I was researching the history of the discovery and reception of “alternative” scriptures in the nineteenth century, and I kept coming across this thing called Supernatural Religion, which initially meant little to me. It soon became apparent that orthodox clergy were describing it as something like a scholarly weapon of mass destruction, and it kept on being cited with awe for several decades after its initial appearance. To oversimplify, the book made what looks like a stunningly modern claim, namely that the unofficial and heretical gospels were far more reliable authorities for the history of Jesus and the early church than were the canonical writings, and the four gospels. We suddenly seem to be dropped onto the world of Elaine Pagels, Karen King, and Bart Ehrman, but a century early.Sounds like an interesting and highly influential book—virtually all of whose claims were wrong.
This Anxious Bench post is a continuation of Professor Jenkins's Lost and Found Scriptures series. For earlier posts, see here and links.
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