Early Church Efforts Condemning the Lost Gospels as Heresy

Dozens of gospels circulated in early Christian communities. How were the four now contained in the New Testament chosen?

• Irenaeus of Lyons (2nd century AD – c. 202) (Wikipedia)
• Irenaeus of Lyons (b. 120/140 Asia Minor - d. 200/203 CE) (The Development of the Canon of the New Testament)
• Irenaeus of Lyons (Early Christian Writings)
• Emergence of the Four Gospel Canon
  Elaine H. Pagels
  EMERGENCE OF THE CANON
  L. Michael White
  A PROLIFERATION OF GOSPELS
  Elizabeth Clark
  IRENAEUS AND THE HERETICS
  THE DETERMINATION OF THE CANON
  FROM MANY GOSPELS TO FOUR
  Harold W. Attridge
  SYMBOLS OF THE GOSPELS
  POLITICS BEHIND THE CANON
  Allen D. Callahan
  CANON EMERGES FROM CONSENSUS
• The Emergence of the Canon...by Marilyn Mellowes
• The Diversity of Early Christianity
  Harold W. Attridge
  BOOK OF ACTS ACCOUNT TOO SIMPLE
  Holland Lee Hendrix
  EARLY "CHRISTIANITIES" OF THE 2ND AND 3RD CENTURIES
  Helmut Koester
  DIVERSITY IN EARLY CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES
  WE CAN LEARN FROM THE STRUGGLES OF THE EARLY CHURCH
  L. Michael White
  REGIONAL DIVERSITY
  Wayne A. Meeks
  INTERNAL SCHISMS AND THE DRIVE FOR UNITY
• Polycarp of Smyrna (born ~70 -- died (martyred) ~155 in Rome) (The Development of the Canon of the New Testament)
• The Gnostic Gospels...by Elaine Pagels
  The 52 texts discovered in Nag Hammadi, Egypt include 'secret' gospels poems and myths attributing to Jesus sayings and beliefs which are very different from the New Testament. Scholar Elaine Pagels explores these documents and their implications.
• Gnostics and Other Heretics: Gnostic texts of nag hammadi...by Elaine H. Pagels
  Early documents suggest the first Christian communities had radically different interpretations of the meaning of Jesus' life and teachings.

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