The Doctrine Of Scripture Series: What We Have Explored In The Last Several Posts And Looking Ahead

Where we have journeyed thus far

    In our last post we looked carefully at how the New Testament canon was motivated by missions (in terms of the Spirit's inspiration of it, its writing, it recognition, and its distribution). Readers who want to review the last post may do so here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2022/11/the-doctrine-of-scripture-series-how.html.

    The many attacks upon the Bible today warrant us knowing the history of how we got our Bibles. As for the New Testament, we explored the beginnings, receiving, recognition, and message of the New Testament canon here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2022/11/the-doctrine-of-scripture-series-jesus.html. 

    Over the course of the last several posts, we have discussed the New Testament canon. We discovered that almost all the New Testament books were immediately recognized and used as inspired books by the end of the first century – or the days of the Apostles. In this blog series, I have had us explore issues surrounding the canonization of the Old and New Testament canons, as well as the doctrine of Divine inspiration and its correlary truths of inerrancy and infallibility. Readers are more than welcome to look back through the archives of this blog to see how this series began back in September of 2022. 

Making sure we are clear on what canonization is and is not.

    By the first two-thirds of the second century, every book of the New Testament was universally recognized as inspired, with the first canonical list (The Muratorian canon list) establishing that the 27 books we have today were well in use by the end of the 100’s A.D. (or second century). Contrary to popular skeptics, who claim the early church had hundreds of books to choose from, and only selected the 27 some 400 years into church history, we find history paints a different picture. Canonization was not about kicking out books that were not liked, but rather recognizing inspired books that were qualified to be in the canon.

The Triple Foundation Of Christianity

    Then finally, we noted how the message of the New Testament canon, namely in portraying, preaching, explaining, and prominently exalting Jesus Christ, shaped the New Testament church. It was Christ’s resurrection and the writing and then preaching of the New Testament books that came to define the first century church. Coupled with the already established Old Testament Canon which we’ve discussed in previous posts, we find an important point emerge. Christianity was built on a triple foundation of the Old Testament canon, Christ’s resurrection, and New Testament canon. It is this same foundation that the Holy Spirit is using today to call and regenerate sinners from every nation – until He comes.

Looking ahead

    As we aim to continue in this series, we will explore what criteria were used in the recognition and use of the New Testament books. Also, we will explore other sorts of literature that, though influential in the early church, yet were not regarded as canonical by Christians in every place, everywhere. Some interesting topics, such as the so-called "lost Gospels" or "lost books of the Bible" will be briefly explored. At least for such books as those, we will see that they were not really "lost", but instead were well-known, and immediately rejected books regarded as fraudulant by the early Christians. We will then want to consider contemporary attacks on the Bible. Amazingly, attacks on the Bible, especially in the last three centuries, do not differ in principle from attacks that went on in the first three centuries of the church. As God gives strength, I hope this series will prove useful to whomever reads these posts.
 

The Doctrine Of Scripture Series: How The New Testament Canon's Beginnings Was Motivated By World Evangelization

Introduction:

    In my last post I introduced reader's to how the New Testament canonical books came to become the collection we know of today as "The New Testament Canon". For those wanting to read the last post, simply click on the following link here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2022/11/the-doctrine-of-scripture-series-jesus.html. One detail thatcannot be overlooked is how the growth and expansion of the church was due to her carrying out the command of Jesus to tell those around her, and the world, about the goodnews of His death, burial, and resurrection. When we discuss evangelism and missions, three New Testament passages are helpful to know. The first of these is called "The Great Commission", and stems from Matthew 28:18-20, which we could term "The Plan for Missions":

"And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

    We then have a second text, Acts 1:8, which we could designate as "The Strategy for Missions". This is to say, where one shares the Gospel in their community ("Jerusalem"); their region ("Judea and Samaria"); and then everywhere else ("the ends of the earth"). 

"but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

    Then the final passage that speaks about the Christian's responsibility in worldwide missions is what I would call "personal responsibility to do missions". 2 Corinthians 5:20-21

"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

    One New Testament scholar, David Alan Black of South Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, has by his books aided me greatly in seeing canonization aimed at getting the message of the Gospel out to the nations. What follows derives partly from Black's analysis of the relationship between canonization and missions, and partly from observations I've come to conclude over the decades.

The New Testament Canon Followed the Pattern Of World Evangelization

    

    To chronicle how the New Testament was composed and used, we can follow the development of the New Testament canon along the lines of Jesus’ final instructions to the Apostles and church in Acts 1:8.  The mission strategy of the early church was to begin in Jerusalem, then to Judea and Samaria, with the final stage being that of the ends of the then known world. My point in what will follow is to demonstrate that God's revelation and inspiration of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, as well as His Providential guiding of the church in their canonization, was to provide the basis for doing missions. 

The Early Church had its beginnings in Jersualem.
    

    As for the “Jerusalem phrase”, we begin with Matthew and James. Matthew is our first Gospel, and arguably among the first books of the New Testament, composed as early as 45-50 A.D. It gives us the life of Christ from a Jewish perspective. He revealed Himself as God in the flesh (Matthew 1:23). He acted in history by way of His earthly ministry, miracles, crucifixion, and resurrection. 

    Following Matthew’s account, Jesus’ half brother James would write a short letter (45-50 A.D.) to the fledgling Jewish church in Jerusalem. It is in James’ letter or Epistle that we get a snapshot of the early church some 15 years after Jesus’ ascension. Matthew would provide the foundation for the first century church’s understanding of Jesus. James would shape how the church would live out the message of Jesus in its ethical and cultural commitments.

Early Christianity spreads to Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the known world.

1. The conversion of Saul of Tarsus and the writing of Romans to Philemon – 34-62 A.D.

    As Peter and the Apostles began to spread the message of the risen Christ, God wondrously converted a persecutor of the church named “Saul of Tarsus”. Upon receiving his call to become a missionary to the nations or Gentiles in Acts 9, Saul would conduct three missionary journeys and be imprisoned multiple times. Paul’s mission efforts and two of his imprisonments covers Luke’s companion volume to the Gospel of Luke, otherwise known as “Acts of the Apostles”. 

    The book of Acts covers the first thirty years of the Christian movement, with Acts 1-12 detailing the ascension of the risen Christ, the ministry of the Apostle Peter, and call of Saul of Tarsus. Acts 13-28 handles three of Saul’s missionary journeys (at which point his name would be changed to “Paul”), providing the background for the thirteen letters he wrote, which appear in our New Testaments, stretching from Romans to Philemon. Galatians and 1 & 2 Thessalonians were among his earliest writings (49-52 A.D.) Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians were written during his third missionary journey (55-57 A.D.) Then Paul’s letters to the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon were all composed during his first Roman Imprisonment, which we see at the end of the Book of Acts (60-62 A.D.)

2. Two more Gospels are written, along with Acts – Mark and Luke. 60-62 A.D.

    As the early church went from being predominately Jewish and Jerusalem centered to more Gentile and focused on reaching the world, the Holy Spirit saw fit to raise up Apostolic authors and books to spread the message of Jesus. Next to Jesus, the most influential persons in the New Testament were the Apostles Peter and Paul. Peter is credited in church history as preaching a series of sermons on Jesus’ life, which would become written down by John Mark into what we know today as “The Gospel of Mark” (roughly 60-62 A.D.) 

    As Peter preached these sermons, he is alleged to have used a newly written Gospel by an associate of the Apostle Paul, known as Luke. This book would become known as “The Gospel of Luke” and would serve the Christians well in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a largely Greco-Roman audience. Mark’s Gospel served to validate both Luke’s Gospel and the message preached by Peter as matching closely with the Gospel of Matthew (again, roughly 60-62 A.D). 

    All three Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, are known collectively as the “Synoptic Gospels”, since they portray the life of Jesus in a somewhat similar way, focusing our attention mostly on His humanity while giving glimpses of His deity. We have already made mention of the Book of Acts. It was the companion volume to Luke’s Gospel, functioning as a Divinely inspired history of the Church from Jesus’ Ascension to Paul’s first Roman imprisonment, stretching from 33 A.D. to 62 A.D.

3. The remaining New Testament letters, John’s Gospel, & Revelation. 64-95 A.D.

    As we round out our survey of the composition of the New Testament books, we can note first a collection of eight letters known as the “General” Epistles. The reason for this naming of the group is that the letters are addressed to more generalized groups of believers or churches, rather than to specific persons or specific churches. 

    The book of Hebrews is most intriguing, in that we do not know the identity of the author (though many think it was Paul, however that remains to be proven with certainty). James, as we already commented, was among the earliest of New Testament books. The letters of Peter and the three letters of John urge faithfulness and defense of the faith in the face of persecution. Then lastly, the little book of Jude urges the reader to contend earnestly for the faith.

    The Apostle John was the only Apostle that did not die a martyr’s death. In 85-90 A.D. he composed his Gospel, which functions as a supplement to Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Then, as we already noted, he composed three short letters which function to enumerate the essentials of the Christian faith. It is that final book of the Bible, “Revelation” or “Apocalypse” which crowns the New Testament and finishes both canons (Old and New).

    The Gospels lay the foundation, as the Law laid the foundation in the Old Testament. It is by the Gospel accounts we find Jesus portrayed. Acts corresponds to the historical recounting of the early church, just as the historical books deal with Israel’s founding and history with God. It is by studying the Book of Acts we see Christ preached. The letters of Paul and the remaining New Testament letters (General Epistles) parallel the “writings portion” or poetic books of the Old Testament. It is in the Epistles we see Christ explained. Lastly, the Book of Revelation is the most prophetic book in all the New Testament, pointing us to Christ’s second coming, as the 17 prophetic books of the Old Testament pointed to the first coming. The Book of Revelation shows us Christ preeminent.

    In our next post, we will pull together our discussions about the canonization of the New Testament, exploring why it is relevant to Christians today. 

The Doctrine Of Scripture Series - Jesus' Promise Of The New Testament, Its Recognition, Collection, And Overall Arrangement

Introduction:

    In my last post, I began to consider the canonization the New Testament. Readers can review the last post by clicking on the following link http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2022/10/the-doctrine-of-scripture-series-how.html. 

    In today's post, we want to continue looking at the canonization the New Testament books by noting how Jesus Christ Himself is the reason behind it. Jesus anchors any discussion of Old Testament or New Testament canonization. He on the one hand affirmed the 39 book Old Testament we know today, as well as having fuliflled its hundreds of prophecy about Him. On the other hand, He also promised what would become the New Testament. The point of the New Testament is to portray (Gospels), proclaim (Acts), explain (Epistles), and show as preeminent (Revelation) the Lord Jesus Christ. This post will look at what exactly Jesus did promise about the forthcoming New Testament that would follow after His ascension into Heaven. We will also look at how the early Christians began to recognize and receive the New Testament books.

Jesus promised the "then" forthcoming books that would be The New Testament.

    Jesus promised his disciples that when He sent the Holy Spirit following His ascension into Heaven, the Holy Spirit would remind them of all He had taught them. John 16:12-15

“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.”

    Just as the Old Testament began and grew with the cycle of God’s revelation, acting redemptively in history, and subsequent recording of both revelation and act in Scripture, we see this same cycle in the New Testament.

The reception and recognition of the New Testament Books.

    As we now turn to recounting the historical formation of the New Testament canon, we must recognize that the Holy Spirit’s providential work through the church in this process was motivated by several factors. Norman Geisler in his book “A General Introduction to the Bible”, has noted that persecution, fighting heresy, the need for established churches, and world evangelization were used by God to prompt the church to verbalize what books it already recognized as Scripture.

    When we survey how quickly the church received and recognized the New Testament books, we find that 20 of the 27 books were immediately and universally received and recognized before the end of the 1st century. Those twenty books are the four Gospels, Paul’s letters, 1 Peter, 1 John, and mostly the Book of Revelation. 

    The other seven books (Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2,3 John, Jude, and in a few cases, Revelation) were recognized and used by most churches in many parts of the Roman Empire by the end of the first century, with a few hold-outs trying to determine whether those books were inspired.

    The reader can note the above listing of the New Testament books. As for the overall development and formation of the New Testament canon itself, we can note the following observations.

1. The Gospels, Acts, and Paul’s letters were immediately recognized and put into use as Divine Scripture. As we’ve noted already, the Apostle Peter mentioned Paul’s letters as Scripture in 2 Peter 3:16 and Luke’s Gospel is quoted in 1 Timothy 5:18. 

    The citation of Luke’s Gospel carries with it the automatic acceptance of the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, being Luke had literary dependance on those first two Gospels, as well as his sequel to the Gospel of Luke – namely “Acts of the Apostles”. Also, John’s Gospel, his first letter, and Peter’s first letter came into immediate circulation and use as well. 

    The great church historian Eusebius called these books “those accepted by all”, without question, or what are deemed “homolegoumena” (confessed by all).

2. The General Epistles (Hebrews, James, 2,3 John, 2 Peter, Jude, and Revelation) were immediately accepted and used by most, with some quarters of the Western and Eastern church being cautious. According to the church historian Eusebius, these works were accepted by most, and gradually accepted by all, with a few initially disputing their legitimacy. The term “antilegoumena” is attributed to these books. 

    Thankfully the question of canonicity for these books did not last too long, persisting for only 50 years past the death of the Apostle John and being full recognized by all well within the middle to third quarter of the 100’s A.D. (second century).

    I could elaborate further here, but the interested listener may want to consult Eusebius’ Church History, Book 2, chapters 14 and 15 for the Gospels and Book 3, chapter 3 for the canonization of the New Testament letters and Revelation.

The Shape Of The New Testament Canon

    As for the "shape" or overall arrangement of the canon itself, you have the foundation, being the Four Gospels, corresponding to the Old Testament’s foundational books being that of the Law books or Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy). Then, you have a book of the history of the church, "Acts", which corresponds to the historical books of our Old Testament (Joshua to Esther). Thirdly, we see letters to the churches that stretch from Romans to Philemon and the eight general letters (Hebrews to Jude), which correspond to the “writings” or “poetic books” of the Old Testament (Job-Song of Solomon). Then of course we have the Book of Revelation, the final prophetic book of the New Testament, corresponding to those seventeen prophetic books in our Old Testaments (Isaiah to Malachi).

Closing thoughts:

    So, we have considered the recognition and formation of the New Testament canon. In the next post we will look at how the the formation of the New Testament Canon conveyed a certain, overall message about Jesus Christ and the Christian faith.

The Doctrine Of Scripture Series: How The New Testament Provides Clues For Its Canonization

Introduction:

    In this series thus far, we have introduced the subject of “the doctrine of Scripture”, followed by a message on how we got our Old Testament and the question of the Old Testament canon. In our last post, we touched upon the question of the so-called “Apocryphal books”. These fifteen books, though affirmed by the Roman Catholic Church as inspired by their use of the term “Deutero-canonical”, yet were demonstrated that, in the final analysis, they cannot be considered as part of the Old Testament canon. For those interested in seeing the last post, please click here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2022/10/the-doctrine-of-scripture-historical.html. 

    Having surveyed the issues surrounding the formation and completion of the Old Testament canon, we now turn our attention to the New Testament canon, its message, and why it matters.

The New Testament Canon.

    As we begin to study the beginning and formation of the New Testament canon, we can find evidence by looking at the New Testament documents themselves. As a reminder of what we mean by "canon", the term refers to those books that, being inspired by the Holy Spirit, are received, recognized, and used by ealry Christians as authoritative Scripture. In future posts we will examine "tests" or criteria used by early Christians to identify which books belong in the canon. As we saw in our posts on the Old Testament canon, canonicity is not a process of "kicking out" books which the church had to choose from a large body of literature to suit a certain orthodox agenda (a common assumption in skeptical scholarship). Rather, canonicity is recognizing which books are to be allowed in to a s relatively small collection of literature deemed as inspired. In time this important distinction will be discussed. For now, we turn our attention to how the process of canonicity was well underway before the close of the first century.

How the New Testament provides clues for its canonization.

    To anchor this post, let us turn to three passages that set the tone for our discussion of the New Testament Canon. The first is found in Luke 1:1-4 and the second is found in 1 Timothy 5:17-18. Luke’s Gospel was written in the early sixties’ of the first century. In his prologue (introduction), Luke claims to write an inerrant record.

“Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, 3 it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; 4 so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.”

    Amazingly, Paul would write only two years later in 1 Timothy 5:17-18 about "Elders", quoting Deuteronomy 25:4 and Luke 10:7 as Scripture.

“The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,” and “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”

    My point in mentioning the above Scriptures is to show that the canonization of the New Testament followed a similar pattern like we noted in our previous message on the Old Testament canon. 

    We see God’s revelation of Himself in the Person of the incarnate Son – Jesus Christ. Then, we see Jesus act redemptively in human history by His life, death, resurrection, and ascension. The beginning and growth of the New Testament canon is the Holy Spirit’s effort in expounding what Christ achieved, and how the church is to proclaim this message with twenty-seven inspired books crafted for each generation of the church to use until He returns. Note a third New Testament passage, 2 Peter 3:14-18.

“Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, 15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

    Peter’s writing of 2 Peter was in 66 A.D, only a couple of years before his death. We find evidence that all of Paul’s letters were already recognized and used as authoritative Scripture, considered on equal footing with the Old Testament Scriptures (designated by Peter as “the other Scriptures”).

Closing thoughts:
 

    We begin to consider the canonization of the New Testament books. The books themselves provide primary evidence concerning the beginnings of this process. In our next post, we will examine Jesus' promises to His disciples that would provide the underpinnings for the writing of the New Testament books.

    

The Doctrine Of Scripture: Historical Attitudes Toward The Apocrypha And Reasons Why They Are Not Divinely Inspired Scripture

Introduction:

    In the last two posts, we have introduced what are called "the Apocryphal books" and have offered a summary of them here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2022/10/the-doctrine-of-scripture-series.html and here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2022/10/the-doctrine-of-scripture-identifying.html. The term "Apocrypha" means "that which is hidden". Historically, this was thought to mean there were "hidden meanings" which were to be explored and found in the reading of them. In technical usage, "apocrypha" has come to represent any book that was not deemed as part of the canon of the Old Testament and in an even stronger sense, came to describe certain Gnostic Gospels and other literature which mimicked the New Testament canonical books.  In today's post we will close out our survey of the Apocryphal books by noting how they were viewed historically and reasons why they ought not be regarded as Divinely inspired books.

At first, popular, but not inspired. 

We have remarked in past posts about an influential Greek translation of the Old Testament called “The Septuagint”, which according to an accompanying letter prefacing the Septuagint called “The Letter of Aristeas” would have begun in 275 b.c. near Alexandria Egypt. I bring up the Septuagint because those who argue for the Apocrypha being inspired will note how the Apocryphal books are included in the copies of the Septuagint we have today. I have a copy of a critical edition of the Greek Septuagint in my library. The edition is based off of three 4th and 5th century A.D.Greek manuscripts of the Septuagint or Greek Old Testament, which of course contains the Apocryphal books. It is telling of course to note that when one surveys those three Greek manuscripts (called "Siniaticus", "Vaticanus", and "Alexandrinus"), they all don't contain the same amount of Apocryphal literature - which to me is very telling. 

    The one detail often missed by proponents of the Apocrypha is that the oldest complete manuscripts we have of the Septuagint derive from ancient book-like manuscripts called “a codex” (codices in the plural) from the fourth and fifth centuries. At best, this only proves that the Apocrypha were popular among the Christians, but most certainly does not prove they were regarded as inspired canon as the rest of the Old Testament books. Even if such books were in earlier manuscripts of the Septuagint, all it would prove is they were familiar to the Jewish people (much as we see in the Dead Sea Scrolls material, dated between the 3rd century b.c. to the times of Jesus in the first century). 

Some later thought they were inspired, but were inconsistent

As for the Jews, all the manuscript copies we have of the Hebrew Old Testament do not contain any of the Apocryphal books. I've aluded already to the famous Dead Sea Scrolls, however they are worth further commenting. The scrolls were discovered in the mid-1940’s in eleven caves around the Dead Sea region. Over the decades, it was found that the collection manuscripts of all the Old Testament canonical books (accept Esther), along with a few copies of the Apocrypha. All the Biblical books had some sort of commentary, yet none of the copies of the Apocrypha possessed a commentary. In the minds of the Essene Jews that lived around the Dead Sea in those days, there was a distinction between the canonical books and the Apocrypha. So, what about early Christianity? Certainly, we can find examples of the early church fathers quoting the Apocrypha from time to time. Yet, they never treat them the same as the canonical Old Testament books. 

         The Apocrypha became popular as a source for the devotional life of the early church, much like today where we have certain books written by A.W. Tozer or Oswald Chambers or Billy Graham that are devotional in nature. In the Middle Ages and Reformation, works such as Dantes "Divine Comedy" or Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" molded the minds of generations in thinking through certain themes of Christian life and piety. Such examples are good for personal use, yet would pale in comparison to the inspired, canonical books of the Old and New Testaments. 

         Even though there were local church councils that attempted to elevate the Apocrypha to the level of canon (such as the Synod of Hippo, 393 and two Councils of Carthage, 397 and 419 A.D.), their conclusions involved affirming differing parts of the collection of the Apocrypha. The Council of Hippo affirmed only half of the total number of Apocryphal books (minus the additions to Daniel and Esther). On April 8, 1546, the Roman Catholic Church Ecumenical Council of Trent affirmed the books of the Apocrypha that we have today in Catholic Bibles. Even in that pronouncement, Rome did not consider 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras, The Prayer of Manasseh, or Psalm 151 as canonical.   

The Reformers/Protestants affirmed the original view about the Apocrypha 

In the wake of the 16th century Protestant Reformation, the Reformers and the successors affirmed the 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament, all the while reaffirming that the Apocrypha were non-inspired. Martin Luther placed the Apocrypha after the New Testament in His German Translation. The Belgic Confession, Article 6, states the following about the Apocrypha, 

“The church may certainly read these books and learn from them as far as they agree with the canonical books.But they do not have such power and virtue that one could confirm from their testimony any point of faith or of the Christian religion. Much less can they detract from the authority of the other holy books.”

Conclusions: Why the Apocrypha are not the Word of God

From what we saw in the last point, the Protestant Bible of 39 Old Testament books (not 46) represents what was always understood by the ancient Jews and early Christians. We can respect the Apocrypha to a certain level. I find for instance much help in filling in the history of the 400 years between Malachi and Matthew when I read 1 Maccabees. I am touched by the martyrdom of seven Jewish sons before their mother’s eyes for refusing to compromise their Jewish faith in 2 Maccabees. The Jewish mind that wrote the “Song of the Three Holy Children” was pious in their imagination in speculating what Shadrach, Meschech, and Abdnedgo may had prayed when in the fiery furnace. Nevertheless, let me give you two reasons why we cannot accept these books as the Word of God.

1. There are no prophecies.

In my reading the Apocrypha, I never come away concluding that they are of the same caliber as the Old Testament canonical books. There is no prophecy in them (compare 1 Maccabees 9:27; 14:41). 1 Maccabees 9:27 “There was great tribulation in Israel, the like of which had not been since the time prophets ceased to appear among them” (New American Bible, revised edition). 1 Maccabees 14:41 “and that the Jewish people and their priests had decided the following: Simon shall be their leader and high priest forever until a trustworthy prophet arises”  (New American Bible, Revised Edition). The distinguished scholar Bruce Metzger has noted in his Annotated Edition of the Apocrypha that the phrase “thus says the Lord” never appears in any of the Apocrypha. In the canonical Old Testament books (i.e. our 39 books), this phrase “thus says the Lord” occurs over 3,000x. In the Canonical Old and New Testament books, we have 700-800 prophetic predictions, with two-thirds fulfilled already in history. The Apocrypha never contribute one prediction that is evidenced by historical fulfillment, let alone any that would point the way to the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. They contain errors in doctrine and history.

At times there are inaccuracies, such as Tobit mistaking the time of the Assyrian Empire for the Babylonian Empire that emerged 200 years after the fact, as well as teaching a form of salvation by works in Tobit 12:9. Greek Scholar Bruce Metzger edited an annotated edition of the Apocrypha, citing nearly ten inaccuracies in Tobit, drawing the conclusion that the book is a work of fiction, rather than history. 2 Maccabees 12:43-47 teaches offering prayers for the dead, a main reason for the Roman Catholic Church adopting it into its canon to support its doctrine of Purgatory developed in the Middle Ages.  The books of “Bel and the Dragon”, “The Song of the Three Holy Children”, “Judith” and “Susanna” are inserted by the Roman Catholic Church into the text of the Book of Daniel in their Bibles. These four books are to be taken as fictional records, rather than actual events. 

The Jews, Jesus and the Apostles, and the early church of the first 300 years never accepted them into the Old Testament Canon.

The Jewish philosopher Philo, a contemporary of Jesus, never once quoted the Apocrypha in all his writings, citing only the Old Testament canonical books. The Jewish historian Josephus, though quoting from the books of 1 and 2 Maccabees, uses them only for their historical value, and not as Scripture. In his book “Against Apion”, Josephus mentions the books which the Jews regarded as Scripture, corresponding to what would be our 39 book Old Testament Canon. Jesus never quoted the Apocrypha as Scripture, but only referred to the “Law and the Prophets and the Writings”, that is, the Hebrew Old Testament canon (see Luke 24:27,44). The New Testament contains not one quotation from the Apocrypha nor does it attach the well-known phrases “thus says the Lord” or “it is written” to any other sources is quotes outside the canonical Old Testament. This pattern persists into the early church as one reads a collection of early church writings known as “The Apostolic Church Fathers”.  

  Although we may use the Apocrypha as sources for better understanding what the Jews believed in between Malachi and Matthew, grasping the history of that 400 year period, and even enjoying a good bit of religious fiction, the Apocrypha ought never be used to establish doctrine nor ever be considered inspired Scripture that saves and feeds the soul.

The Doctrine of Scripture: Identifying And Summarizing The Apocryphal Books

Introduction:

    In our last post we introduced our next leg of our series on the Doctrine of Scripture - questions of the "Apocrypha". Interested readers may review the last post here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2022/10/the-doctrine-of-scripture-series.html. As we introduced the Apocrypha, we first noted that they were 15 books written in the 400 year span between the books of Malachi and Matthew. Jews and older generations of the Christian church called these volumes "Apocrypha", a word meaning "hidden". Before we dive into the question of whether or not these books are Divinely inspired, we need to first get details on what is in them. Below I have drawn up summaries of each of the Apocryphal books. 

What are the Apocrypha?

    As already mentioned at the beginning of today's post, the word "Apocrypha" means "that which is hidden" or "concealed". When Malachi penned his book under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 400 years passed until God would once again speak a word to men like Matthew to pen inspired scripture. In between the ending of Malachi and beginning of Matthew, history saw the rise and fall of four major world empires: Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome.

     During that period, the Jews wrote many sorts of Jewish writings, among them being a set of 15 non-inspired books of history and devotional reflection spanning from roughly 200 b.c. up until the days of Jesus. 

    I list below all of the Apocryphal books. For the purposes of this post, I’ll still use the term “Apocrypha”, since it is the older term and better describes what sort of books these are. For convenience, I’ll provide headings to aid in understanding the Apocrypha: Apocryphal books of history; Apocryphal books pertaining to religious or pious fiction; Additions to canonical books like Daniel, Esther, Jeremiah; and Apocryphal books that are devotional in nature.

Historical Apocryphal books.

1. 1st Esdras (called 3 Esdras originally), rejected by the Roman Catholic Church.

    This was written originally in Greek. It attempts to present an alternative summary of the last few chapters of 2 Chronicles, the whole book of Ezra, and nearly all of Nehemiah. Interestingly, it was not accepted by the Roman Catholic Church at the Council of Trent in 1546.

2. 2nd Esdras (also called “4th Esdras”). Rejected by the Roman Catholic Church.

    This is an apocalyptic or alleged prophetic book that is rejected by the Roman Catholic Church due to its denial of the doctrine of Purgatory.

3. 1 Maccabees (historical record of the Jewish opposition to Rome). Accepted by the Roman Catholic Church.

    This is among the better books of the Apocrypha, detailing the history of the Jews during their revolt against Antiochus Epiphanes beginning in 168 b.c. In Catholic Bibles, 1 Maccabees appears after Esther.

4. 2 Maccabees (historical account of Jews in the time after the Maccabean revolt). Accept by the R.C.C.

    This book is not meant as a sequel to 1 Maccabees. Much of its account centers on the preservation of the temple and piety of the Jews following the Maccabean revolt. It is found after 1 Maccabees in Catholic Bibles.

Historical/Religious Fiction

5. Tobit Accepted by the Roman Catholic Church.

    (Though presented as history, Tobit’s errors and exaggerations would be better termed “religious fiction”. It tells the story of a Jewish man by the name of Tobit that attempts to live a life of moral piety). The Roman Catholic Church accepts this book because it teaches prayers for the dead. Its errors include teaching salvation through works (12:9) and historical inaccuracies which make the main character to be over 200 years old, even though he is claimed to had lived for 158 years. This book appears after Nehemiah in Roman Catholic Bibles.

6. Judith , Accepted by the Roman Catholic Church.

    This tells the story of a Jewish Heroine leading her people to victory over an enemy. Judith appears after Tobit and before Esther in Catholic Bibles.

Additions to the books of Daniel, Esther, and Jeremiah.

7. Bel and the Dragon , Accepted by the Roman Catholic Church.

    An alleged addition to the Book of Daniel that contains a legendary fictional account set in the time of Daniel about the slaying of a dragon. It is considered as chapter 14 of the canonical book of Daniel in Catholic Bibles.

8. The Song of the Three Holy Children , Accept by the Roman Catholic Church.

    An alleged addtion to the Book of Daniel. This is accepted by the R.C.C. and recalls a vivid, moving, but fictional tale of the prayers said by Shadrach, Meshech, and Abendego in the fiery furnace. It is inserted in Daniel 3:23-90 as a supplement to the account of Nebuchadnezzar’s casting of the three Hebrew youths into the fiery furnace.

9. Susanna. Accepted by the Roman Catholic Church.

    This fictional addition to Daniel details the heroism of a Jewess named Susanna. It appears as chapter 13 in the Canonical Book of Daniel.

10. Additions to Esther , Accepted by the Roman Catholic Church.

    These additions amount to 107 extra verses that are distributed throughout the Book of Esther in Catholic versions of the book. The Greek Septuagint version of Esther is longer than the Hebrew version which exists in the Hebrew Old Testament and Protestant Bibles. The Roman Catholic Church accepts these additions as canonical and have included them throughout the portions of Esther that match their contents.

11. Book of Baruch (an alleged addition to Jeremiah), Accepted by the Roman Catholic Church

    This is a short book that is alleged composed by Jeremiah’s assistant Baruch. It is placed after Lamentations in Catholic Bibles. The sixth chapter of “The Book of Baruch” is actually another small Apocryphal Book called “The Letter to Jeremiah”. It is often included in copies of “The Book of Baruch”.

12. Letter of Jeremiah (usually counted as part of the Book of Baruch). Accepted by the Roman Catholic Church.

Devotional Apocryphal books

13. Prayer of Manasseh, Not accepted by the Roman Catholic Church.

    Supposed prayer of repentance prayed by the biblical King Manasseh that we read of in 2 Chronicles 33.

14. Wisdom of Solomon (also called “Wisdom”), accepted by the Roman Catholic Church.

    This book mimics the Book of Proverbs. It is found after the Canonical Song of Solomon.

15. Ecclesiasticus (also called ‘Sirach”, accepted by the Roman Catholic Church.

    This is a Jewish Philosophical work trying to prove the Jewish faith from reason. It is found after the Apocryphal book of Wisdom and prior to the canonical Book of Isaiah.

Closing thoughts:

    Today we summarized the Apocryphal books. In the next post we will purse the question of how we can know whether or not they are Divinely inspired, as well as trace the history of how they were regarded as a collection of books. 

The Doctrine Of Scripture Series - Introducing The Apocryphal Books

Introduction:

    To anchor ourselves in today's post, let me reference Romans 3:1-5,

“Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? 2 Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3 What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? 4 May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written, ‘That You may be justified in Your words, And prevail when You are judged.’

    Paul references God having gave the Jews what he calls “the oracles of God”. The text before us is concerned about what salvation is, and what God uses to bring it about. Paul identifies what salvation is by noting what it is not, gaining God’s approval by good works. Instead, He argues towards the end of Romans 3 that salvation is received through faith alone because of God’s grace won for us by Christ. 

    So how does God bring salvation about? God in the Person of the Holy Spirit works conviction in the sinner’s heart by means of the Scriptures. Of course, it is imperative that we have the right books, the right words, otherwise salvation will not come about, which is why the issue of Canon is so important.

1. The importance of knowing which books are the words of God.

    You will notice Paul uses an interesting – “the oracles of God”. The word “oracles” translates an underlying Greek term meaning “spoken words”. It is one of the strongest terms for defining what sort of book the Bible claims to be. To know which books are the inspired words of God is the concern of conversations about the subject of “canonicity”. This phrase “oracles” pertains to the Hebrew Bible or what we call the Old Testament Canon, with the familiar 39 books of our English Bibles (having been 22 or 24 books in the Hebrew Bible, same contents, with some of the Bible books combined together, thus the difference in numbering). In this series of posts, we have looked at the doctrine of Divine inspiration of the Bible and issues surrounding the Canonicity of the Old Testament. For those curious about such matters, or those with either a Roman Catholic background or having family or friends in the Roman Catholic Church, these next several posts will hopefully prove informative. As we noted in the last post, the question of canonicity deals directly with two issues.

A. Ultimate authority is the first issue when discussing canonicity.

    First, there is the matter of Biblical authority. Notice what Paul writes again in Romans 3:4 "May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written, ‘That You may be justified in Your words, And prevail when You are judged.’ Who is to say what governs the spiritual lives of Christians? Does the Church formulate the Canon, and thus hold authority over which books belong? Or do the inspired books of the Bible themselves bear marks of their inspiration and consequently lead to recognition, acceptance, and use in the forming and growth of the Church? 

    I would contend that it is the inspired books of the canon of the Old Testament (39 canonical, inspired books, not the so-called non-inspired "Apocryphal books", which I'll argue for in later posts), coupled with Jesus’ resurrection, that were the twin foundations responsible for the Holy Spirit’s birth of the Church. Whenever one studies the roughly 20 sermons and addresses of the Apostles and their associates in the Acts of the Apostles, this two-fold foundation of Scripture and Christ's resurrection provide the means for the Spirit's work in the early church. 

    As The Holy Spirit worked through the New Testament Apostles and their associates to write the New Testament books, the growth and expansion of the church were by-products of the composition, recognition, and gradual usage of the New Testament books. Those New Testament Gospels, letters, and the Apocalypse of John would come to function alongside the already established canon of the Old Testament. In future posts, we will eventually get to the equally fascinating subject of the New Testament canon, its development, and function in the early church. For now, we return back to our discussion of the canonicity of the Old Testament, and the question of the Apocryphal literature written between Malachi and Matthew. 

B. Understanding which books are inspired is the second issue when discussing canonicity.

    Canonicity not only touches upon the matter of authority, but also in answering the question “which books are the inspired books”. This matter of inspiration, or what Norman Geisler refers to as “propheticity”, is the key issue in defining the contents and limits of the canon. Which books have the final say in matters of faith, practice, this life, and the life to follow? Far from just a academic curiosity, the question of canon affects the lives of millions of God’s people. With these interrelated matters of “authority” and “inspiration” governing how we discuss the importance of “canon”, we come to the topic of these next several posts concerning the so-called "Apocryphal Books" (or what Roman Catholics call "Deuterocanonical Books", meaning "second canonical books"). 

Closing thoughts for today

    For now I leave the reader with two thoughts. First, for an introductory post I've written in the past on this subject of the Apocryphal books, readers are invited to click here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2015/02/p16-why-bible-has-66-books-defining-and.html Secondly, the diagram below lists out the Apocryphal books for the reader's reference. Next time we will explore a more detailed description of each of these books, as well as summarizing how they were regarded in Jewish and Church history.