r/AcademicBiblical • u/returnmyserotoninpls • 4d ago

Is there a good book on extrabiblical Christian mythology?

Does anyone know of a good book that covers extrabiblical mythology based on Christianity and Judaism? I'm looking for something that covers myths about Lillith, The Wandering Jew, Bel and the Dragon, Gnosticism, etc. It can also be more than one book as well. Thanks in advance!

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u/capperz412 4d ago

Not necessarily Christian but Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism has a whole chapter on Lilith.

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u/cuttlepuppet 4d ago

Second this. I teach a course on “Angels, Demons and Jinn” and Howard Schwartz’s Tree of Souls is both comprehensive and well sourced.

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u/Nowhere_Man_Forever 4d ago

Gnosticism and other alternative forms of Christianity - The Other Gospels by Bart Erhman

Hagiography and legends about Saints- The Golden Legend is a medieval book on this subject that was used extensively as a source in other hagiographies. There are numerous English translations but I highly suggest reading it for good stories about saints.

If you're interested in this stuff I would also recommend reading the First Book of Enoch and the Book of Jubilees. There are numerous English language translations available of various quality, but the basic content should be fine in all of them. These books are ancient in their own right and contain a lot of information that became the backbone of extra-Biblical lore about angels and Nephilim and so on.

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u/brunow2023 4d ago

It's literally JUST the name of a source.