Texts that didn't make it into the Bible

Aims of the course

This course aims to:
1. The development of the ‘canon’ of the New Testament
2. A sample of the various forms of Christian literature circulating in the first two centuries CE, not included in today’s New Testament.

Course Content

You may have heard the assertion that the Church in various periods has suppressed unwelcome documents that present an alternative version of the ‘Jesus event’, ensuring that only texts approved by the hierarchy made it into the ‘canon’. We will in this course look at what we mean by the ‘canon’ and how it developed; how and why some documents ended up ‘in’ and others ‘out’; and sample a cross-section of literature that was read and circulated in the early centuries of the church, from the Protevangelium of James through to the Acts of Paul, seeing how some continue to influence Church tradition and teaching. Along the way we will consider whether some texts not in today’s Bible may preserve genuine further sayings of Jesus, and encounter a representative sample of the rich variety of writings that were around in the early days of the Church. Throughout the course we will discuss the differences between ‘canonical’ and ‘noncanonical’ literature, why some texts never gathered sufficient support to ensure a place in the New Testament – and perhaps come to our own conclusions about the merits (or otherwise) of some of the extra-biblical texts! This course is for anyone interested in engaging with these fascinating texts – whether or not you share the faith of their authors.

Presentation of the course

The course will involve illustrated lectures, group discussion and the study of (translated!) documents from the period.

Class sessions

1. What’s in the New Testament and how did it get there? We look at what we mean by canon, the variety of texts that were read in the early days of the Jesus movement and how the ‘fixed’ canon gradually came into being.

2. Two near misses: the Epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas. Most people will never have heard of these texts, yet they are included in some early Bible manuscripts. We will get a flavour of them by reading some extracts, and try to discern why they were so popular and why they fell out of favour.

3. Filling in the gaps: other Gospels. We will look at other early gospel narratives which add further details particularly to the stories of Jesus’ infancy and childhood – some of which remain in church tradition, despite their absence from the four canonical gospels.

4. Further sayings of Jesus? The Gospel of Thomas. Some believe this enigmatic collection of sayings offers us the possibility of encountering genuine sayings of Jesus unrecorded in the canonical gospels. Could they be right? (And how would we tell?)

5. The further adventures of (some of) the Apostles. Early Christians were also interested in the travels of the apostles, which spawned what we might view as early Christian fiction, influenced by the (secular) romantic literature of the day. We’ll see how this created a particular ‘ascetic’ Christian worldview, arguably with influences into the present day.

Learning outcomes

The learning outcomes for this course are:
1. Understand how the New Testament came into being.
2. Discuss objectively the reasons why some documents did not end up in the canon.

Required reading

There is no required reading.

Typical week: Monday to Friday

Courses run from Monday to Friday. For each week of study, you select a morning (Am) course and an afternoon (Pm) course. The maximum class size is 25 students. 

Courses are complemented by a series of daily plenary lectures, exploring new ideas in a wide range of disciplines. To add to the learning experience, we are also planning additional evening talks and events.

Evaluation and Academic Credit 

If you are seeking to enhance your own study experience, or earn academic credit from your Cambridge Summer Programme studies at your home institution, you can submit written work for assessment for one or more of your courses. 

Essay questions are set and assessed against the University of Cambridge standard by your Course Director, a list of essay questions can be found in the Course Materials. Essays are submitted two weeks after the end of each course, so those studying for multiple weeks need to plan their time accordingly. There is an evaluation fee of £75 per essay.

For more information about writing essays see Evaluation and Academic Credit.

Certificate of attendance

A certificate of attendance will be sent to you electronically after the programme.