I'll begin this review with a disclaimer of sorts. I am a confessional Christian and pastor in the Reformed tradition, affirming the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession and the Canons of Dort at my ordination as standards of orthodox belief. Which means that I believe the books of the Old and New Testament are complete and sufficient for faith and life. Which means that I approach a text such as this book, A New New Testament with a good deal of skepticism.

The premise is that the books which comprise the Bible are not really adequate for faith in the 21st century, and beyond. Further, it is believed that the canon as compiled excluded texts that should have merited inclusion, not to mention ancient texts discovered in the past two centuries, which merit serious consideration. That is the premise of a New New Testament, and I believe it is a faulty one, failing on the grounds that it does not find what has been compiled as the Bible to be sufficient.

I have a good working knowledge of the New Testament and I read a sampling of the documents added to the New New Testament, and I found them wanting. The Gospel of Mary. The Gospel of Truth. The Secret Revelation of John. The Gospel of Thomas. None of these are Christocentric. None of these exalt Christ. None of them reveal the shining brilliance of God's plan of salvation, which quite frankly permeates the Old Testament as well as the New. Would the martyrs Jan Hus, John Wycliffe or Guido de Bres stake their life on this "theology?" I think not.

Save your time. Save your money. Plumb the riches of God's revealed word in the canonical Old and New Testaments. ( )

This is a great resource. Well organized and easy to read. I've enjoyed engaging some of the writings that came about around the times of the other canonized scriptures. The title is a bit bold. I recommend this book to folks that want to read some non-canonized early writings within the broad swath of Christendom. ( )

I'm really enjoying this text more now that I'm actually into reading it and not just the prefatory material. The voting mechanism for inclusion criteria initially seemed haphazard, but the further explanations in the introductions to each work gave a bit more of a feel for how they reached a consensus on which 'new' texts to include, and why. Each introduction also include a bit on 'Why should this text matter to a 21st century reader', which revealed a little more of the 'why?' of inclusion. The careful arrangement of the texts to put genres and schools of authorship together was effective, though some works (like the Odes of Solomon) are deliberately split up and placed through the work. Some of the most interesting works to me were the more 'liturgical' pieces like prayers and hymns that showed how some early Christian communities may have worshipped. Though I'd read some of these works before individually, it is nice to have them put in a volume alongside the traditional new testament.

I don't like this book, and this is one of the few books that I don't recommend. The New New Testament includes the regular New Testament books, but interspaced between them are selected additions from the first through third Christian century texts.
These texts, originally left out of the official books of the New Testament, are somewhat interesting. However, the lure of using them to alter or contest the Christian message is just too great. Where I do not disapprove of them being published on their own, to be interleaved with the New Testament canon can lead to confusion, especially among new Christians, who are not able to distinguish these messages from the Gospels, Acts, Letters and Revelations.
The various authors of this New New Testament, especially Hal Taussig, propose that there was no real Gnostic heresy, and seems to think that at one time there was an official Gnostic Church as a separate branch of Christianity stomped down by Orthodox and Roman Catholic clerics. What Gnostic thinking does is search for “special knowledge” in Biblical and religious scriptures that gives them personally a leg up in salvation.
Many forms of Gnosticism are still with us today. Those who search for bizarre Bible Codes of secret messages, or who use odd and eccentric mathematics to predict the end of times, are people who seek to find hidden meaning unknown to normal people. It is a form of “One Upmanship” over the unthinking herds. They seek to transform the physical world for a spiritual world, based on personal enlightenment that comes from secret or mystical research and knowledge. In a way, Simon the Magician (Act 8:9-24) was one of these early gnostics. Although he wanted to pay for the ability to use Christianity as a form of magic and self aggrandizement, what he was willing to pay for with cash is what many Gnostics desire to do with vain research for secret meanings.
While these ancient writings in the New New Testament are from people new to Christianity, they are also somewhat contaminated. These writings, many partial or incomplete, are from people who have brought with them into their new Christian understanding some of their spiritual and religious teachings from pagan religions and animistic beliefs. They are confusing to Christians today who don’t recognize the rather obvious references to Issus worship, Mithratic beliefs, Egyptian and Greek mythology or Eastern spiritualism there.
What would be an interesting project would be to add these texts to the scriptural writings of these ancient religions, and see how some of them considered Christianity an outgrowth branch or cult of their own pagan beliefs and teachings. Does the Thunderer deserve to be placed next to the Gospels? I don’t think so. But it would be rather more interesting to place the text next to some of the classic works on Egyptian and Greek goddess worship, and see how this text is perhaps more closely aligned with Issus or Artemis scriptures than it is with Christianity.
For those who want to use these writings to find hidden meanings, mystical codes and secret personal messages from God, go ahead. These writings are, I think, made for this. And if you are the sort of Christian who looks for special meanings in the Bible for selecting numbers for lottery tickets, then this also may be a treasure trove for you. And if you are anti-Christian, and don’t believe the Christian message, this is also a good resource for taunting and confusing your neighbor Christians.
But for new Christians, and for normal Christians, this is not a good book to read. It isn’t bad, it is just confusing and subtle. But it pulls away from the plain message of redemption and salvation, into coded messages and promises of hidden meanings. Christianity and the Christian message are not so dark and smokey. ( )

If you believe that the four traditional gospels--Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John--are the only true gospels, "A New New Testament," edited by Hal Taussig is probably not for you. If you think the King James version is beautiful, easy to read, and easily understood, then this book is probably not for you.

But, if you are open to the possibility that there are other gospels that have validity, this book may well be for you. And if you would rather read these ancient texts without the language getting in the way, this book is definitely for you. It has the clearest versions of the gospels that I've ever read and the same for the "new" gospels.

You don't have to be a believer to appreciate this book. (Full disclosure: I was raised a Christian, but no longer believe in Christianity. I do believe that much of what it teaches--love your fellow man, etc.--is a good way to live and I have a belief in a supreme being and am actively trying to understand said being.) Anyone with an open mind who is interested in the subject and hasn't had much exposure to the additional gospels will likely find this book engrossing.

The subtitles of this volume are: A BIBLE FOR THETWENTY-FIRST CENTURY, and Combining Traditional and Newly Discovered Texts. There's lots of commentary throughout, interesting, intelligent commentary. Biblical scholars may well have different views than I do, but for a non-biblical scholar this is a book worth reading. ( )