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.