TheearlyChristianChurchwasachaosofcontendingbeliefs.SomegroupsofChristiansclaimedthattherewasnotoneGodbuttwoortwelveorthirty.SomebelievedthattheworldhadnotbeencreatedbyGodbutbyalesser,ignorantdeity.CertainsectsmaintainedthatJesuswashumanbutnotdivine,whileotherssaidhewasdivinebutnothuman.InLostChristianities,BartD.EhrmanoffersafascinatinglookattheseearlyformsofChristianityandshowshowtheycametobesuppressed,reformed,orforgotten.AllofthesegroupsinsistedthattheyupheldtheteachingsofJesusandhisapostles,andtheyallpossessedwritingsthatboreouttheirclaims,booksreputedlyproducedbyJesus’sownfollowers.Modernarchaeologicalworkhasrecoveredanumberofkeytexts,andasEhrmanshows,thesespectaculardiscoveriesrevealreligiousdiversitythatsaysmuchaboutthewaysinwhichhistorygetswrittenbythewinners.Ehrman’sdiscussionrangesfromconsiderationsofvarious“lostscriptures“--includingforgedgospelssupposedlywrittenbySimonPeter,Jesus’sclosestdisciple,andJudasThomas,Jesus’sallegedtwinbrother--tothedisparatebeliefsofsuchgroupsastheJewish-ChristianEbionites,theanti-JewishMarcionites,andvarious“Gnostic“sects.Ehrmanexaminesindepththebattlesthatragedbetween“proto-orthodoxChristians“--thosewhoeventuallycompiledthecanonicalbooksoftheNewTestamentandstandardizedChristianbelief--andthegroupstheydenouncedashereticsandultimatelyovercame.Scrupulouslyresearchedandlucidlywritten,LostChristianitiesisaneye-openingaccountofpolitics,power,andtheclashofideasamongChristiansinthedecadesbeforeonegroupcametoseeitsviewsprevail.
