Books by Simon Gathercole

The Apocryphal Gospels (Penguin Classics)

by Simon Gathercole

A new translation of the oldest non-canonical Christian gospels, including the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary and the Gospel of Judas

A Penguin Classic

In the early years of Christianity, several groups produced "hidden" or "apocryphal" gospels, alternative versions of the story of Christ. Sometimes these texts complemented the four canonical gospels, sometimes they subverted them and often they were completely different. We hear the young Jesus making live birds from clay, words of wisdom collected by his disciples, details of his trial, gnostic cosmologies, strange angels and the Harrowing of Hell. Often kept secret by their readers and frequently attacked by their detractors, these gospels shine a fascinating light on the early Christian Church and its surprising manifestations.

Copies

How God Became Jesus: The Real Origins of Belief in Jesus' Divine Nature---A Response to Bart D. Ehrman

by Simon Gathercole, Michael F. Bird, Craig A. Evans, Charles E. Hill, Chris Tilling

In his recent book How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher From Galilee historian Bart Ehrman explores a claim that resides at the heart of the Christian faith― that Jesus of Nazareth was, and is, God. According to Ehrman, though, this is not what the earliest disciples believed, nor what Jesus claimed about himself.
The first response book to this latest challenge to Christianity from Ehrman, How God Became Jesus features the work of five internationally recognized biblical scholars. While subjecting his claims to critical scrutiny, they offer a better, historically informed account of why the Galilean preacher from Nazareth came to be hailed as “the Lord Jesus Christ.” Namely, they contend, the exalted place of Jesus in belief and worship is clearly evident in the earliest Christian sources, shortly following his death, and was not simply the invention of the church centuries later.

Copies

No copies available.