marginally, if they included the book of Mary and Jesus' brother(James?) and all the others that were 'people friendly' tomes. The ones that Constantine threw out when he was editing it....for the ruling elite.

The Epistle of James is in the Bible. The author is generally accepted to be James, the brother of Jesus, also known as James the Just.

There is an interesting tension between the thrust of James and that of the Pauline epistles. James is directed following the teachings of Jesus - as you say being "people friendly." Paul was more concerned about theology. There are passages in the Acts of the Apostles that this tension became a conflict between the Jerusalem Church (i.e. the Church headed by James) and the Pauline Church. There is a historical theory that the tension was ended by the Roman destruction of Jerusalem that squelched James' branch of the Church.

Thank you for enlightening me. Do you remember any of the books like Mary that were edited by Costantine?

It is generally considered an Gnostic text (we can really get in the weeds about this ancient group.) I haven't read much about it but the scholarly consensus is that it was written in the Second Century, CE.

I recommend the Epistle of James to your reading. I really wish that more Christians would read it (and the Gospels), it would be life changing. The Pauline Epistles are important but the emphasis ought to be on the Gospels.

I like the Gosples and think RedLetterBible Christians are the true Christians of today, what ever true is. I like to challenge conservatives to make their arguments without quoting the OT or Paul and use only the words of Christ. They pretty much can’t do it.

I find little in the OT useful outside of the prophets (which must be read with a grain of salt) and Psalms and Proverbs (which must be filtered through an understanding of the Gospels).

My relationship with Paul is problematic. The Pauline epistles are obviously important in Church history but when Paul seems inconsistent with the Gospels, I go with the Gospels.

If you concider context. Hard times.

they were the social justice folks of the time. Read Amos, some chapters in Isaiah, etc. So much so that in the world of theology the liberation theologians are said to stand in the prophetic tradition.

I assume that's your intention. I appreciate it.
Currently I'm doing Non Fiction. (Not to be snarky)
I'm reading "A Terrible Mistake" about Dr Frank Olsen.

I'm only suggesting the thirty-second reading. If nothing else, it might be interesting to see Jesus' prediction concerning people who mistreat immigrants.

I've read reports concerning the CIA programs that killed Dr. Olson. Let us know what you think of the book.

I don't read the bible. Ty though. Been a Catholic all my life and I think i got the gist of what religion is calling for us to do. Not rocket science.
The BOOK now...A Terrible Mistake is pretty comprehensive and extremely easy to read. Quite a summation of everything we know to date.
The book is very thick, and not the first I've read on the topic. (810 pages).
I don't think there's any question he was thrown out the window by "Company Men." By the sounds of the description of Lashbrooke (his roommate) who the police found sitting on the toilet in the room w his head in his hands mumbling, I believe he probably fought mightily and begged for his life. Lashbrooke was in shock by all descriptions. Most likely shook up from the event. He could've been a good actor though. It seems they had been stacking Olsens food w drugs for almost two weeks before he lost his life. Most likely to see if he had anything else to say regards his views on BW in the Korean War. The little suare' (?) up in the cabin at Deep Creek Lake, sounds like a horror show w all the "slippin unmeasured drops of LSD into each others Curvaosier(sp)" and planting threads of conversation...to..."discuss".
Chestnut lodge Insane Asylum, Plum Island, Fort Detrick, Dugway, Bluebird, Artichoke, NAOMI, PELICAN, MKDECOY, John Mulholland the Magician, the drug BZ, Ergot and a host of other intensely interesting places and topics so far.
Later disinterment showed he suffered blows to his head that weren't apparent at the time he was buried, or were covered in make up and lies. What a shitshow. Intensely dedicated people, that's for sure. Good, bad, or indifferent.
Interesting the insight on the MKULTRA and other drug testing. MJ, MDMA, LSD, BZ and how to get it inside someone for a reaction. (cue the Magician)
Spoiler alert****I think the 'terrible mistake' was voicing disapproval of actual use of biological weapons during the Korean War, while under the influence of multiple and strong, newly developed 'truth serum' type drugs. That's my take about a third in. Sounds like they had aerosolized Anthrax most likely. We'll see.
Appreciate the comments.

... which is among the Gnostic Gospels. From the historian's point of view, it suggests there were some tensions among the male apostles and the female ones. Levi (Matthew) criticizes Simon (Peter) for discounting Mary's vision and being a general hot-head and asshole. All of which emerges in the canonical Gospels if you're looking for it.

Personally, I think Yeshua was being sarcastic when he said "On this rock I will build my church." Put a question mark at the end and you'll see what I mean.

-- Mal

Along with the Apocalypse of Peter...being written by Peter.

But were excluded for...well, political reasons.

Some say after the incident after Antioch, Paul was essentially persona non grata. Paul is indeed a complex character, but significant in terms of post Constantine Roman acceptance, eventually, requirement of religion.

Paul is definitely the primary source of Catholic and Orthodox faith....but the irony. When I was traveling in Italy, the Vatican was full of people. We were lucky to score the Scavi Tour and see where Apostle Peter was buried. And when we visited Basilica San Paulo, we had the place to ourselves. Paul probably did the most for the gentiles....and yet....

James the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls

https://www.amazon.com/James-Brother-Jesus-Unlocking-Christianity/dp/014025773X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1529856877&sr=1-1&keywords=james+the+brother+of+jesus+by+robert+eisenman

"James was a vegetarian, wore only linen clothing, bathed daily at dawn in cold water, and was a life-long Nazirite. In this profound and provocative work of scholarly detection, eminent biblical scholar Robert Eisenman introduces a startling theory about the identity of James—the brother of Jesus, who was almost entirely marginalized in the New Testament.

Drawing on long-overlooked early Church texts and the Dead Sea Scrolls, Eisenman reveals in this groundbreaking exploration that James, not Peter, was the real successor to the movement we now call "Christianity." In an argument with enormous implications, Eisenman identifies Paul as deeply compromised by Roman contacts. James is presented as not simply the leader of Christianity of his day, but the popular Jewish leader of his time, whose death triggered the Uprising against Rome—a fact that creative rewriting of early Church documents has obscured.

Eisenman reveals that characters such as "Judas Iscariot" and "the Apostle James" did not exist as such. In delineating the deliberate falsifications in New Testament documents, Eisenman shows how—as James was written out—anti-Semitism was written in. By rescuing James from the oblivion into which he was cast, the final conclusion of James the Brother of Jesus is, in the words of The Jerusalem Post, "apocalyptic" —who and whatever James was, so was Jesus."

My belief is simply that Jesus is our best manifestation of the nature of God. We can worry about the particulars after that.

Read Matthew 25: 31-46 and see where your curiosity leads from there. For that matter, ask any right-wing Christians you know to how the passage applies to what the government is doing in our name.