Early Christians read it in church beside the Gospels. Irenaeus quoted it as Scripture. A fourth-century Bible bound it in right after Revelation. So why isn't the Shepherd of Hermas in the Bible?

Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli work through what the Shepherd of Hermas actually is, who wrote it, and why the early Church prized a book it eventually left out of the canon — a former slave in Rome, an angel dressed as a shepherd who moves into his house, a tower being built on open water, a hundred-foot beast, and an anxious question about whether sin after baptism can be forgiven. Plus the case that this Hermas is the same man Paul greets in Romans 16, and a proposal about what category the book belongs in that Jimmy says he's never seen anyone make.

Learn more: https://mysterious.fm/432
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Further Resources:
• Michael W. Holmes, The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations: https://amzn.to/4gTWODH
• Bart D. Ehrman, The Apostolic Fathers, Volume II (Loeb Classical Library): https://amzn.to/4zUhu6e
• Carolyn Osiek, The Shepherd of Hermas: A Commentary (Hermeneia): https://amzn.to/4zDZZa5
• The Shepherd of Hermas (full text, Early Christian Writings): https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/shepherd.html
• Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.20 (calling the Shepherd Scripture): https://ccel.org/ccel/irenaeus/against_heresies_iv/anf01.ix.vi.xxi.html
• The Muratorian Canon (text and notes): https://www.bible-researcher.com/muratorian.html
• Catholic Encyclopedia, “Hermas”: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07276a.htm

Chapters:
0:00:12 - Intro
0:01:44 - The Lost Scriptures series
0:02:52 - What kind of book is the Shepherd?
0:04:00 - Who was Hermas?
0:07:09 - When was the Shepherd written?
0:08:18 - Who called it Scripture?
0:11:14 - The Muratorian Fragment
0:13:25 - How long is the Shepherd?
0:14:11 - Vision 1: Rhoda and the elderly woman
0:22:33 - Vision 2: The little book
0:28:08 - Who is the elderly woman?
0:29:45 - The Sibyls and the Sibylline Books
0:33:29 - Clement, Grapte, and the dating clue
0:35:43 - Vision 3: The great tower
0:43:01 - Why the tower is built on water
0:45:03 - The stones and what they mean
0:54:58 - The seven women who hold up the tower
0:57:56 - A sermon aimed at the rich
1:00:25 - Why the woman grows younger
1:01:00 - Vision 4: The hundred-foot beast
1:08:15 - The four colors of the beast
1:09:24 - Vision 5: The Shepherd appears
1:13:30 - Thank you to Patrons
1:14:02 - Sponsor: Rosary Army and School of Mary
1:14:45 - Sponsorship opportunities
1:15:29 - Reason Perspective: Dating the book early
1:17:08 - Why the Muratorian Fragment doesn't fit
1:19:43 - Is Hermas greeted in Romans 16?
1:22:59 - The odds it's the same Hermas
1:28:41 - Faith Perspective
1:29:22 - Forgiveness after baptism
1:37:42 - Is the Shepherd private revelation?
1:39:52 - Bottom Line
1:41:43 - Further Resources
1:42:25 - Mysterious Feedback: #421 What Mary Knew, God's Choices, Autism, and Names in the Afterlife
1:42:45 - Feedback: Buzzards really do puke in flight
1:44:07 - Feedback: Did Jesus work a miracle before Cana?
1:45:18 - Feedback: The white stone and the new name
1:47:47 - Feedback: Climate science
1:50:32 - Your mysterious feedback
1:51:06 - Thank you to Oasis Studio 7
1:51:11 - Jimmy's YouTube channel
1:52:09 - Next Time: Patron questions
1:52:45 - Share the show, write a review
1:52:55 - Get your Mysterious merch
1:53:03 - Show notes
1:53:11 - Become a Patron
1:53:23 - Sponsor: The Grady Group
1:53:38 - Outro

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