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Wednesday, 01 July 2009 22:42 |
Apocrypha
Apocrypha (from the Greek word ?π?κρυϕα, meaning "those having been hidden away" are texts of uncertain authenticity or writings where the authorship is questioned. In Judeo-Christian theology, the term apocrypha refers to any collection of scriptural texts that falls outside the canon.
Baruch and Letter of Jeremiah · 2 Baruch · 4 Baruch · Additions to Daniel: Susanna, Song of the Three, and Bel and the Dragon · Ecclesiasticus · Enoch · I Esdras · II Esdras · Additions to Esther · Jubilees · Judith · I Maccabees · II Maccabees · III Maccabees · IV Maccabees · I-III Meqabyan · Odes · Prayer of Manasseh · Psalm 151-155 · Pseudo-Josephus · Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs · Tobit · Wisdom
- Jesus and the Apostles never considered apocrypha as part of the scriptures. They quoted the Old Testament hundreds of times but not once from the apocrypha
- Not one of them is in the Hebrew language, which was alone used by the inspired historians and poets of the Old Testament.
- Not one of the writers lays any claim to inspiration.
- These books were never acknowledged as sacred Scriptures by the Jewish Church, and therefore were never sanctioned by our Lord.
- They were not allowed a place among the sacred books, during the first four centuries of the Christian Church.
- They contain fabulous statements, and statements which contradict not only the canonical Scriptures, but themselves; as when, in the two Books of Maccabees, Antiochus Epiphanes is made to die three different deaths in as many different places.
- The Apocrypha inculcates doctrines at variance with the Bible, such as prayers for the dead and sinless perfection.
- Josephus rejected the apocryphal books as inspired and this reflected Jewish thought at the time of Jesus
- The Manual of Discipline in the Dead Sea Scrolls rejected the apocrypha as inspired
- The Roman Catholic Church did not officially canonize the Apocrypha until the Council of Trent (1546 AD). This was in part because the Apocrypha contained material which supported certain Catholic doctrines, such as purgatory, praying for the dead, and the treasury of merit.
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