Lost New Testament

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Em2s66Mo1M

Study Guide: Lost New Testament — Centre Place

Lecture Title: Lost New Testament

Presenter: John Hamer, Toronto Centre Place

Producer & Chat Moderator: Leandro Palacios

Original Livestream Date: July 15, 2020

Video Reference: YouTube Stream

Transcript Source: Transcript Lost New Testament - Centre Place`

Integrated Knowledge Base: Glossary Knowledgebase

Source Tag: 200715

Part 1: Comprehensive Lecture Outline & Semantic Section Headings

(00:00:26) Welcome, Mission & Lecture Preview: Lost New Testament and Manichaeism

John Hamer introduces the History, Theology, and Philosophy lecture series hosted by Toronto Centre Place. He shares the community mission: inviting everyone into community, continually learning and growing, abolishing poverty and needless suffering, promoting peace and justice, and living life meaningfully together. He notes upcoming programming on Manichaeism—the major ancient world religion founded by the prophet Mani that spread from Europe to China before becoming the only major world religion to go extinct. Turning to the evening's topic, 'Lost New Testament,' Hamer addresses how the Christian Bible came into existence.

(00:02:10) The Popular Bible Fallacy vs. The 27-Book New Testament Architecture

Hamer challenges the popular devotional assumption that the Bible dropped from heaven as a single, uniform book written front-to-back by one author in Shakespearean English. In historical reality, the New Testament is an anthology of 27 distinct Greek texts written by different authors across generations. The canonical architecture comprises:

• 4 Narrative Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
• 1 Historical Book of Acts: Recounting the expansion of early Christianity in the Roman Empire.
• 21 Epistles: Letters primarily by Paul or written pseudonymously in Paul's name, along with Catholic/General epistles.
• 1 Apocalypse: The Book of Revelation.
• Hamer highlights that numerous other early Christian writings sharing these exact genres existed, far outnumbering the texts that made it into the canon.

(00:06:56) The First Christian Canon: Marcion of Sinope (c. 140 CE)

Hamer clarifies that the canon was not decided by a vote at the Council of Nicaea (325 CE). Instead, the earliest known formal Christian canon was assembled around 140 CE by Marcion of Sinope, a radical Pauline Christian from Pontus. Marcion rejected the Hebrew Bible and all Jewish roots of Christianity, viewing the Old Testament God as a wrathful, inferior creator. He compiled an exclusive 11-book canon containing only an edited version of the Gospel of Luke and 10 letters of Paul. Although later rejected as a heretic, Marcion's radical move spurred proto-orthodox church leaders to construct their own authoritative lists of scripture.

(00:09:06) Key Historical Milestones: Athanasius (367 CE), Augustine's Councils, and Jerome's Vulgate

The formation of the New Testament was a gradual, decentralized historical process spanning centuries:

• 367 CE: Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria writes his 39th Festal Letter, providing the earliest surviving list matching the exact 27 books of the modern New Testament.
• Late 4th Century: Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, presides over North African church synods (Hippo and Carthage), where church councils formally vote on and ratify the 27-book canon.
• The Latin Vulgate: Pope Damasus I commissions Saint Jerome to translate the Greek scriptures into the common Latin vernacular (the Vulgate), establishing the fixed Western canon.
• The Greek East: Eastern churches took another century to reach consensus, with lasting skepticism over the Book of Revelation.

(00:12:18) Chronological Timeline of Composition: Canonical vs. Non-Canonical Texts

The 27 canonical books were composed between approximately 50 CE and the early 2nd century:

• 50s CE: Paul's authentic letters (1 Thessalonians, Galatians, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Romans, Philippians, Philemon) represent the earliest surviving Christian texts.
• 70–100 CE: The narrative gospels (Mark c. 70 CE, Matthew and Luke c. 80–90 CE, John c. 90–100 CE) and the Book of Acts.
• Late 1st to Early 2nd Century: Pseudepigraphal letters (the Pastorals) and Revelation.
• Concurrently, dozens of non-canonical scripture-like works continued to be produced and read throughout the 2nd century.

(00:13:40) The Pauline Corpus: Authentic Epistles, Disputed Letters, Canonical Pseudepigrapha, and Lost Correspondence

Hamer analyzes the categorization of letters attributed to the Apostle Paul:

1. Undisputed Authentic Letters: Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, Philemon.
2. Disputed Letters: Colossians, 2 Thessalonians, Ephesians.
3. Canonical Pseudepigrapha (Forged in Paul's Name): 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus.
4. Non-Canonical Forgeries: The Acts of Paul and Thecla, Apocalypse of Paul, 3rd Corinthians, and the Correspondence of Paul and Seneca.
5. Lost Authentic Letters: 'Zero Corinthians' (1 Cor 5:9, referencing a lost prior letter) and the authentic Letter to the Laodiceans (Col 4:16).

(00:16:03) Early Patristic Criteria for Canonical Inclusion

Early church leaders evaluated candidate scriptures using four practical criteria:

1. Antiquity: Originating in the apostolic age (the oldest surviving texts).
2. Apostolicity: Attributed to an apostle or an immediate companion of an apostle (e.g., Peter, John, Matthew, Mark, Luke).
3. Liturgical Usage & Catholicity: Broad, continuous reading across major urban Christian communities.
4. Orthodoxy: Doctrinal alignment with the emerging Proto-Orthodox consensus.

(00:20:07) Criteria for Exclusion: Lack of Apostolic Authority, Extinct Audiences, Heretical Doctrines, and Obvious Forgeries

Books were excluded from the canon due to specific vulnerabilities:

• Lack of claimed apostolic authorship (e.g., the letters of Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp, and the Shepherd of Hermas).
• Dead-end audiences (works composed for Jewish-Christian groups like the Ebionites and Nazarenes, who dwindled and went extinct).
• Heretical Christologies: Docetism (denying Christ's physical flesh and suffering), Adoptionism (Jesus adopted as God's Son at baptism), and Gnosticism (secret dualistic knowledge).
• Fanciful, folklore tales (the childhood wonders of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas).
• Transparent forgeries (the letters of Paul to Seneca).

(00:22:56) The Contentious Status of the Apocalypse of John (Book of Revelation)

The Book of Revelation was the last and most fiercely contested book admitted to the New Testament:

• Authorship & Style: Its rough, grammatically eccentric Greek differed sharply from the refined Greek of the Gospel and Epistles of John.
• Association with Montanism: Embraced by the Montanists (the New Prophecy), an apocalyptic movement that fled to the wilderness awaiting the imminent descent of the New Jerusalem.
• Lingering Skepticism: Eastern churches hesitated for centuries, and Protestant reformer Martin Luther initially doubted its apostolic value before reinterpreting it allegorically.

(00:25:31) A Five-Fold Typology of Lost Early Christian Literature

Hamer categorizes the non-canonical literature of early Christianity into five types:

1. Completely Lost Texts: Known only by name (e.g., Paul’s prior letter in 1 Cor 5:9, authentic Laodiceans).
2. Texts Known Only in Quotation: Fragmentary citations preserved in patristic heresy refutations (e.g., Gospel of the Hebrews, Gospel of the Ebionites, Gospel of the Nazarenes).
3. Absorbed and Reconstructed Texts: Free-floating early sources incorporated into surviving books (e.g., Sayings Gospel Q, Signs Source in John).
4. Buried and Recovered Manuscripts: Ancient texts discovered in modern archaeology (e.g., Nag Hammadi library, Gospel of Thomas, Didache).
5. Omitted but Continuously Preserved Texts: Popular edifying works that remained in circulation but outside liturgical canon (e.g., Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Acts of Paul and Thecla, Shepherd of Hermas).

(00:30:47) Category 2 Deep Dive: The Lost Gospel of the Hebrews

Composed in Greek in Egypt for Jewish Christians, this substantial text is quoted by Cyril of Jerusalem, Jerome, Origen, and Clement of Alexandria:

• The Holy Spirit as Heavenly Mother: Jesus says, 'Just now my Mother, the Holy Spirit, took me by one of my hairs and brought me to the great mountain Tabor' (reflecting the feminine gender of Hebrew Ruach).
• Unique Baptismal Theophany: The entire fountain of the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus, resting upon him as her firstborn Son.
• Incarnation of Archangel Michael: Cyril records that Christ was entrusted to Michael, who was incarnated on earth as Mary.

(00:35:01) Category 3 Deep Dive: The Sayings Gospel Q and the Synoptic Problem

The Two-Source Hypothesis explains the literary relationship among the synoptics: Mark was written first (c. 70 CE), and both Matthew and Luke independently drew upon Mark and a shared collection of approximately 250 verses of Jesus's sayings (Q, from German Quelle). Because Matthew and Luke incorporated virtually all of Q into their texts, independent copying of Q ceased, leaving it to be reconstructed by 19th- and 20th-century scholars.

(00:37:34) Category 4 Deep Dive: The Gospel of Thomas and Nag Hammadi (1945)

Discovered in 1945 in Upper Egypt near Nag Hammadi in an earthenware jar containing 13 leather-bound Coptic codices:

• Genre: A pure sayings gospel containing 114 secret logia attributed to Didymos Judas Thomas, completely lacking narrative, miracles, or passion/resurrection accounts.
• Composite Character: Combines very early wisdom aphorisms closely paralleling Q and the synoptics with later 2nd-century Gnostic interpretations emphasizing interior enlightenment.

(00:50:13) Category 4 Deep Dive: The Didache (Teaching of the Twelve Apostles)

Discovered in 1873 by Metropolitan Philotheos Bryennios in the Codex Hierosolymitanus in Istanbul. Written in Syria in the late 1st or early 2nd century, the Didache provides an invaluable window into primitive church life:

• The Two Ways: The ethical Way of Life versus the Way of Death.
• Baptism: Preferred in living (running) cold water, or pouring water three times over the head.
• Primitive Eucharist: Thanksgiving prayers over the broken bread and the vine of David, lacking sacrificial atonement language.
• Traveling Apostles and Prophets: Guidelines for discerning authentic charismatic leaders from charlatans (false prophets stay more than two days or ask for money).

(00:55:27) Category 5 Deep Dive: The Acts of Paul and Thecla & The Infancy Gospel of Thomas

Examining popular non-canonical narratives cherished by ordinary believers:

• The Acts of Paul and Thecla: A 2nd-century romantic adventure preaching extreme chastity and asceticism. Thecla of Iconium converts to Paul's message, breaks her engagement, survives burning at the stake, tames wild beasts in the Antioch arena, baptizes herself in a pool of aggressive seals, and is commissioned by Paul to preach and teach as a female apostle.
• The Infancy Gospel of Thomas: Folkloric tales of Jesus between ages 5 and 12 performing petulant miracles in Nazareth (fashioning clay sparrows on the Sabbath and making them fly, striking playmates and teachers dead when angered, and resurrecting them), stories that later influenced the Quran (Surahs 3 and 5).

(01:03:03) Live Audience Q&A Session with John Hamer & Leandro Palacios

John Hamer responds to audience inquiries from the live chat:

• Thomas vs. Q: Explaining why the Gospel of Thomas is distinct from Q (Q contains apocalyptic Son of Man material and was absorbed into Matthew/Luke; Thomas has Gnostic/wisdom layers).
• Exclusion of the Gospel of Mary: Late 2nd-century Gnostic provenance and conflict over female apostolic authority.
• Sacred Texts and Group Identity: How emerging religious communities create foundational scriptures (analogous to the Book of Mormon in early Mormonism).
• Debunking the Nicaea Myth: Confirming that Constantine and Nicaea did not establish or vote on the biblical canon.
• Divergent Global Canons: The broader canon of the Ethiopic Orthodox Church (including Enoch and Jubilees) and the historical Syriac Peshitta omitting Revelation.

Part 2: The 13 Standardized Thematic Glossaries

Glossary 1: Archaeological Sites & Epigraphy

Glossary 2: Bible Passages

Glossary 3: Books Mentioned (Canonical & Extra-Biblical)

Glossary 4: Chronology & Historical Events

Glossary 5: Geographic Locations

Glossary 6: Graphics, Charts, Maps & Timelines

Glossary 7: Linguistics Terms

Glossary 8: Non-English & Ancient Words

Glossary 9: People Named

Glossary 10: Philosophical Concepts & Theodicy

Glossary 11: Previous Lectures or Episodes

Glossary 12: Religious Studies Terms

Glossary 13: Scientific & Natural Philosophy Terms