Many of the found religious books were left out by the Catholic Church back in the 18th and 19th centuries due to their controversial versions that do not align with Jesus’ teaching.
That being said, it’s still very important to gain a different perspective and obtain knowledge about our religion from other sources, such as the rejected books and gospels.
The List of 75 Books Removed or Excluded from the Bible
- The Protevangelion
- The Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ
- The Infancy Gospel of Thomas
- The Epistles of Jesus Christ and Abgarus King of Edessa
- The Gospel of Nicodemus (Acts of Pilate)
- The Apostles’ Creed (throughout history)
- The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Laodiceans
- The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to Seneca, with Seneca’s to Paul
- The Acts of Paul and Thecla
- The Epistle of Clement
- The Second Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
- The Epistle of Barnabas
- The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians
- The Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians
- The Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians
- The Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans
- The Epistle of Ignatius to the Philadelphians
- The Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrneans
- The Epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp
- The Shepherd of Hermas (Visions, Commands, and Similitudes)
- Letter of Herod To Pilate the Governor
- Letter of Pilate to Herod
- The Lost Gospel of Peter
- The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians
- Book of Enoch 1
- Book of Enoch 2 (known as The Secrets of Enoch
- Enoch 3
- Book of Esdras 1
- Book of Esdras 2
- Book of Maccabees 1
- Book of Maccabees 2
- Book of Maccabees 3
- Book of Maccabees 4
- Book of Maccabees 5
- Book of Tobit
- Book of Jasher
- Book of Judith
- Book of Esther
- Book of Ecclesiasticus / Sirach
- Book of Jubilees
- Book of Baruch 1
- Book of Barucu 2
- Book of Baruch 3
- Book of The Shepherd of Hermas
- Book of Wisdom / Wisdom of Solomon
- Book of The Psalms of Solomon
- Book of The Odes of Solomon
- Book of Giants
- Book of Adam and Eve 1
- The Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan
- The Gospel of James / The Protevangelion
- The Gospel of Peter
- The Gospel of Thomas
- The Gospel of Nicodemus / Acts of Pilate
- The Syriac Infancy Gospel / Infancy of Jesus Christ
- The Epistles of Jesus Christ and Abgarus, King of Edessa
- The Epistle of Aristeas
- The Epistle of Jeremiah
- The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Laodiceans
- The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to Seneca
- The Epistle of Pilate to Herod
- Assumption of Moses
- Apocalypse of Moses
- Testament of Abraham
- Apocalypse of Abraham
- Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
- The Acts of Paul
- The Acts of Paul and Thecla
- The Apostles Creed
- Psalm 151
- Story of Susanna*
- Story of Bel and The Dragon*
- Story of Ahikar*
- The Prayer of Azariah and the Songs of the Three Holy Children*
- Prayer of Manasseh
*missing texts/books from the Gospel of Daniel
Radically different from the Cannon Books of the Bible
The finding of the gospels of Thomas, Mary and Phillip in 1945 is, to this day, considered one of the most important discoveries when it comes to Christianity.
These texts provide a drastically different look on Jesus’ teaching and his life, which many frown upon.
Instead of being depicted as a suffering human, these books mainly describe Jesus as a divine creature whose teaching is about immortality.
Types of Books and Texts in the Bible
Two basic types of Christian books (both those included and excluded from the Bible) are the apocryphal and pseudepigraphal texts.
The meaning of the word Apocrypha is “hidden.”
In other words, some information about them still remains unknown.
Many of these works have been incorporated into Bibles for specific religious groups, such as Catholics or Protestants.
Some believe these works were written between the time of the writing of the Old Testament and the New Testament.
On the other hand, Pseudepigrapha is a term that refers to a false claim of authorship.
In other words, a specific text might claim to have been written by Peter, the disciple, but that claim was thought to be false.
Many of the excluded books that are on the list are considered to be pseudepigraphal texts.
Most Known Lost Books of the Bible
As we successfully covered the full list of lost, removed or generally excluded books and stories from the official Bible, here are some of the well-known ‘lost’ books of the Bible, as well as why they are not part of the official Bible.
The Protevangelion
The Protevangelion is a gospel that stuck around as part of the Bible for centuries before being removed in the late 1800s.
It tells the story of the early life of Jesus Christ, and it was written by an unknown author who claimed to have been Jesus’ disciple.
Despite the storyline matching the rest of the Bible, this book was excluded because many were doubtful of its origin (was he really Jesus’ disciple?).
The Apocalypse of Peter
The Apocalypse of Peter / The Second Apocalypse of James is one of many apocryphal texts written in Greek and Coptic, and it tells the story of death and descent into hell by Saint Peter.
Despite the fact that these scripts go back as far as 140 CE, the storyline of this text was quite controversial.
Namely, the book sees Simon not as a martyr, but rather as Satan’s representative sent to Peter in order to test him, ultimately sending Peter to Hell.
Not a very Saint-ish story, right?
The Gospel of Mary
The Gospel of Mary Magdalene is a Gnostic text that was written in Greek sometime in the second century AD.
The book depicts Jesus’ teaching, and it includes his speech to his disciples about the resurrection and eternal life.
Just like many other books that were banned due to their controversies, the Gospel of Mary was also removed because Christian Institutions considered the text to be heretical.
The Infancy Gospel of Thomas
The Infancy Gospel of Thomas was also once included in the Bible.
The Infancy Gospel of Thomas tells a story about the childhood of Jesus Christ, but in a rather mystical, fairytale-like manner.
Due to way too many miracles going on in the text, many were worried that this book would lead people astray from Christianity because it’s unrealistic.