Lost Christianities is a wonderful introduction to the canonization process, orthodoxy, and early “Christianity.” An expert on orthodoxy and heresy, Ehrman succinctly brings the reader into the world of early Christianity (first three centuries) and discusses the exploding religious environment. Ehrman shows that the four canonical gospels in the bible were not necessarily the most popular, or even the earliest “gospels” written about Jesus. Furthermore, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all display a relatively small scope of beliefs held by the early church. Ehrman then goes on to show how the other (often more) popular ideas of Christology were stamped out by early church reformers, and eventually created the belief system that most Christians follow today. In all, Ehrman successfully reconstructs the vast belief systems in place during the first three centuries of Christianity.