Secret Scriptures Revealed

Secret Scriptures Revealed
Author: Tony Burke
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 176
Release: 2013-12-19
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1467439150

The Christian Apocrypha burst into the public consciousness in 2003, following the publication of The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Interest in the wide assortment of texts not included in the Bible has remained strong ever since. Although much has been written and said on the subject, misunderstandings still abound. Tony Burke's Secret Scriptures Revealed dismantles the many myths and misconceptions about the Christian Apocrypha and straightforwardly answers common questions like these: Where did the apocryphal texts come from and who wrote them? Why were they not included in the Bible? Is reading these texts harmful to personal faith? The book describes and explains numerous fascinating apocryphal stories, including many that are not well known. Instead of dismissing or smearing the Christian Apocrypha, Burke shows how these texts can help us better understand early Christian communities and the canonical Bible.

Studies

Studies
Author: Washington University (Saint Louis, Mo.)
Publisher:
Total Pages: 496
Release: 1921
Genre:
ISBN:

The Legend of St Brendan

The Legend of St Brendan
Author: Jude Mackley
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 366
Release: 2008-06-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 9047442806

The Legend of St Brendan is a study of two accounts of a voyage undertaken by Brendan, a sixth-century Irish saint. The immense popularity of the Latin version encouraged many vernacular translations, including a twelfth-century Anglo-Norman reworking of the narrative which excises much of the devotional material seen in the ninth-century Navigatio Sancti Brendani abbatis and changes the emphasis, leaving a recognisably secular narrative. The vernacular version focuses on marvellous imagery and the trials and tribulations of a long sea-voyage. Together the two versions demonstrate a movement away from hagiography towards adventure. Studies of the two versions rarely discuss the elements of the fantastic. Following a summary of authorship, audiences and sources, this comparative study adopts a structural approach to the two versions of the Brendan narrative. It considers what the fantastic imagery achieves and addresses issues raised with respect to theological parallels.