Revelation of the Magi

I recently had an opportunity to read "Revelation of the Magi" as a part of the Patheos Book Club roundtable.  I was very intrigued by this title because of the subject matter of the Magi.  We really do not have many resources on who they were and what the meaning of their presence in the story of the birth of Christ represents.  But here is a seemingly lost account of Magi.  The author, Brent Landau, found this writing stored away in the vaults of the library at the Vatican and now he has translated this ancient document into English for the very first time.

The book opens up with a very long introduction where Landau summarizes the story by hitting the high points of interest that are found in the story.  Some of those high points include a better understanding of who the Magi are (a religious group in the East who are descended from Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve), what their religious practices were (they prayed silently and were waiting for a sign that God would send), where they were located (the land of Shir, somewhere in the East), what caused their journey (they saw a light enter their sacred cave and were told by Jesus to travel to Jerusalem to find him and worship him), the experience of their journey (they were guided by a light and found that the terrain was leveled and their provisions were constantly replenished), their experience with the child (they were commissioned to spread the news of God's work of salvation to their people), their arrival home (journey home similar to the one to Bethlehem, but upon arriving home they fed people the food from their sacks and had their eyes opened to this new reality), and finally the experience of the apostle Thomas (he baptized the people and then Christ descended from heaven and served them communion).  There are a few other things in the story, but I do not want to ruin everything for you.

All in all I found this a very fascinating read.  I will admit that I do not have much knowledge when it comes to apocryphal writings, so I cannot comment on some of the texts that Landau references in his notes.  Coming from a protestant, evangelical perspective I do not have a very good frame of reference when it comes to texts not found in the canon of scripture.  Thankfully I am in a place of asking those questions, but it is a place where I am treading carefully.  So one question that I would have for the author is where would one begin in trying to discern the place that the apocryphal writings have in the formation of our faith and understanding of scripture?

Another question that I have been wrestling with is connected to Landau's conclusion that this text has something to say about religious pluralism.  If I understand him correctly, he believes that this is evidence that God has spoken in the past to groups other than the Jews.  While I do not doubt this, especially with a firmly held belief of prevenient grace that I as a Wesleyan hold on to, I for some reason do not see how this would lend itself to a speaking on religious pluralism.  From what I could tell the message to the Magi was pretty much an explanation of the gospel as we know it today.  How does what we see in this text inform us as to how God might be speaking to those of Islam or Hindu faith?  I ask this question with a limited understanding of the position of those with a robust understanding of religious pluralism, but my curiosity is peaked.

Finally, my last question is about the Magi themselves.  Is there any reference to them in history past this document?  Did they get swept up into Christian missionary movement to the East to the point where they lost this historical identity as a people?  Or is their mention of them in other early Christian writings out of the East that speak of this particular group of people?