Books That Almost Made It

Introduction

Not all non-canonical texts are Gnostic forgeries or late legendary expansions. A small group of early Christian writings occupied a fascinating middle ground: they were orthodox in theology, widely respected, and read in churches for centuries — yet ultimately excluded from the New Testament canon. These are the books that "almost made it," and their story tells us as much about the canonical process as the books that were firmly included or firmly rejected.

Understanding why these texts were excluded despite their quality and antiquity illuminates the criteria the early church actually used in discerning the canon. These were not books rejected because they were dangerous; they were books rejected because they lacked one or more of the marks that distinguished canonical Scripture from excellent devotional literature.

1 Clement

1 Clement is a letter written from the church in Rome to the church in Corinth, dated to approximately AD 96 — making it one of the earliest surviving Christian documents outside the New Testament. The letter addresses a crisis in the Corinthian church: younger members had deposed the established presbyters, and the Roman church writes to urge the restoration of order.

The theology of 1 Clement is thoroughly orthodox. It draws extensively on the Old Testament, cites Paul's letters as authoritative, references the teachings of Jesus, and develops a theology of church order grounded in apostolic appointment. It appears in the fifth-century Codex Alexandrinus alongside the New Testament books. It was read publicly in the Corinthian church as late as AD 170.

Yet 1 Clement was ultimately excluded. The author does not claim apostolic authority. The letter is written in the name of the church at Rome, not in the name of an apostle. The author explicitly distinguishes his own authority from that of the apostles. The letter lacks apostolicity — not in the sense of being late or heretical, but in the sense of not originating from the apostolic circle.

The Didache

The Didache (Greek for "Teaching"), also known as The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, is a short manual of church life and ethics, dated by most scholars to the late first or early second century. It provides instructions on baptism, fasting, the Eucharist, itinerant prophets, and local church leadership. Its ethical section presents a "Two Ways" teaching — the Way of Life and the Way of Death.

The Didache was widely known and respected. Athanasius listed it among books "appointed to be read" for catechumens. Eusebius placed it among the "spurious" books — orthodox but not canonical. Its exclusion rests on two grounds: despite its title, it does not actually claim to record the direct teaching of the twelve apostles, and its content is practical and catechetical rather than kerygmatic — it instructs the church on how to live, but does not proclaim the gospel in the way the New Testament writings do.

The Shepherd of Hermas

The Shepherd of Hermas is the most extensively attested of the borderline books. Written in Rome in stages during the early to mid-second century (c. AD 100–150), it is a lengthy apocalyptic-visionary text. It appears in Codex Sinaiticus immediately after the New Testament. Irenaeus cited it as "Scripture." Clement of Alexandria quoted it frequently. Origen regarded it as inspired, though he acknowledged not all churches agreed.

The Shepherd's exclusion rested on the criterion the Muratorian Fragment articulated most clearly: it was written too late. The Fragment states it was written "very recently, in our times" during the episcopate of Pius of Rome (c. AD 140–155) and therefore cannot be counted among the prophets or the apostles. Additionally, some of the Shepherd's theology on repentance raised concerns in more rigorous churches.

The Epistle of Barnabas and Other Borderline Texts

The Epistle of Barnabas, a theological treatise from the late first or early second century, appears in Codex Sinaiticus alongside the Shepherd. It argues that the Old Testament was always intended to be read christologically. It was excluded primarily because its attribution to the apostle Barnabas was not widely accepted and its allegorical hermeneutic was considered extreme.

Other borderline texts include the Apocalypse of Peter (accepted with reservations by the Muratorian Fragment), the Acts of Paul (whose author admitted he wrote it "out of love for Paul," ensuring its exclusion), and 3 Corinthians (eventually recognized as part of the Acts of Paul rather than a genuine Pauline letter).

Conclusion

The books that almost made it tell us something important: the canonical process was not a binary division between sacred truth and dangerous heresy. There was a recognized spectrum — from canonical Scripture, through useful literature, to heretical texts. The church navigated this spectrum with care, applying principled criteria consistently. The canon we have is not the product of a power grab; it is the product of a discernment process that took centuries and produced a collection the church has recognized as the apostolic deposit ever since.