The Doctrine of the Bible 9 - Lost Books

"His prayer also, and how God was entreated of him, and all his sin, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers." (2 Chronicles 33:19)

There are at least a dozen books cited in Scripture that are not part of our Bible, including the book of Jasher (Josh. 10:13; 2 Sam. 1:18); the Book of the Acts of Solomon (1 Kin. 11:41); the Prophecy of Abijah the Shilonite, the Visions of Iddo the Seer, the Book of Nathan the Prophet (9:29); the Book of Gad the Seer (1 Chr. 29:29); the Book of Shemaiah the Prophet (12:15); the Acts of Uzziah (26:22); the Sayings of the Seers (33:19); epistles of Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 5:9) and the Leodiceans (Col. 4:16); the Book of Enoch (Jude 14); an epistle of John (3 John 9); and probably other accounts of Jesus' life (Luke 1:1,2). These are sometimes erroneously referred to as the "lost books of Scripture."
Illustration: There is no indication that any of these nonbiblical books were inspired. The doctrine of preservation argues that inspired books providentially survived, implying that the lost books were not inspired. They may have recorded interesting background to the inspired record of God, but they were not Scripture.
Application: Christians do not need to be concerned about missing portions of their Bible, since Scripture is complete with 66 books.