Deeper Waters
Writings outside the usual canon that the early believers knew, read and quoted.
These texts have been removed or otherwise excluded from the canon for various reasons, some of them somewhat arbitrary. While I can agree with plenty of points about their removal from the main collection, I refuse to remove them entirely from alongside the canon, as they offer excellent "extracurricular" knowledge and can bring you closer to Christ if you're viewing them from the right lens. Understanding who wrote what, and why, makes it easier to extract the Gold Thread from the fabric it was woven into.
Before Christ
Writings from the centuries between the prophets and the Gospels.
Wisdom teaching by Jesus ben Sira of Jerusalem, written around 180 BC.
A Greek wisdom book on righteousness, wisdom and the hope of the righteous, from the 1st century BC.
A history of the Judean revolt against the Seleucid kings, covering 175–134 BC.
A second account of the same struggle, centred on the Temple and the martyrs.
A retelling of Genesis and early Exodus, ordered in periods of jubilees. Copies were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
A collection of writings in Enoch's name. Jude 14–15 quotes from it.
The early church
Writings from the generations right after the apostles.
A short guide to the Christian life and gatherings, from around the end of the 1st century.
Visions, commandments and parables recorded in Rome in the 2nd century.
An early letter on how to read the Old Testament in the light of Christ.