Wow! Well, if you thought there was something for everyone in The Bible, add these to it and there really is! Enough contradictions and room for interpretation exist to boggle the mind (literally.) Basically, the orthodox church and its organization adapted best to the material in our present day Bible (by design, of course.) The sections left out lent themselves to a more self discovery kind of theology that could exist without the structure of the early church (Deacons, Priests, and Bishops.) Also, the Gnostic Gospels, letters and apocrypha that were not included were very complicated and difficult, not to say time consuming, to follow and probably would not have lent themselves to the rapid growth the church experienced. However, I think there is much there to speak to us today...certainly to speak to me.
To counteract the heaviness of that book, I am starting The Final Reflection, a Star Trek (TOS) novel by John M. Ford. It is set in the Klingon nation 40 years prior to the Organian Peace (an episode in the original series in which Klingons and humans preparing to go to battle were simply stopped by the superior race of Organians who, using the power of thought, made all weapons too hot to handle.) It should prove quite relaxing... :-)
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