
Odes of Solomon Psalms of Solomon
Testament of Solomon
Theodotus
Testaments of the Three Patriarchs
Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
Apocalypse of Zephaniah
NIV Matthew 5: 17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."
The funny thing is that Matthew didn't write Matthew. Hundreds of years later the Roman Catholic Church decided to name the gospels after specific followers of Jesus ...
We don't actually know who wrote the bible. We know that the RCC compiled it differently and that the OT of Christians is not the OT of the Jews.
Bart Ehrman talks about that a lot. https://www.amazon.com/Forged-Writing-God-Why-Bibles-Authors/dp/0062012622
James Charles worth has an excellent two volume translation that I highly recommend:
Your linking scripture from people who wrote 50 years after the death of Jesus and treat it like these people were eye witnesses.
Here’s the current list of disputed scripture and a good book
https://www.amazon.com/Forged-Writing-God-Why-Bibles-Authors/dp/0062012622#
You should read a book about it to give you sources and so on. I’m not interested in writing a paper lol.
2 Thessalonians Colossians Ephesians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus 1 Peter 2 Peter James Jude
These are the current disputed scriptures if your interested. Many scholars with years of experience with cite sources
https://www.amazon.com/Forged-Writing-God-Why-Bibles-Authors/dp/0062012622#
Here’s a great book that talks about it.
If you want all three in one volume with introduction and scholarly translation and notes, then you want James Charlesworth, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. [Link goes to amazon for the two-volume set in paperback, poke around for volume one since that has the Enoch literature]. Fortress Press published the Hermenia translation of 1 Enoch in an inexpensive paperback, but not 2 Enoch or 3 Enoch.
I wrote this on reading translations of Enoch a few years ago.
First of all, good for you for asking questions and seeking answers and not giving into the pressures of just taking what you're told by family and friends at face value. In my opinion, deciding to seek truth for yourself is the reset button, but it can take a very long time to load another operating system into your mind.
I believe the best way to restart is to ditch fundamentalism/literalism and begin to encounter the Bible -- and ultimately all of life -- as something besides a black-and-white belief system. Hellfire teachings instill this worldview, and it's incredibly difficult to get out of it (but people do! I did!)
I can recommend some intro-level books on Biblical criticism if you are interested , but it might be best to start with something like Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism by Spong. He deconstructs several of the problems caused by literalism in an easy-to-digest way and, being a Christian himself, gives perspective from someone coming from inside Christianity rather than from without.
Just let yourself explore and be okay with letting go of the stuff you were taught. The Bible actually gets much more interesting when you start to explore it for what it is.