Lost scripture

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This page is based on an answer to a question submitted to the FAIR web site, or a frequently asked question.

Contents 1 Question 2 Answer 2.1 Examples of "lost scripture" 2.2 Examples of canonical differences among Bibles 2.3 Implications for inerrancy and sufficiency doctrine of the Bible 3 Conclusion 4 Endnotes 5 Further reading 5.1 FAIR wiki articles 5.2 FAIR web site 5.3 External links 5.4 Printed material

Question

I've heard about "lost scripture" mentioned in the Bible. What is this about, and what implications does it have for the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy and sufficiency?

Answer

So called "lost scripture" is in reference to writings mentioned or cited within the present Biblical record, but which are not in the Bible itself. Some of these writings are known from other sources, and some are not.

Examples of "lost scripture"

Lost writing	Biblical citation to the lost writing
Book of the Wars of the Lord	Num. 21:14
Book of Jasher	Josh. 10:13, 2_Sam. 1:18
Book of the Acts of Solomon	1_Kings 11:41
Book of Samuel the Seer	1_Chron. 29:29
Book of Gad the Seer	1_Chron. 29:29
Book of Nathan the Prophet	1_Chron. 29:29, 2_Chron. 9:29
Prophecy of of Ahijah	2_Chron. 9:29
Visions of Iddo the Seer	2_Chron. 9:29, 2_Chron. 12:15, 2_Chron. 13:22
Book of Shemaiah	2_Chron. 12:15
Book of Jehu	2_Chron. 20:34
Sayings of the Seers	2_Chron. 33:19
lament for Josiah	2_Chron. 35:25
Paul's epistle to Corinthians before our "1 Corinthians"	1_Cor. 5:9
Paul's possible earlier Ephesians epistle	Eph. 3:3
Paul's epistle to Church at Laodicea	Col. 4:16
1 Enoch 1:19 and The Assumption of Moses	Jude 1:14-15
1 Enoch	"It influenced Matthew, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, Hebrews, 1 John, Jude (which quotes it directly) and Revelation (with numerous points of contact)…in molding New Testament doctrines concerning the nature of the Messiah, the Son of Man, the messianic kingdom, demonology, the future, resurrection, the final judgment, the whole eschatological theater, and symbolism."[1]

Examples of canonical differences among Bibles

The picture is further complicated by the fact that Christians have not always agreed on the "canon"—that is, they have not always agreed upon which writings were "scripture" and which were not.

Some examples of these variations:

Christian Person or Group	Difference in canon from Protestant Bible (eg KJV)
Catholics	Apocrypha is canonical
Orthodox	Apocrypha is canonical
Clement of Alexanderia (A.D. 200)	Included in canon: Epistle of Barnabas Epistle of Clement The Preaching of Peter[2]
Roman Christians (circa A.D. 200)	Included in canon: Revelation of Peter Wisdom of Solomon Excluded from canon: Hebrews 1 Peter 2 Peter 3 John[3]
Origen (date)	Included in canon: Epistle of Barnabas Shepherd of Hermas[4] Excluded from canon: James Jude 2 John Those disputed by Rome(see above)[5]
Syriac Peshitta	Excluded from the canon: 2 Peter 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation of St. John[6]
Armenian Church	Included in canon: 3 Corinthians Excluded from canon: Revelation of St. John prior to 12th century[7]
Ethiopian Church	Included in canon: Sinodos Clement Book of the Covenant Didascalia[8]
Martin Luther	Considered Epistle of James "a right strawy epistle."[9] Also didn't agree with Sermon on the Mount because didn't match his "grace only" theology.

Implications for inerrancy and sufficiency doctrine of the Bible

All these canons cannot be correct. Why must we accept that the critic's Bible is complete and inerrant? By what authority is this declared? Such an authority would have to be outside the Bible, thus demonstrating that there is some other source for the Word of God besides the Bible.

Furthermore, one should remember that Biblical writers were not aware of the Bible canon, because the Bible was not compiled until centuries later. Thus, Biblical writers cannot have referred to completeness and sufficiency of the canon, because the canon did not exist.

Conclusion

1. Biblical writers considered writings not in the present canon to be scriptural writings.
2. Christian groups do not agree on what constitutes the Biblical canon—any claim that the canon is closed, complete, and sufficient must answer:

a) which canon?

b) what establishes this canon as authoritative and not some other?

3. Differences in canon between Christian groups and Biblical authors' clear belief in the scriptural status of other non-Biblical texts argue against a coherent doctrine of Biblical sufficiency and inerrancy drawn from the Bible itself. Such a claim must come from outside the Bible.

Endnotes

1. [back]  E. Isaac, "1 (Ethiopic Apocalypse of) Enoch," in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, ed. J. H. Charlesworth, 2 vols, (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1983), 1:10; cited in Daniel C. Peterson and Stephen D. Ricks, "Comparing LDS Beliefs with First-Century Christianity, (Provo, Utah: FARMS, no date). off-site
2. [back]  Daniel C. Peterson and Stephen D. Ricks, "Comparing LDS Beliefs with First-Century Christianity, (Provo, Utah: FARMS, no date). off-site
3. [back]  Mike Ash, "Is the Bible Complete?": 1. PDF link
4. [back]  Daniel C. Peterson and Stephen D. Ricks, "Comparing LDS Beliefs with First-Century Christianity, (Provo, Utah: FARMS, no date). off-site; citing Clyde L. Manschreck, A History of Christianity in the World, 2d. ed. (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1985), 52.
5. [back]  Mike Ash, "Is the Bible Complete?": 1. PDF link
6. [back]  William J. Hamblin and Daniel C. Peterson, "The Evangelical Is Our Brother (Review of How Wide the Divide? A Mormon and an Evangelical in Conversation)," FARMS Review of Books 11/2 (1999): 178–209. off-site PDF link; citing Kurt Aland, Nestle-Aland Greek-English New Testament, 5th ed. (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1990), 769–75; see also Craig A. Evans, Noncanonical Writings and New Testament Interpretation (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1992), 190–219, who provides almost 1,500 quotations, allusions, and parallels between noncanonical sources and the New Testament.
7. [back] William J. Hamblin and Daniel C. Peterson, "The Evangelical Is Our Brother (Review of How Wide the Divide? A Mormon and an Evangelical in Conversation)," FARMS Review of Books 11/2 (1999): 178–209. off-site PDF link
8. [back] William J. Hamblin and Daniel C. Peterson, "The Evangelical Is Our Brother (Review of How Wide the Divide? A Mormon and an Evangelical in Conversation)," FARMS Review of Books 11/2 (1999): 178–209. off-site PDF link
9. [back]  Timothy George, "'A Right Strawy Epistle': Reformation Perspectives on James," The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology (Fall 2000), 20–31. PDF link

Further reading

FAIR wiki articles

Holy Bible wiki articles

• Bible basics
• "Adding to" or "taking away" from the Bible
• Archeology and the Bible
• Being "born again"—what does the Bible mean?
• Completeness and sufficiency
• Cosmology of the Bible
• Flood, global or local
• Genealogy, condemnation of
• Hebrews 7 and the Aaronic Priesthood
• Inerrancy and the Bible
• Isaiah, multiple authors of
• Lost scripture
• Open canon vs. closed canon
• Noah's flood / Noachian deluge
• Textual criticism
• Translations

FAIR web site

FAIR Holy Bible materials

• FAIR Topical Guide: Biblical completeness FAIR link
  
• FAIR Topical Guide: Biblical inerrancy FAIR link
  
• FAIR Topical Guide: LDS view of the Bible FAIR link
  
• John A. Tvedtnes, "The Bible Code and Biblical Inerrancy," (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR) FAIR link

External links

On-line Holy Bible materials

• Alma Allred, "Coin of the Realm: Beware of Specious Specie (Review of: "Scripture," In The Counterfeit Gospel of Momonism)," FARMS Review of Books 12/1 (2000): 137–174. off-site PDF link
• Danel W. Bachman, "The Other Side of the Coin: A Source Review of Norman Geisler's Chapter (Review of: "Scripture," In The Conterfeit Gospel of Momonism)," FARMS Review of Books 12/1 (2000): 175–214. off-site PDF link
• John Gee, "The Old Testament as Reliable History, Review of On the Reliability of the Old Testament by Kenneth A. Kitchen," FARMS Review 18/1 (2006): 425–430. off-site PDF link wiki
• William J. Hamblin and Daniel C. Peterson, "The Evangelical Is Our Brother (Review of How Wide the Divide? A Mormon and an Evangelical in Conversation)," FARMS Review of Books 11/2 (1999): 178–209. off-site PDF link
• Blake T. Ostler, "Bridging the Gulf (Review of How Wide the Divide? A Mormon and an Evangelical in Conversation)," FARMS Review of Books 11/2 (1999): 103–177. off-site PDF link
• Daniel C. Peterson and Stephen D. Ricks, "Comparing LDS Beliefs with First-Century Christianity, (Provo, Utah: FARMS, no date). off-site
• Stephen E. Robinson, Are Mormons Christians? (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1993), {{{start}}}–{{{end}}}. off-site FAIR link GospeLink off-site
• John A. Tvdtnes and Matthew Roper, "'A Bible! A Bible!' The Canon and Ongoing Revelation (Review of Luke P. Wilson's "Lost Books & Latter-Day Revelation: A Response to Mormon Views of the New Testament Canon") off-site

Printed material

Holy Bible print materials

• Alan Denison & D.L. Barksdale, Guess Who Wants To Have You For Lunch?, 2nd edition, (Redding, California: FAIR, 2002[1999]), 37–57. ISBN 1893036057. FAIR link
• Emanuel Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, 2nd Rev edition (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 2001[1999]), 1. ISBN {{{isbn}}}.
• Leon Vaganay and Christian-Bernard Amphoux, An Introduction to New Testament Criticism, 2nd ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), 1. ISBN {{{isbn}}}.