WI: Adding To The Canon

Me with a POD to shake up your Sunday School classes:

Which book Old or New Testament (that either got consigned to the Apocrypha, or indexed in the forbidden books, or thrown on the rubbish heap) if included in the Biblical canon (Old or New Testament) would have the biggest effect on the development of Christianity? Yes, I know, everyone's probably thinking Gospel of Mary, Gospel of Judas etc, but what other books?
 
Errr... By 'Apocrypha' you mean those books accepted by the RC's be not accepted by Protestants?

All of them? Little difference?
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When you start adding books, where do you stop? Every change to canon probably means a schism, at least.
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Facetiously - 'Canon to the right of them, canon to the left of them, into the valley of (the shadow of) death rode the 600'
 
Errr... By 'Apocrypha' you mean those books accepted by the RC's be not accepted by Protestants?

All of them? Little difference?
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When you start adding books, where do you stop? Every change to canon probably means a schism, at least.
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Facetiously - 'Canon to the right of them, canon to the left of them, into the valley of (the shadow of) death rode the 600'

I guess I should've been more specific, books that were in existence by the time that the canon was set, but for some or other reason excluded from the final cut. The cited Gospels of Mary, of the other apostles; the Acts of Paul and Thecla, Acts of Peter, Apocalypse of Peter etc. As well as Old Testament or Inter-Testamental literature floating around - the Life of Adam and Eve, the Book of Jubilees and so on.

From another thread:

different christian traditions have different canons I have a book called the universal bible of the protestant catholic orthodox ethiopic syriac and samaritan church. in addition to the 66 books of the protestant tradition it also includes Laodiceans, Acts of Paul and Thecla, III Corinthians, I Esdras, II Esdras, I Maccabees, II Maccabees, III Maccabees, IV Maccabees, Letter of Jeremiah, Prayer of Azariah (song of the three children), Baruch, Prayer of Manasseh, Bel and the Dragon, Wisdom of Sirach, Wisdom of Solomon, Additions to Ester, Tobit, Judith, Susana, Enoch, Jubilees, I Clement, the Ascention of Isaiah, Shepherd of Hermas, Didache, Apocalyspe of Baruch, Josephus Jewish war VI, and IV Baurch. Sinodos, book of the covenant, and disascalia are mentioned but not included.
not mentioned in this bible but accepted by some groups are 3 books of meqabyan, testament of abraham, testament of issac, testament of jacob, the testaments of the 12 patraichs, joseph and asenath, psams 151-155, Ethopic lamantions.
II clement and barnabas were of some consideration.
many books are mentioned in the bible which are not available but many of them would likely have been included. The list is jasher,book of the wars of the lord, a book of songs, chronicles of the kings of Israel, chronicles of the kings of Judah, Shemiah, Iddo the seer, manner of the kingdom, Acts of Solomon, Annals of king david, book of samuel the seer, nathan, gad, ahijah, book of king of israel and judah, jehu, story of the book of kings, acts of uziah, vision of isiah, acts of the kings of israel, sayings of the seers, laments of josiah. Paul also in I Corinthians references a previous letter to the corinthian church

Granted, not all of these were in existence (I think) by the time the canon was fixed, but I figure they're as good a start as any
 
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I think that the biggest impact of any one of the books would be the Acts of Paul and Thecla. This book strongly anti sex (even in marriage). If this was embraced by Christianity at large it could create a very large demographic problem Christianity (if not its complete dying out)
 

Stolengood

Banned
The Books of Enoch and Jubilees, definitely. Possibly the Shepherd of Hermas. And that of the Gospel of Peter which we have is... pretty damn trippy.
 
I think that the biggest impact of any one of the books would be the Acts of Paul and Thecla. This book strongly anti sex (even in marriage). If this was embraced by Christianity at large it could create a very large demographic problem Christianity (if not its complete dying out)

I like Paul and Thecla, if only for the sole reason that it shows Paul in a different (read unfavorable) light to what the canonical NT shows him as. But I fear it would be regarded as running counter to Pauline theology, since in Corinthians he explicitly writes that celibacy is NOT a cure-all, and that it should only be chosen if one is strong enough to resist temptations of the flesh (and in marriage only by agreement of both spouses for a set time). Although, in several places the Deutero-Pauline and Pastoral Letters run counter to his theology, so I think the main reason that Paul and Thecla wasn't included smacks of misogyny.
Plus, seeing that the Bible condones groupies (Thecla, plus the mistresses of Agrippa in the Acts of Peter) would in and of itself make for interesting reading.
 
Either the Gospel of Thomas, the Didache, or the Shepherd of Hermas.

The Gospel of Thomas because it provides a somewhat clearer view of what Jesus actually said and taught, the Didache because it provides a glimpse of very early Christian practice, and the Shepherd of Hermas because it's just so cool.
 
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