by EdenOne 21 Replies latest jw friends
Besides the usual suspects that appear on some Bibles (1 and 2 Maccabeans, Wisdom, Judith) what are some other Apocripha books that exist out there? I mean besides the so called Gnostic Gospels. Why have they been ruled out from the cannon? Are they relevant? As an example, take the "Book of Enoch", that is directly quoted by Judas (Jude 14,15). Any others?
Eden
Find out for yourself:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/apo/
I read one and it was so anti-semetic I haven't re-read it. The texts selected for the bible are fairly consistent in doctrine, quote each other, and don't have extraordinary claims like miracles Jesus performed as a child. They were selected by committee, which should say a lot. IMO, the book of Revelation should have been left off.
Non-canonical books referenced in the Bible
What are any books or texts good for? They take us in to the mind and thought of another people.
the book of enoch is in one of the ethiopian canons as well as 3. maccabees.
there's a whole ton of apocryphal scriptures, for a time the book of revelation was regarded as such as well. read up about the selection of the books. also read up on some of the early church father letters (some of them are dated earlier than canonic ones - of course there's a lot of debate on dating those scriptures).
THIS IS A TERRIFICALLY IMPORTANT QUESTION!
The Apocrypha is only Apocrypha for the very same reason it was once EQUAL to the other books: some person wanted it that way and gave whatever reasons seemed good to them personally.
The fact that the Protestant Reformation (Martin Luther and others) simply tossed out CANONICAL BOOKS---should alert us to a greater danger than you might imagine!
Questions should be raised and addressed!
1.IF the men (early church fathers) were CORRECT in including these (now so-called apocrypha) as INSPIRED canon----how dare the "reformers" exclude them?
2.IF the early church fathers were INCORRECT in including these books---why should we ASSUME any of the books where the SAME STANDARDS were applied---are CORRECT?
3.ARBITRARY men in arbitrary situations simply act willy-nilly it would seem!
The very idea of an OFFICIAL bible canon did not begin with the Pope or the church. Did you know that?
It was begun by the apostate MARCION who tossed out the Old Testament Jehovah and substituted the Pauline concept of merciful Jesus.
At the point of extreme popularity--the "church" stepped in and said---"me too" by creating its own artificial arbitrary CANON.
The Apocrypha is only Apocrypha for the very same reason it was once EQUAL to the other books: some person wanted it that way and gave whatever reasons seemed good to them personally.
Hebrews, James, Jude and Revelation were deemed by Martin Luther (and many Catholic leaders as well) to be APOCRYPHAL too! This almost became acceptable and--had it been--today our official bibles would
reflect those prejudices easily.
That is what your question brings to our minds: THE BIBLE IS ABOUT AS TRUE OR USEFUL AS ANY HUMAN DECIDES FOR IT TO BE.
Absolutely nuthin'!!
Cedars
Gotta love Bruce Springsteen, huh, Cedars? ;)
Eden
Apocripha -What is it good for?
You could ask that about any ancient texts promoting the myths and legends of long gone civilisations....
I remember the WTS literature trashing the Apocrypha by generalizing that a lot of it read like fantasy stories. How many canonical books read like fiction? Some of the crap in Judges springs to mind. I mean seriously - Samson? What about Gideon and his wet/dry fleece?
the wet/dry fleece is a metaphor
Have a look at The Apocryphal Jesus ( J K Elliott)
These apocryphal documents are vital evidence of the range of beliefs of the early Christian community and th stories which they told - something to bear in mind when trying to get back to the beliefs of the early church as though that would be the same thing as arriving at truth. Clearly those early folk did not all believe the same doctrines. They had something like a standard set of doctrines imposed long after the time of Jesus but have continued to disagree with one another ever since.
Rob Crompton
