9. What About the “Lost Books of the Bible”?

One other objection that has often come up is, “What about the lost books of the Bible?” It is clear that not all the writings of the apostles and prophets were included in the canon. 1 Corinthians refers to a previous letter that Paul had written to the Corinthians (see 1 Cor. 5:9-11). 2 Corinthians 10:10-11 refers to “letters” (plural) that Paul had written, and some believe that 2 Corinthians 2:3-11 and 7:8 may also refer to a lost letter. The apostles also apparently wrote letters of introduction to traveling missionaries. We have one recorded in 3 John, but Paul apparently wrote some as well (2 Cor. 3:1; 1 Cor. 16:3).

Likewise, we have already mentioned numerous books that were deliberately excluded from the Old Testament canon by the prophets themselves even though they were written by prophets and contained “prophecies” and “visions” (See 2 Chron. 9:29). These include the Book of The Wars of Jehovah (Numb. 21:14), the Book of Jashar (Josh. 10:13; 2 Sam. 1:18), another Book of Samuel on the Kingdom (1 Sam. 10:25), the Book of the Chronicles of David (1 Chron. 27:24), the Book of the Acts of Solomon (1 Kings 11:41), Solomon’s three thousand proverbs and 1005 songs (1 Kings 4:32), the book of Solomon’s Natural History (1 Kings 4:32-33), the Book of Shemaiah the Prophet (2 Chron. 12:15), the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite (2 Chron. 9:29), the Visions of Iddo the seer (2 Chron. 9:29; 12:15), “the annals of the prophet Iddo” (2 Chron. 13:22), a full history of king Uzziah written by Isaiah (2 Chron. 26:22), the Book of Jehu the Son of Hanani (2 Chron. 20:34), and an extrabiblical (but reliable) history of the Kings (1 Kings 14:19,25; 2 Chron. 20:34; 33:18).

All of these are labeled by some as “lost” books of the Bible. This chapter will show that they are not lost, because they were never intended to be in the canon. The following presuppositions are deductions from the Bible’s own self-referential statements:

Inspiration alone is not the criteria for canonicity

First, inspiration is not the sole criterion for canonicity. In chapters 1 and 2, I pointed out that an additional act of prophetic canonization had to take place for an inspired work to be included in the Scriptures. Otherwise many more books would have been included in the canon.²⁴⁶

We have already demonstrated that God was developing the canon of “all Scripture” with an eye to the New Covenant community (1 Pet. 1:12; 1 Cor. 10:11). Nothing was included except that which would be needed for “the end of the ages” or the New Covenant kingdom. God included sufficient material to make the man of God thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Those “lost” writings were not really lost for the New Covenant church because 1) they were only intended for a local audience and 2) the prophet himself did not canonize them.

Furthermore, if the Biblical presuppositions of the previous chapters are applied, no apocryphal or pseudepigraphal work would be considered to be canonical. There are over three hundred apocryphal gospels, acts, apocalypses, and epistles, mostly in fragments or isolated manuscripts.

Below we will look at more Biblical presuppositions that rule out these books, but the most fundamental presupposition of this book is sufficient: these books are by definition not prophecies because they were written after AD 70 when all prophecy ceased. In other words, these books fall outside the dates that the Bible itself says a canonical book must be written in. The early church recognized this. Geisler and Nix point out that other than a few isolated individuals who stood outside the mainstream of church history, “Virtually no orthodox Father, canon, or council considered these books to be canonical.”²⁴⁷ Eusebius reflects the view of the church when he calls them “totally absurd and impious.”²⁴⁸

God promised that His Providence will preserve every word of His canon in every age

There are other presuppositions that rule out the possibility of any “lost books.” For example, God promised to preserve every word of His canon in every age (Matt. 5:17-19; Mark 13:31; Luke 16:17; 21:33; Psa. 12:6-7; cf. also Deut. 29:29; Psa. 19:9; 102:18; 111:7-8; 119:89-91,152,160; Is. 40:8; 59:20-21; Dan. 12:4; Matt. 4:4; Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 9:10; 10:11; 1 Pet. 1:25).

To lose books for over fifteen hundred years is a contradiction of these verses. Yet most of the apocryphal books have only recently been discovered. At the beginning of the Bible He promises that “those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever” (Deut. 29:29), and at the end of the Bible God promises severe vengeance upon anyone who adds to or takes away from the Bible:

If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. (Rev. 22:18-19)

While the last Scripture anticipates people who would indeed add to and take away from Scripture, God assures us that this attempt will not be successful. For example, the Psalmist writes: “The words of the LORD are pure words… You shall keep them, O LORD, You shall preserve them from this generation forever” (Psalm 12:6-7). Obviously this is a promise that His providence is sufficient to preserve every chapter²⁴⁹ of Scripture and every word²⁵⁰ of Scripture in every age.

For example, Christ said, “it is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for one tittle of the law to be deleted.”²⁵¹ On another occasion Jesus assures us (“Assuredly I say to you”) that “till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Matt. 5:18).

Since God has promised to preserve His Word (this point) so that every generation can live by every word (next point), it logically follows that His protective Providence over this Book will be entirely different than over non-inspired books. Contrary to modern textual criticism, higher criticism, and liberal canonical studies, God has indeed promised to intervene in unique ways for the preservation of the Scriptures (Deut. 29:29; Psa. 111:7-8; 119:160; Isa. 40:8; 59:21; Dan. 12:4; Matt. 4:4; 5:17-18; Mark 13:31; Luke 16:17; Heb. 2:2; 1 Pet. 1:25; cf. also Psa. 102:18; cf. eg. Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 9:10; 10:11) We simply cannot treat the Bible like we would the Iliad or other literature of man. This is the eternal Word of God which He must preserve for the integrity of His name. If books have been “lost” for a thousand years, it means that they were never part of God’s Word which He promised to preserve.

God holds us accountable to every word of Scripture

Yet another Biblical presupposition that we hold to is that God must preserve every word of Scripture if He intends to hold us accountable to live by every word, and that is clearly stated in the Bible (Matt. 5:17-19; Luke 16:17-18; Deut. 29:29; Psa. 19:7-11; 102:18; Isa. 59:20-21; Matt. 4:4; Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 9:10; 10:11). He would not be true to His Word if even one chapter of a book was lost, let alone an entire book of the canon.

After stating that the smallest letter in the Greek (iota = “jot”) and the smallest difference between a letter in the Hebrew (kereia = “tittle”) would be preserved till heaven and earth pass away, Christ then makes an application:

Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matt. 5:18-19)

The preservation of the jots and tittles was for the purpose of holding men accountable to keep all God’s word. Unless the jots and tittles are preserved, no one can fulfill this injunction. So a theoretical preservation in God’s mind, or in the sands of Egypt, does not suffice. It is not enough to say that a newly discovered book was preserved for fifteen hundred years so that we could live by it today. The Scriptures cited require a continually preserved canon.

Isaiah 59:20 speaks of the coming of Jesus Christ and then follows with verse 21:

‘My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendant’s descendants,’ says the LORD, ‘from this time and forevermore.’

In order for that to be fulfilled, God would have to preserve His Word from generation to generation from that time and forever. God commands us to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4). Deut. 29:29 says,

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

God preserves His word from generation to generation precisely because He wants us to keep it - “every word” of it. But this necessitates His Providential preservation of every chapter of His Word in every age.

God promised to ensure faithful transmission of the text

Of course, books are copied by men, so God must somehow Providentially work through men to faithfully transmit His Word. He did indeed promise to do so. Since the church was ordained by God to be the “pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:14-15), and since God gave many careful warnings to care for the Scriptures (Rev. 22:18-19, Deut. 4:2; Prov. 30:5-6 and 2 Pet. 3:16), and warnings about heretics who would corrupt the text (Rev. 22:18-19; 2 Pet. 3:16), it is natural to assume two things: 1) the church would have been careful in accurately copying the Bible 2) heretics who had a low view of Scripture would have been less careful and would have had no issue with adding their own books to their canon.

This is indeed what we find in history. The heretics were loose with Scripture and the orthodox fathers castigated them for it. The church fathers were very zealous to guard against even the slightest deviation from Scriptural usage. Polycarp said, “Whoever perverts the sayings of the Lord… that one is the firstborn of Satan.”²⁵²

Justyn Martyr claimed that the heretic Marcion had changed the text of both Luke and Paul’s epistles. As a result of this perverting of Scripture, the church was even more careful to check the manuscripts (Apol. i.58). Gaius in the later 100’s named four heretics who altered the text and then had multiple copies of these altered texts prepared by their disciples. Dionysius (bishop of Corinth from 168-176) complained that heretics not only tampered with his writings, they also tampered with the Scriptures. He insisted that the church had received a pure tradition.

Irenaeus said, “True knowledge consists in a very complete tractatio of the Scriptures, which has come down to us by being preserved without falsification”²⁵³ He was not only concerned about careful transcription of Scripture, but also of his own writings, so he put at the close of his treatise: “I adjure you who shall copy out this book, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by his glorious advent when he comes to judge the living and the dead, that you compare what you transcribe, and correct it carefully against this manuscript from which you copy; and also that you transcribe this adjuration and insert it in the copy.”²⁵⁴

Church history tells us that those from the third century were no less certain of the transmission of the text. Tertullian (early 200’s) says, “I hold sure title-deeds from the original owners themselves… I am the heir of the apostles. Just as they carefully prepared their will and testament, and committed it to a trust… even so I hold it.”

In “On Prescription Against Heretics”, he tells people that if they want to know the exact wording of some other epistles, the original autographs could still be found. He said that Corinthians could be found in Achaia, Philippians and Thessalonians in Macedonia, Ephesians in Asia, and Romans in Italy. Therefore, at least five New Testament books had autographs still in existence. Since the church fathers state that the Scriptures of the apostles were read in every church, there must have been hundreds of copies already at this early time.

The fourth century continues this claim to a pure tradition of copies. Jerome complained of copyists who “write down not what they find but what they think is the meaning; and while they attempt to rectify the errors of others, they merely expose their own.”²⁵⁵ Bishop Spyridon (350 AD) took on the distinguished Triphyllios of Ledra who used the more refined Attic Greek word for bed when he quoted, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” Spyridon “sprang up and indignantly called to him before the whole assembly, “Are you, then, better than He [Jesus] who uttered the word κρᾶββατος, that you are ashamed to use His word?”²⁵⁶ Even slight changes simply were not tolerated. Many other quotes have been multiplied in books to illustrate the fact that the church was indeed careful.

If this was the case, why are there so few copies of the apocrypha and pseudepigrapha in the early church? If the church copied all the Scriptures with care and zeal, surely they would not have missed one. If the apocrypha and pseudepigrapha were indeed Scripture, surely there would be just as many copies of those books as of the books currently in our canon.

God promised to preserve the text within the church, which is the “pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:14-15). If books were not preserved and copied as Scripture, it is a strike against their authenticity.

Isolated texts should be seen as suspect

Yet another presupposition that I have is that non-canonical texts would tend to become more localized and time bounded. This is not only a logical deduction of the previous presuppositions, but also a logical deduction from the fact that the Scripture authors used great care in identifying themselves. The church was warned to avoid those who distort the Scriptures (2 Thes. 2:2; 3:17; 2 Pet. 3:16-17; Rev. 22:18-19; Gal. 1:8) and to be careful of using letters that did not bear the marks of authenticity (2 Thes. 3:17; cf. also 1 Cor. 16:21; Col. 4:18). If this command was followed, faulty texts by gnostics and other heretics would not be copied frequently in the church and the main source of those texts would be in the local areas where the heretics taught and worked. If a heretical group died out, the manuscripts would have the tendency to die out as well.

Interestingly, much of the pseudepigrapha come from Egypt, which was a hot-bed for heretics. These books also died out early. Thus, the canonical text used by the faithful church would have tended to be in the majority of manuscripts. So even though there is not much danger of people adopting the New Testament pseudepigraph, which are heretical and silly on the surface,²⁵⁷ it is important to reason through these things Biblically. The Bible itself rules them out based on a number of presuppositions.