A New "Apocrypha"? On The Church Creating A Priority Reading List For Its Members

One of many inspiring writings not
included in our canon.

He said to them, 'Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.' Matthew 13:52 (NIV)

In the early history of the church many of its leaders made use of apocryphal Hebrew texts that were seen as having inspirational and instructional value but were not considered a part of the Jewish canon. There were also numerous Christian apocryphal writings that were widely circulated, though not given the same endorsement as the books that were eventually included in the New Testament as we know it. Some of these were seen as theologically questionable, but others were widely circulated as worthwhile reading.

Throughout the centuries since, countless numbers of faith-inspiring books have been written that have been of priceless help to believers everywhere, along with writings considered dubious or even misleading.

Meanwhile, as a part of commemorating the 500th anniversary of the 16th century Anabaptist movement, study groups of North American believers have been helping produce a Bible with notes reflecting the core beliefs of Anabaptist-minded Christians. This reflects the seriousness with which we take scripture as formative for our faith and every aspect of our life.

But should we have similar groups of believers focus on creating a recommended reading list of other trusted authors throughout the centuries? This would not mean elevating their writing to the status of the canon of books that make up our Bible, but would be list of faith-formative writings affirmed as being true to our understanding of scripture and supportive of a Christ-based understanding of our faith.

This would also mean excluding widely read authors not seen as representing the core values and beliefs of a Christ-based way of life, and would simply be endorsing those that are seen as having special merit. This compilation would not be considered comprehensive, of course. And it would be subject to regular review, revision and addition, as works that are urgently recommended for the reserve shelf in our church libraries and which would be on every believer's priority reading list:

Here is a small sample of publications that come to my mind:

The Didache: The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles

The Imitation of Christ (T. Kempis)

Revelations of Divine Love (Julian of Norwich)

Practicing the Presence of God (Brother Lawrence)

The Complete Works of Menno Simons (or a condensed version yet to be published)

The Martyrs Mirror (or the condensed Mirror of the Martyrs)

The Cost of Discipleship (D. Bonhoeffer)

The Anabaptist Vision (H. Bender)

Life Together (D. Bonhoeffer)

Rich Christians In An Age Of Hunger (R.Sider)

The Upside Down Kingdom (D. Kraybill)

The Christian Calling (V. Vogt)

Discipling In The Church: Recovering A Ministry of the Gospel (M. Jeschke)

Who Will Be A Witness? (D. Hart)

Fight Like Jesus (J. Porterfield)

Etc.

Amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com › Discipling-Church-Recove...

The total number could be in the hundreds of books seen as supporting the kind of faith and faithfulness to which all of God's people should aspire. 

What do you think?