Objection: The Christians have lost 11 parts of the Gospel which were attributed to Christ. They have also lost nine letters from John, two from Andrew, Mathew, Philip and one from James; accounts of the Gospel by Bartolomew, Thomas, James and Matthews and some acts of Christ's apostles-four of Thomas and two of Matthew. There is another collection of books which the Christians also lost; there are attributed to authors whose names we cannot find anywhere.
Answer:
All of the Church authorities living in Asia Minor, Africa, and Europe used quotations from the Bible in their writings. They relied on the Bible when debating or arguing with their adversaries.
All Christians recited the inspired Holy Scriptures for their worship in churches, just as the Jews relied on the Torah in their synagogues. Consider the following words of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Colossians: "Now when this epistle is read among you, see that it is read also in the church of the Laodiceans and that you likewise read the epistle from Laodicea" (Colossians 4:16). Moreover, at the beginning of the second century Justin Martyr that Christians from the towns and villages were in the habit of meeting on Sunday for worship and that during their meetings they recited the letters of the apostles and the words of the prophets. Tertullian mentioned that the Christians met to read their scared writings and sing songs on Sunday.
The inspired letters of the apostles and disciples of Christ were translated into many languages. Doctrinal expositions and interpretations were based on them; this is the distinguishing mark of the inspired Scriptures-a quality that does not characterize the spurious Apocryphal books mentioned by the objector.
Interestingly, the enemies of the Christian Church have always quoted from the inspired Bible in their attacks against Believers. They never quoted from the Apocryphal books, for it was known that the Christians did not include them in the Bible. Some of these fabrications had begun to circulate toward the end of the second century and most of them during the third. But these were promptly rejected and disowned. Let us examine some of the Apocryphal books:
A) The Epistle of Abhar Emir al-Raha or the Epistle of Jesus Christ. No one had heard of either of these until the fourth century when Eusebius exposed them.
B) The Epistle of Paul to Laodicea. The scholar Jones said that it was contrived by a monk prior to the Reformation and that it was based on some verses from Paul's genuine epistles; thus, it is of modern origin and was not written in Greek, as were Paul's manuscripts.
C) The Six Letters to Seneca and his replies. These were not heard of until the fourth century. Both Jerome and Augustine mentioned them, warning that they were forged.
D) The Gospel of the Birth of Mary, from the third century. It was upheld by heretics, is full of contradictory statements and resembles the Gospel of James whose author was a Greek Jew.
E) The Two Gospels of "The Childhood of Christ." attributed to Thomas. These were believed in by the Marcionites in the second century. The Koran has taken some of the stories of Christ's childhood from them.
F) The Gospel of Nicodemus, also called the "The Acts of Pilate," which was forged by Lucius Charinus at the beginning of the fourth century. This man achieved fame as the forger of the "Acts of Peter, Paul, Andrew" as well as of other disciples of Christ.
G) The Doctrines of the Apostles. This work was named as such not because the disciples wrote it, but because it was made up their beliefs and the saying of Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem, in the fourth century.
H) The Acts of Paul and Tekla. This was written by a Christian priest, in admiration of the Apostle Paul, around the beginning of the second century.
The majority of the titles which the objector mentioned are nonexistent. They appeared after true Christianity was established and had spread throughout the world. However, some ancient Christian authorities referred to these books when they debated with antagonists. They wanted to show them that they were well-informed and familiar with all that pertained to religion. Origen said: "The Christian churches uphold four gospels only. As for the heretics, they have many gospels, such as the Gospel of the Egyptians and of Thomas. We read them so that we will not be accused of ignorance and because those who uphold them imagine that they possess great knowledge." Ambrose said, "We read them not out of a desire to accept them but to know their contents, for we categorically reject them."
