Table of Contents

1. Gospel Truths: The Myth of the Lost Gospels 2. Christ's Many Faces: The Survival of the Old Gospels in a Wider Christian World 3. The Isles of the West: How Irish and British Churches Kept Ancient Christian Cultures Alive 4. Old Gospels Never Die: Ancient Gospels That Gave the Medieval Church Its Best-Known Images of Christ 5. Two Marys: How Alternative Gospels Continued to Present the Feminine Face of God 6. The New Old Testament: Tales of Patriarchs and Prophets that Became Christian Gospels 7. Out of the Past: The Heretical Sects That Preserved Ancient Alternative Scriptures for a Thousand Years 8. Beyond the Horizon: Muslim and Jewish Versions of the Earliest Christian Traditions 9. After Darkness, Light: How the Reformation Era Drove the Ancient Gospels from the Churches 10. Scriptures Unlimited? The Place of Alternative Scriptures in Christianity

About the Author

Philip Jenkins is Distinguished Professor of History at Baylor University, where he is based in the Institute for Studies of Religion. The author of The Great and Holy War and Jesus Wars, he divides his time between Texas and Pennsylvania.

Reviews

Books and Culture "Jenkins follows the path of his previous work by unearthing aspects of the church that many (especially in the West) have forgotten or ignored. If one desires to learn more from every age and locale where followers of Jesus (broadly construed) existed and wrote about the meaning of his life, this book is an excellent place to start." Christian Century "The importance of The Many Faces of Christ is its support for the present diversity of belief and practice within Christianity." Times Literary Supplement "Jenkins's style is accessible -- even colloquial... The book is to be highly recommended, not least to those intrigued by sporadic sensationalist media reports of revolutionary 'new' scriptures or contaminated by Dan Brown's conspiracy theories about 'hidden' texts." Weekly Standard "[Jenkins] is a refreshing dissident from the knee-jerk religious liberalism professed by most academics and journalists covering Christianity nowadays...Readers... will find rich rewards and intriguing topics for further conjecture." Kirkus Reviews "More than a well-argued rebuttal against prevailing academic viewpoints, the author also presents a worthwhile companion reference for lay students of Christian history. A worthy broadside aimed at revisionist Christian historians that provides a sorely needed counterpoint to the prevailing and largely unquestioned conventional wisdom regarding early Christian history." Library Journal "Those who are open to a rational discussion of these gospels will find a wealth of information offered here. An important book on a topic often discussed but rarely understood...Jenkins' latest will appeal to anyone seriously interested in the history of the Christian Church and the development of the Bible." Gerard Russell, author of Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms: Journeys Into the Disappearing Religions of the Middle East "This is the scholar's answer to Dan Brown. It is enlightening, well-written and accessible, shedding light on neglected aspects of Christian history, helping to explain many themes in medieval art, and showing the unexpected origins of familiar things. It busts myths elegantly and gives us in their place facts which are just as intriguing."