[CS-FSLUG] TD: Apocrypha

Thu Nov 10 23:35:48 CST 2005

Some of us in the protestant camp consider them as more than merely information. If you carefully read 1 & 2 Maccabees, you will realize that those events paved the way for a ceremony that Jesus would be attending during his time upon Earth. Likewise, the book Ecclessiasticus is quite interesting and is similiar in nature to Ecclessiates. The authorship of these particular books that I have mentioned I do not know. However, I tend to think of them as something that should have been included in scripture. The rest of the Apocrypha is interesting, but since parts of it are genuinely fiction, they are not as authorative in my opinion. Still, they are something that is worth reading.

That is just my opinion. I have both types of Bibles on my shelf. One with the Apocrypha (Confraternity Version). I also have several without (typical versions, KJV, NIV, and a few others).

Pax,
Christopher Rose

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Bradley, Jr." <michaelsbradleyjr at gmail.com>
To: "A Christian virtual Free Software and Linux Users Group." <Christiansource at ofb.biz>
Subject: Re: [CS-FSLUG] TD: Apocrypha
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 15:05:37 -0500

> 
> On 11/10/05, Ed Hurst <ehurst at asisaid.com> wrote:
> >
> > On Thu, 10 Nov 2005 12:28:12 -0600, 'mash <re.mash at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > "Apocrypha"
> > > Can someone explain this to me, is this really biblical ?
> > > I have never heard of it before.
> >
> > Big debate there. It refers to a collection of books associated with
> > Scripture. Most of them appeared in Early Church History, and some may
> > have been published before Christ was born. In general, Protestant
> > consider them informative, but not Scripture. Catholics include them in
> > the Bible.
> >
> > --
> > Ed Hurst
> > -----------
> > Plain & Simple Computer Help -- http://ed.asisaid.com/
> > Plain Package blog -- http://ed.asisaid.com/blog/
> >
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> > ChristianSource FSLUG mailing list
> > Christiansource at ofb.biz
> > http://cs.uninetsolutions.com
> >
> 
> One quick note, and then later I'll post a link to something more scholarly:
> 
> Protestants refer to a certain set of OT books and book-chapters as the
> "Apocrypha," while Catholics refer to them as the "deuterocanonical books"
> (pronounced "do tu row ca non ical"). I'm not sure whether Eastern Orthodox
> Christians employ special terminology that differentiates between canonical
> and deuterocanonical books (common usage of those terms dates back only to
> the 1600s).
> 
> Historically, there was a larger set of books pertaining to both the Old
> _and_ New Testaments which was rejected as canonical by the early Church --
> those individual texts, and all of them together, were often referred to as
> "apocryphal works." Examples of such works are: the Book of Enoch, the
> Assumption of Moses, the Gospel according to the Hebrews, the Gospel of St.
> Thomas.
> 
> By the way, just because an OT-related or NT-related work was deemed
> "apocryphal" didn't necessarily mean that it wasn't looked upon with
> reverence -- for example, both the Western and Eastern Church have long
> venerated the Protoevanglium of St. James, for it is one source from which
> we learn the names of the Virgin Mary's parents, "Joachim and Anna." Again,
> it's not considered to actually be part of Sacred Scripture nor "on par"
> with it, and yet still it is considered an important text of the early
> Church. Note too, that the assertions and details contained in any such
> work, insofar as they have not been confirmed by the Magisterium as
> authentically belonging to Sacred Tradition (as they do not belong Sacred
> Scripture), can from the Catholic perspective be freely rejected by her
> members. As it may interest some readers here, the names "Anna and Joachim"
> are definitively considered to be part of Sacred Tradition proper, but this
> is not the case with most of the info in the Protoevangelium of St. James.
> 
> The modern use of the term "apocrypha" to refer to the Catholic
> "deuterocanon" stems from the Protestant Reformation. The Catholic Church
> from the first century A.D. onward has, through the "majority opinion" of
> its bishops, theologians, etc., and finally by its Ecumenical Councils,
> considered the canon of the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament,
> called the "Septuagaint" or "LXX" (translated between 300 and 200 B.C.), to
> be of equal weight when compared to the shorter Palestinian (Hebrew) Canon,
> both canons being in common usage by Jews at the time of Christ's birth.
> 
> Many of the Reformers chose to differ with the Magisterium of the Catholic
> Church (and the majority of the Early Church Fathers, and the nearly
> universal practice of the early Church as a whole) on this matter, and
> decided to accept only the OT books in the Palestinian Canon. It is
> interesting to note that the original edition of the King James Bible
> contained the "extra books" in the Alexandrian (Greek) Canon in a section
> between the OT and NT, with the heading "The Books called Apocrypha."
> 
> Here is a table which compares the Protestant Apocrypha with the Catholic
> Deuterocanon:
> 
> Protestant Apocrypha || Catholic Deuterocanon
> 
> 1 Esdras == Not Included (in older Catholic Bibles, the Book of Ezra is
> titled "1 Esdras," so Catholics will sometimes refer to the apocryphal "1
> Esdras" as "3 Esdras")
> 
> 2 Esdras == Not Inluded (in older Catholic Bibles, the Book of Nehemiah is
> titled "2 Esdras," so Catholics will sometimes refer to the apocryphal "2
> Esdras" as "4 Esdras")
> 
> Tobit == Tobit ("Tobias" in older Catholic Bibles)
> 
> Judith == Judith
> 
> Additions to Esther == Esther (part of)
> 
> The Wisdom of Solomon == The Widsom of Solomon
> 
> Sirach == Sirach ("Ecclesiasticus" in older Catholic Bibles)
> 
> Baruch == Barcuh 1 - 5
> 
> The Letter of Jeremiah == Baruch 6
> 
> The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men == Daniel 3 (part
> of)
> 
> Susanna == Daniel 14
> 
> The Prayer of Manasseh == Not Included
> 
> 1 Maccabees == 1 Macabees
> 
> 2 Macabees == 2 Macabees
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In Christ,
> 
> Michael Bradley, Jr.
> 
> --
> My home on the Net ::
> http://www.michaelsbradleyjr.net/
> 
> IC XC NIKA

>
> 
> _______________________________________________
> ChristianSource FSLUG mailing list
> Christiansource at ofb.biz
> http://cs.uninetsolutions.com

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