~ Other Quests ~

 

Religion Quest - A quest for the truth! Some information on lost books pertaining to the Bible, other quests, and information from the Bible that changed over the centuries.


Recommended Reading: Egyptian Origin of Christianity

~ Bookmarks To Lost Books ~
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Where did the name Jehovah come from when God's name was written as a tetragrammaton 'YHWH' and (they think) was pronounced Yahweh. Where does it say in the Bible that it's OK to change God's name? If you go to another country and introduce yourself, you don't normally change your name, do you? I found a website with the answer and placed it in a window for you to read! The URL is: http://www.familybible.org/Teaching/Messianic/Jehovah.htm if you would like to go to the site. There is also a site named PromoteTheTruth.com that gives you a list of names that start with the letter "J" in the current day Bibles. The letter "J" didn't come into existence until the early 17th century.

Click the plus to expand this window and read the explanation--> [-]

Visit: Los Lunas Decalogue Stone to read some interesting information about a stone in Mexico that may predate Jesus Christ. It is said that it is from a lost tribe of Israel when they were still using the tetragrammaton name for God.

What were the names of the people and places in the Bible before the letter "J" was introduced into the alphabet in the 17th century?

A Christmas tradition is to decorate trees with silver and gold.
(Jeremiah 10:1-5) Visit: Is Christmas Christian? or The Plain Truth About Christmas!

Why do the Catholic churches ( and sister churches such as Protestant, Baptist, Methodist, etc.) celebrate the holiday known as Christmas on December 25th and the Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate January 6th, while the Armenian churches celebrate on January 19th? Jesus Christ never said, "Celebrate my birth and pick a day on the calendar." Are we just supposed to accept any date when no one knows the exact date of his birth? Isn't that considered excepting a falsehood (which is of the Devil)?

Why do the churches still teach the ten commandments when Jesus replaced them with two commandments? (Mark 12:29 - 31)

Want to know the future, call a psychic hotline? (Deuteronomy 18:9-12)

If the New Testament is a translation from Greek, why weren't some of the names translated? For example:

  • Elias - Elijah
  • Esaias = Isaiah
  • Jonas = Jonah

If there is no such thing as reincarnation, why was Elijah's spirit in John the Baptist? Is this being confused with the scripture Hebrew 9:27, stating that we only die once? Elijah didn't die in the Old Testament. He died as John the Baptist. (2 King 2:11, Malachi 4:5, Matthew 11:11-14, Matthew 17:10-13, Mark 9:11-13, Mark 6:24-28, Luke 1:17)

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Some religions believe that God is in the place of worship with the members. (Acts 17:24,29)

Why does most of the world represent Jesus Christ as being of European descent when he was a descendent of Solomon? Isn't this excepting a falsehood (which is the Devil's work), if you except it as being true? (Song of Solomon 1:5 - 6, Jeremiah 13:24-25)

There are Christian denominations with statues or the crucifix somewhere in the front of the temple where they worship. Where did the tradition of bowing down and praying in front of a statue or cross originate when the 2nd commandment tells us not to do that? (Exodus 20:4-5)

They say, Eve ate an apple. Who said she ate an apple? It may have been a pomegranate, or a fig, or an orange. Who knows? (Genesis 3:6)

The media tells us that vitamins and herbs are bad for our bodies, only the man made medication is good for us. God didn't think so! (Gen 1:11-13, Gen 9:3, I Timothy 4:1-5) You'd be surprised at some of the herbs and spices that you have in your cabinet or plants and trees in your own yard that are good for healing!

Some say the church is the temple of God. (2 Corinthians 6:16)

In today's society companies are willing to lend money, good credit or bad, expecting to receive a return on the loan. (Luke 6:35)

People will ask others if they have been good. ( Romans 3:22b-23)

Some Christian denominations say you should not read the Bible. Flipping Bible(Revelations 1:3)

Men teach other than what is written and are proud, not knowing, but are able to quote the scriptures, and supposing that gain is godliness.
(1 Timothy 6:3-11)


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~ How Many Were Removed? ~

According to The New Oxford Annotated Bible w/The Apocrypha (Expanded Edition; Revised Standard Version), below are the books that existed and were removed from the Bible at some point and time in history?

Etymologically the word apocrypha means "things that are hidden," but why it was chosen to describe certain books is not clear. According to traditional usage "Apocrypha" has been the designation applied to the fifteen books, or portions of books, listed below. (In many earlier editions of the Apocrypha, the Letter of Jeremiah is incorporated as the final chapter of the Book of Baruch; hence in those editions are fourteen books.)

In addition, the present expanded edition of the The New Oxford Annotated Bible w/The Apocrypha, includes the 3rd and 4th Book of Maccabees and Psalm 151 from Eastern Orthodox Bibles.

I discovered after purchasing a Catholic Version of the Bible that the books marked with an asterick(*), in the table below are included either as separate books or amalgamated into the appropriate books in the Catholic Version.

~ The Apocrypha ~
1 Esdras 2 Esdras
* Tobit * Judith
* Additions to the Book of Esther * Wisdom of Solomon
* Eccelesiasticus
or
Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach
* Baruch
Letter of Jeremiah * Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men
* Susanna * Bel and the Dragon
Prayer of Manasseh * 1 Macabees
* 2 Maccabees 3 Maccabees
4 Maccabees Psalm 151

 

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~ Are There Other Books? ~

The following books were either removed from the scriptures or are relative to the scriptures and were found later in another location. Whether they are authorized by a church is not my question pertaining to these books. The fact is that they relate in some way to scriptures in the Old or New Testament of the King James Version of the Bible. With the Holy Spirit leading the way, I pray that distinguishing the information from truth, myth, or fable will be established during my lifetime. (Psalms 43:3)

During the time spent reading The New Oxford Annotated Bible w/The Apocrypha (Expanded Edition; Revised Standard Version), I found a section about other apocryphal and pseudepigraphical literature. The Bible states that many other Jewish and Jewish-Christian works have survived from the period between about 200BC to about 200AD. Since most of these profess to have been written by ancient worthies of Israel, who lived long before the books were actually composed, they are generally called "pseudepigrapha": It is customary to classify these writings as Palestinian pseudepigrapha (those composed in Hebrew or Aramaic) and Alexandrian pseudepigrapha (those composed in Greek).

I began searching for The Book of Jubilees, The Psalms of Solomon, The Dead Sea Scrolls, and The Book of Enoch (also called Secrets of Enoch, 1 Enoch or Ethiopic Enoch), and found many other books relative to the Bible. During my online research I found a site with some of the books that can be read while on the web. The names of the books I found are listed below along with others that I learned about through reading or Bible study classes with the different Christian denominations. The authors and publishers of the books I found can be found on the "Links" page of this web site.

 

~ The Lost Books of the Bible ~
~ (writings of the Apostolic Fathers) ~
Gospel of the Birth of Mary The Protevangelion
First Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ Thomas' Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ
Christ & Abargus Nicodemus
Apostles' Creed Laodiceans
Paul and Seneca Paul and Thecla
1 Clement 2 Clement
Barnabus Ignatius to the Ephesians
Ignatius to the Magnesians Ignatius to the Trallians
Ignatius to the Romans Ignatius to the Philadelphians
Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans Ignatius to the Polycarp
Polycarp to the Philippians Hermas Visions
Hermas Commands Hermas Similitudes
Letters of Herod & Pilate Last Gospel of Peter

 

~ The Books of Jubilees ~
~ (Forgotten Books of Eden) ~
1 Adam & Eve 2 Adam & Eve
Secrets of Enoch Psalms of Solomon
Odes of Solomon Letter of Aristeas
Story of Ahikar Testament of Reuben
Testament of Simeon Testament of Levi
Testament of Judah Testament of Issachar
Testament of Zebulin Testament of Dan
Testament of Naphtali Testament of Gad
Testament of Asher Testament of Joseph
Testament of Benjamin

 

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The book that contains the information on the two tables above, also has two tables! One lists all of the apocryphal pieces mentioned by writers in the first four centuries of Christ. The other lists authors of the first four centuries, whose writings contain catalogues of the books of the New Testament, and some with the Old Testament.

~ The Nag Hammadi Library ~
Prayer of Apostle Paul Apocryphon of James
Gospel of Truth Treatise on the Resurrection
Tripartite Tractate Apocryphon of John
Gospel of Thomas Gospel of Philip
Hypostasis of the Archons On the Origin of the World
Exegesis on the Soul Thomas the Contender
Gospel of the Egyptians Eugnostos the Blessed and the Sophia of Jesus Christ
Dialogue of the Saviour Apocalypse of Paul
First Apocalypse of James Second Apocalypse of James
Apocalypse of Adam Acts of Peter & the Twelve Apostles
The Thunder, Perfect Mind Authoriatative Teaching
Concept of Our Great Power Plato, Republic
Discourse on the Eighth & Ninth Prayer of Thanksgiving & Scribal Note
Asclepius Praphrase of Shem
Second Treatise of the Great Seth Apocalypse of Peter
Teachings of Silvanus Three Steles of Seth
Zostrianos Letter of Peter to Philip
Melchizedek Thought of Norea
Testimony of Truth Marsanes
Interpretation of Knowledge A Valentinian Exposition, w/On the Anointing, On Baptism A & B, and On the Eucharist A & B
Allogenes Hypsiphrone
Sentences of Sextus Fragments
Trimorphic Protennoia Gospel of Mary
Act of Peter

 

~ The Book of Mormon ~
First Nephi Second Nephi
Jacob Enos
Jarom Omni
Words of Mormon Mosiah
Alma Helaman
Third Nephi Fourth Nephi
Mormon Ether
Moroni

I have yet to purchase a book about the Dead Sea Scrolls or by Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews. I was informed that the Book of Jasher (Joshua 10:13, 2 Samuel 1:18) can be found in some book stores. It is online for reading or downloading.

 

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