In the year that King Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.
Above him stood the seraphim; each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory."
And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost: for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!"
Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having in his hand a burning coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar.
And he touched my mouth, and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven."
And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, "Here I am! Send me."
(Isaiah 6:1-8, RSV)
Although not included in the canonical New Testament, the "The New Testament Apocrypha" (sometimes erroneously called "The Lost Books of the Bible") is a body of literature authored by notable Christians in the Apostolic Age or in the first few centuries after. This study is a revision of the ancient manuscripts into modern English with a commentary and correlation of Bible verses on the same subjects.
This study will interest the following types of readers:
INTRODUCTION TO THIS STUDY -- and this should be read, for it answers many questions asked by email --- presents the historical circumstances of the development of the Bible as we have it today by explaining the origin and significance of the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament and the books collectively known as the OT Apocrypha) and the profound influence of Greek thought on the Jews and the first Christians during the period between the Testaments.
The difficult topics of inspiration
and canonicity are expounded, along with the Early
Church Fathers' catalogs of which books of our present New
Testament they accepted as authoritative and which they
considered dubious.
Click here to read INTRODUCTION TO THIS STUDY
This is followed by the text and commentaries on the following manuscripts (filesize is indicated in case you wish to use your browser to save a file to your hard disk in HTML format for viewing offline on your browser; or you can select the entire text with Control-A and copy it with Control-C, then open a file in your word processor and pasting it there with Control-V for offline reading):
Gospel of the Birth of Mary
Protevangelion of James
First Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ (Part One)
First Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ (Part 2)
Second Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ According to Thomas
Gospel of Nicodemus, formerly called The Acts of Pilate (Part One)
Gospel of Nicodemus, formerly called The Acts of Pilate (Part Two)
The Gospel According to Peter
The Acts of Paul and Thecla
First Book of the Shepherd of Hermas: Visions
Second Book of the Shepherd of Hermas: Commands
Third Book of the Shepherd of Hermas: Similitudes (Part One)
Third Book of the Shepherd of Hermas: Similitudes (Part Two)
The Didache, or Teaching of the Apostles
Seraphim's Tips on Bible Interpretation
Lifespans of Famous Christians
Your comments or feedback on The Seraphim Files are welcome.