by lifeisgood 29 Replies latest jw friends
PSacramento,
I don't remember saying that they were lost and hidden, I said that they were excluded from the Bible. Kind of hard not to know about the 28 books that were referred to in the Bible itself. Or, the 15 books that used to be part of the Bible but were excluded in 1885. The other 500 books are known to exist or to once have existed because of references made to them in other documents.
Good thread.
Many of these "lost" books are referenced in our bible. Most are historical accounts our bible alluded to. Here is a list of some that are cited in our bible. Most are not available anymore, but some still are and you can find copies in your local library.
(not a complete list)
Book of Jashar (Joshua 10:13)
Acts of Gad the Seer (1Chronicles29:29)
Books of the wars of Yahweh (Numbers 21:14)
Chronicles of the Kings of Ireal (1Kings14:19)
Acts of Solomon (1Kings11:41)
Midrash on the book of kings (2Chronicles24:27)
Altogether there are over 30 works cited in our bible. So the bible makes no secret that other books were used for source data. We can hardly call these "lost" books. Peace, Lilly
I don't remember saying that they were lost and hidden, I said that they were excluded from the Bible. Kind of hard not to know about the 28 books that were referred to in the Bible itself. Or, the 15 books that used to be part of the Bible but were excluded in 1885. The other 500 books are known to exist or to once have existed because of references made to them in other documents.
I was speaking in general terms, that is why I didn't quote you.
I have seen ots of these threads and posts about "lost" books, banned books, prohibited works, etc, etc, amazingly enough "everyone" knows about them so what a HORRIFIC Job the RC did in getting rid of them, LOL !
I remember the first time, a few years ago, I asked a biblical historian and scholar about these "lost/hidden/banne/missing" books and he gvae me this huge list of books and authors that have written about them.
I asked why most religious people don't know about them and he replied, "most don't ask nor do they care, for those that do, the information has always been here".
If you do wonder about the process of canonization, I suggest the books by Bruce Metzger.
Jude 1:14 mentions the prophecies of Enoch. I purchased this book, which is still available today. Also 2Samuel 1:18 mentions the book of Jashar, (also still available). I read this one too. Jashar was interesting. It is basically about Noah and his life that is not mentioned in our bible. He was quite a character that is for sure.
Many churches are against reading these books. But I say if they are referenced in the bible as source material, then they should be read. I learned my lesson about not checking up on sources when I was a JW.
Like I said though, most of these books are just historical documents, histories of wars, the nation of Isreal, and other prophetic books stating the same thing our bible says. That is probably why they were kept out. Lilly
re:Book of Jasher, the one you bought is a fake.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sefer_haYashar_%28Biblical_references%29
The Book of Jasher is the normal English name (used by, e.g., the King James Bible) of a work known in the original Hebrew as Sefer haYashar, (??? ????; also transliterated Seper haiYašar). It is the best-known of several "Lost books of the Old Testament", books referenced in the Hebrew Bible of which no copies are known to exist. The original Hebrew translates as "Book of the Upright".
A forged 'translation' sometimes referred to as Pseudo-Jasher was created in the 19th century written in pseudo-Elizabethan English.
Holy crap! I knew that there had been many more bible writings, but down from 600 wtf
Thank you for the thread, lifeisgood. I have just bought the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition of the Bible, and it contains some of the Apocrypha and Deuterocanical books. Interesting reading..
Jiyuu2 - Well said.
Tammy
They're not included because then there would be no more room in the book bags for Watchtowers ;-)
Anyway, they're quite an interesting read but I don't know how far they can be regarded as 'authentic'. Some make the apostles look more divine others are merely chronicles of history. The pharisees also had a bunch of by-laws that somebody wrote down at one point, nobody claims them to be inspired.
If you're interested in them, there is nothing wrong reading them but I would not claim them to be of any significance, after all Jesus said love God and your brother and the rest of the laws stems out of them. He also didn't consider giving any more laws which even Paul would exceed his authority by giving additional guidelines and laws to the early church.
*** it-1 p. 408 Canon ***
Two Jewish councils held at Yavne or Jamnia, a little S of Joppa, about 90 and 118 C.E. respectively, when discussing the Hebrew Scriptures, expressly excluded all Apocryphal writings.
How do you disprove that?
S
