Read Apocrapha in a Year Reading Plan Pdf

Works of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin

The apocryphal letter of Sultan Mehmed 2 to the Pope ( Notes et extraits pour servir à l'histoire des croisades au XVe siècle ), published by Nicolas Jorga. Series 4: 1453–1476, Paris; Bucarest, 1915, pages 126–127

Apocrypha (Ancient Greek: ἀπόκρυφος, 'the subconscious [things]') are the biblical books received past the early Church building as part of the Greek version of the Old Attestation, but not included in the Hebrew Bible, beingness excluded past the non-Hellenistic Jews from their canon. Their position in Christian usage has been ambiguous.^[1]

There are several levels of dubiety inside the general concept of apocryphal works in Judeo-Christian biblical writings. Apocrypha per se are outside the Hebrew Bible catechism, non considered divinely inspired simply regarded every bit worthy of written report by the true-blue.^[2] Pseudepigrapha are spurious works ostensibly written past a biblical effigy. Deuterocanonical works are those that are accepted in 1 canon simply not in all.^[three]

Biblical apocrypha are a set up of texts included in the Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, only non in the Hebrew Bible. While the Catholic tradition considers seven of these books to be deuterocanonical, Protestants consider 14 intertestamental books equally Apocrypha, that is, not-approved books that are useful for instruction.^{[4] [2]} Luther's Bible placed them in a split up section called the Apocrypha, setting the pattern for subsequent versions of 80 book Protestant Bibles that include the Old Testament, Apocrypha and New Testament.^{[5] [half dozen]}

Other non-canonical apocryphal texts are generally called pseudepigrapha, a term that means "false attribution".^[seven]

Etymology [edit]

The discussion's origin is the Medieval Latin describing word apocryphus , 'secret, or non-canonical', from the Greek adjective ἀπόκρυφος (apokryphos), 'obscure', from the verb ἀποκρύπτειν (apokryptein), 'to hide away'.^[8]

Apocrypha is a plural word (singular: apocryphon) that originally denoted hidden or secret writings, to be read only by initiates into a given Christian grouping.^[9] It comes from Greek and is formed from the combination of apo (away) and kryptein (hide or muffle).^[10]

The give-and-take apocrypha has undergone a major modify in meaning throughout the centuries. The discussion apocrypha originally meant a text too sacred and secret to be in everyone's hands,^[10] and this usage is seen in the title of works such as the Apocryphon of John.

Esoteric writings and objects [edit]

The word apocryphal ( ἀπόκρυφος ) was first applied to writings which were kept secret^[eleven] considering they were the vehicles of esoteric cognition considered likewise profound or as well sacred to be disclosed to anyone other than the initiated. For instance, the disciples of the Gnostic Prodicus boasted that they possessed the hugger-mugger ( ἀπόκρυφα ) books of Zoroaster. The term in general enjoyed high consideration among the Gnostics (meet Acts of Thomas, pp. 10, 27, 44).^[12]

Sinologist Anna Seidel refers to texts and even items produced by ancient Chinese sages as apocryphal and studied their uses during Half dozen Dynasties Cathay (A.D. 220 to 589). These artifacts were used as symbols legitimizing and guaranteeing the Emperor'due south Heavenly Mandate. Examples of these include talismans, charts, writs, tallies, and registers. The kickoff examples were stones, jade pieces, bronze vessels and weapons, simply came to include talismans and magic diagrams.^[13]

From their roots in Zhou era China (1066 to 256 BC), these items came to exist surpassed in value by texts by the Han dynasty (206 BC to AD 220). Most of these texts have been destroyed as Emperors, especially during the Han dynasty, collected these legitimizing objects and proscribed, forbade and burnt nearly all of them to forbid them from falling into the hands of political rivals.^[13]

Writings of questionable value [edit]

Apocrypha was also applied to writings that were subconscious not because of their divinity only because of their questionable value to the church. The early on Christian theologian Origen, in his Commentaries on Matthew, distinguishes between writings which were read by the churches and apocryphal writings: γραφὴ μὴ φερομένη μέν ἒν τοῖς κοινοῖς καὶ δεδημοσιευμένοις βιβλίοις εἰκὸς δ' ὅτι ἒν ἀποκρύφοις φερομένη (writing not institute in the mutual and published books on ane hand [and] actually institute in the clandestine ones on the other).^[14] The meaning of αποκρυφος is here practically equivalent to "excluded from the public utilize of the church" and prepares the style for an even less favourable use of the word.^[12]

Spurious writings [edit]

In full general utilize, the give-and-take apocrypha came to hateful "of doubtful authenticity".^[15] This pregnant also appears in Origen'southward prologue to his commentary on the Vocal of Songs, of which just the Latin translation survives:

De scripturis his, quae appellantur apocriphae, pro eo quod multa in iis corrupta et contra fidem veram inveniuntur a maioribus tradita not placuit iis dari locum nec admitti ad auctoritatem. ^[12]

"Concerning these scriptures, which are called apocryphal, for the reason that many things are found in them corrupt and against the true faith handed downwardly by the elders, information technology has pleased them that they not exist given a place nor exist admitted to authority."

Other [edit]

The Gelasian Decree (generally held now as existence the work of an bearding scholar betwixt 519 and 553) refers to religious works by church building fathers Eusebius, Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria as apocrypha. Augustine defined the word equally meaning simply "obscurity of origin", implying that any volume of unknown authorship or questionable actuality would be considered apocryphal. Jerome in Prologus Galeatus declared that all books outside the Hebrew canon were apocryphal. In practice, Jerome treated some books outside the Hebrew catechism equally if they were canonical, and the Western Church did non accept Jerome's definition of apocrypha, instead retaining the word'southward prior meaning.^[12] Every bit a result, various church regime labeled different books every bit apocrypha, treating them with varying levels of regard.

Origen stated that "the canonical books, as the Hebrews have handed them downwardly, are twenty-two".^[16] Clement and others cited some apocryphal books as "scripture," "divine scripture," "inspired," and the like. Teachers connected with Palestine and familiar with the Hebrew canon (the protocanon) excluded from the canon all of the One-time Testament not found there. This view is reflected in the canon of Melito of Sardis, and in the prefaces and letters of Jerome. A tertiary view was that the books were non as valuable as the canonical scriptures of the Hebrew collection, but were of value for moral uses, every bit introductory texts for new converts from paganism, and to be read in congregations. They were referred to equally "ecclesiastical" works by Rufinus.^[12]

In 1546, the Catholic Quango of Trent reconfirmed the canon of Augustine, dating to the second and third centuries, declaring "He is too to be anathema who does not receive these entire books, with all their parts, as they take been accustomed to exist read in the Catholic Church, and are found in the ancient editions of the Latin Vulgate, equally sacred and approved." The whole of the books in question, with the exception of 1 Esdras and 2 Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh, were alleged canonical at Trent.^[12]

The Protestants, in comparison, were diverse in their stance of the deuterocanon early on on. Some considered them divinely inspired, others rejected them. Lutherans and Anglicans retained the books as Christian intertestamental readings and a function of the Bible (in a section called "Apocrypha"), but no doctrine should exist based on them.^[17] John Wycliffe, a 14th-century Christian Humanist, had declared in his biblical translation that "whatever book is in the Old Testament besides these 20-v shall be set up among the apocrypha, that is, without authority or conventionalities."^[12] All the same, his translation of the Bible included the apocrypha and the Epistle of the Laodiceans.^[xviii]

Martin Luther did not class apocryphal books as existence scripture, just in the German Luther Bible (1534) the apocrypha are published in a split up section from the other books, although the Lutheran and Anglican lists are dissimilar. Anabaptists utilize the Luther Bible, which contains the intertestamental books; Amish wedding ceremonies include "the retelling of the marriage of Tobias and Sarah in the Apocrypha".^[19] The fathers of Anabaptism, such as Menno Simmons, quoted "them [the Apocrypha] with the same authority and about the same frequency as books of the Hebrew Bible" and the texts regarding the martyrodms under Antiochus 4 in 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees are held in loftier esteem by the Anabaptists, who faced persecution in their history.^[20]

In Reformed editions (like the Westminster), readers were warned that these books were non "to be whatsoever otherwise approved or made use of than other homo writings". A milder stardom was expressed elsewhere, such as in the "argument" introducing them in the Geneva Bible, and in the Sixth Article of the Church of England, where it is said that "the other books the church doth read for instance of life and instruction of manners," though non to establish doctrine.^[12] Among some Nonconformists, the term counterfeit began to accept on extra or altered connotations: not just of dubious authenticity, but having spurious or faux content,^[21] Protestants, being diverse in theological views, were (and are) not unanimous in adopting those meanings.^{[22] [23] [two]}

Generally, Anabaptists and magisterial Protestants recognize the 14 books of the Apocrypha as existence non-canonical, but useful for reading "for example of life and education of manners": a view that continues today throughout the Lutheran Church building, the worldwide Anglican Communion, amid many other denominations, such as the Methodist Churches and Quaker Yearly Meetings.^{[22] [23] [2]} Liturgically, the Catholic, Methodist and Anglican churches have a scripture reading from the Book of Tobit in services of Holy Union.^[24]

According to the Orthodox Anglican Church:

On the other paw, the Anglican Communion emphatically maintains that the Apocrypha is part of the Bible and is to be read with respect by her members. Two of the hymns used in the American Prayer Volume office of Morning Prayer, the Benedictus es and Benedicite, are taken from the Apocrypha. 1 of the offertory sentences in Holy Communion comes from an counterfeit book (Tob. iv: viii–9). Lessons from the Apocrypha are regularly appointed to be read in the daily, Dominicus, and special services of Morning and Evening Prayer. There are birthday 111 such lessons in the latest revised American Prayer Book Lectionary [The books used are: Two Esdras, Tobit, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, Iii Holy Children, and I Maccabees.] The position of the Church is best summarized in the words of Article Six of the Thirty-nine Manufactures: "In the proper noun of Holy Scripture we do understand those approved Books of the Old and New Attestation, of whose authority there was never any doubt in the Church... And the other Books (as Hierome [St. Jerome] saith) the Church building doth read for example of life and instruction of manners; but nevertheless doth it non use them to establish whatsoever doctrine.^[25]

Though Protestant Bibles historically include eighty books, 66 of these form the Protestant catechism (such every bit listed in the Westminster Confession of 1646),^{[five] [26]} which has been well established for centuries, with many today supporting the use of the Apocrypha and others contending against the Apocrypha using various arguments.^{[five] [27] [28]}

Metaphorical usage [edit]

The describing word apocryphal is commonly used in modernistic English language to refer to any text or story considered to be of dubious veracity or authorisation, although information technology may incorporate some moral truth. In this broader metaphorical sense, the word suggests a merits that is in the nature of folklore, factoid or urban legend.

Buddhism [edit]

Counterfeit Jatakas of the Pāli Canon, such as those belonging to the Paññāsajātaka collection, accept been adapted to fit local civilisation in sure Southeast Asian countries and accept been retold with amendments to the plots to ameliorate reflect Buddhist morals.^{[29] [thirty]}

Within the Pali tradition, the counterfeit Jatakas of later composition (some dated even to the 19th century) are treated as a separate category of literature from the "official" Jataka stories that accept been more than-or-less formally canonized from at to the lowest degree the 5th century—as attested to in ample epigraphic and archaeological evidence, such as extant illustrations in bas relief from ancient temple walls.

Judaism [edit]

The Jewish apocrypha, known in Hebrew equally הספרים החיצונים (Sefarim Hachizonim: "the outer books"), are books written in big office by Jews, particularly during the Second Temple catamenia, non accepted equally sacred manuscripts when the Hebrew Bible was canonized. Some of these books are considered sacred past some Christians, and are included in their versions of the Old Testament. The Jewish apocrypha is distinctive from the New Testament apocrypha and biblical apocrypha every bit it is the only 1 of these collections which works within a Jewish theological framework.^[31]

Although Orthodox Jews believe in the exclusive canonization of the current 24 books in the Hebrew Bible, they also consider the Oral Torah, which they believe was handed downwardly from Moses, to be authoritative. Some argue that the Sadducees, unlike the Pharisees but similar the Samaritans, seem to have maintained an earlier and smaller number of texts as canonical, preferring to concur to only what was written in the Law of Moses (the Torah),^[32] making nigh of the presently accepted canon, both Jewish and Christian, apocryphal in their eyes.^{[ citation needed ]} Others believe that it is oftentimes mistakenly asserted that the Sadducees only accepted the Pentateuch (Torah).^[33] The Essenes in Judea and the Therapeutae in Egypt were said to have a underground literature (see Dead Sea scrolls).^{[ citation needed ]}

Other traditions maintained different customs regarding canonicity.^[34] The Ethiopian Jews, for instance, seem to have retained a spread of canonical texts similar to the Ethiopian Orthodox Christians.^{[35] [36]}

Christianity [edit]

Intertestamental books [edit]

Copies of the Luther Bible include the deuterocanonical books as an intertestamental section between the Old Testament and New Testament; they are termed the "Apocrypha" in Christian Churches having their origins in the Reformation.

The contents page in a consummate 80 book King James Bible, listing "The Books of the Old Testament", "The Books called Apocrypha", and "The Books of the New Testament".

During the Apostolic Age many Jewish texts of Hellenistic origin existed within Judaism and were oft used past Christians. Patristic government frequently recognized these books every bit of import to the emergence of Christianity, merely the inspired authority and value of the apocrypha remained widely disputed.^{[ commendation needed ]} Christians included several of these books in the canons of the Christian Bibles, calling them the "apocrypha" or the "subconscious books".^{[ citation needed ]}

In the sixteenth century, during the Protestant Reformation, the canonical validity of the intertestamental books was challenged and xiv books were classed in 80 book Protestant Bibles as an intertestamental department called the Apocrypha, which straddles the Onetime Testament and New Testament. Prior to 1629, all English-linguistic communication Protestant Bibles included the Former Testament, Apocrypha, and New Testament; examples include the "Matthew's Bible (1537), the Keen Bible (1539), the Geneva Bible (1560), the Bishop's Bible (1568), and the King James Bible (1611)".^[v]

Fourteen out of eighty biblical books comprise the Protestant Apocrypha, get-go published as such in Luther's Bible (1534). Many of these texts are considered canonical Sometime Testament books past the Catholic Church, affirmed by the Council of Rome (Ad 382) and after reaffirmed by the Council of Trent (1545–63); all of the books of the Protestant Apocrypha are considered canonical past the Eastern Orthodox Church and are referred to as anagignoskomena per the Synod of Jerusalem (1672). To this date, scripture readings from the Apocrypha are included in the lectionaries of the Lutheran Churches and the Anglican Churches.^[37]

Anabaptists use the Luther Bible, which contains the intertestamental books; Amish wedding ceremonies include "the retelling of the matrimony of Tobias and Sarah in the Apocrypha".^[19] The Anglican Communion accepts the Protestant Apocrypha "for instruction in life and manners, but not for the establishment of doctrine (Article Six in the Thirty-Nine Articles)",^[38] and many "lectionary readings in The Book of Common Prayer are taken from the Apocrypha", with these lessons existence "read in the same ways equally those from the Old Testament".^[39]

The offset Methodist liturgical book, The Sunday Service of the Methodists, employs verses from the Apocrypha, such as in the Eucharistic liturgy.^[23] The Protestant Apocrypha contains three books (1 Esdras, 2 Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh) that are accepted past many Eastern Orthodox Churches and Oriental Orthodox Churches as canonical, but are regarded as non-canonical by the Catholic Church and are therefore not included in mod Cosmic Bibles.^[6]

In the 1800s, the British and Strange Bible Society did non regularly publish the intertestamental section in its Bibles, citing the cost of printing the Apocrypha in addition to the Quondam Testament and New Testament as a major factor; this legacy came to characterize English-language Bibles in Great Britain and the Americas, different in Europe where Protestant Bibles are printed with 80 books in 3 sections: the Old Testament, Apocrypha, and New Testament.^{[forty] [41]}

In the present-day, "English language Bibles with the Apocrypha are becoming more than pop again", usually being printed as intertestamental books.^[v] The Revised Common Lectionary, in use by well-nigh mainline Protestants including Methodists and Moravians, lists readings from the Apocrypha in the liturgical calendar, although alternate One-time Testament scripture lessons are provided.^[42]

The condition of the deuterocanonicals remains unchanged in Catholic and Orthodox Christianity, though in that location is a deviation in number of these books between these two branches of Christianity.^[43] Some regime began using term deuterocanonical to refer to this traditional intertestamental collection equally books of "the second canon".^[44] These books are oftentimes seen equally helping to explain the theological and cultural transitions which took place between the Onetime and New Testaments. They are as well sometimes called "intertestamental" by religious groups who do not recognize Hellenistic Judaism equally belonging with either Jewish or Christian testaments.^{[ citation needed ]}

Slightly varying collections of apocryphal, deuterocanonical or intertestamental books of the Bible form office of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox canons. The deuterocanonical or intertestamental books of the Cosmic Church include Tobit, Judith, Baruch, Sirach, i Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Wisdom and additions to Esther, Daniel, and Baruch.

The Book of Enoch is included in the biblical catechism of the Oriental Orthodox churches of Federal democratic republic of ethiopia and Eritrea. The Epistle of Jude alludes to a story in the book of Enoch, and some believe the use of this book besides appears in the 4 gospels and 1 Peter.^{[45] [46]} However, while Jesus and his disciples quoted books of the Apocrypha,^[47] the Book of Enoch was never referenced by Jesus. The genuineness and inspiration of Enoch were believed in by the writer of the Epistle of Barnabas, Irenaeus, Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria^[12] and much of the early church. The epistles of Paul and the gospels besides show influences from the Book of Jubilees, which is part of the Ethiopian canon, as well as the Assumption of Moses and the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, which are included in no biblical canon.

Canonicity [edit]

The institution of a largely settled uniform canon was a process of centuries, and what the term canon (as well as apocrypha) precisely meant also saw development. The canonical process took place with believers recognizing writings as beingness inspired by God from known or accustomed origins, subsequently being followed past official affidavit of what had become largely established through the study and debate of the writings.^[21]

The start ecclesiastical decree on the Cosmic Church's canonical books of the Sacred Scriptures is attributed to the Council of Rome (382), and is correspondent to that of Trent.^[48] Martin Luther, like Jerome, favored the Masoretic canon for the Sometime Testament, excluding apocryphal books in the Luther Bible as unworthy to be properly called scripture, but included well-nigh of them in a separate section.^[49] Luther did not include the deuterocanonical books in his Quondam Attestation, terming them "Apocrypha, that are books which are not considered equal to the Holy Scriptures, but are useful and skilful to read."^[fifty]

The Eastern Orthodox Church accepts a few more books^{[ which? ]} than announced in the Catholic canon.

Disputes [edit]

The status of the books which the Catholic Church terms Deuterocanonicals (second canon) and Protestantism refers to as Apocrypha has been an issue of disagreement which preceded the Reformation. Many believe that the pre-Christian-era Jewish translation (into Greek) of holy scriptures known as the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures originally compiled around 280 BC, originally included the counterfeit writings in dispute, with little distinction fabricated between them and the rest of the Old Testament. Others contend that the Septuagint of the first century did not contain these books just they were added later by Christians.^{[51] [52]}

The primeval extant manuscripts of the Septuagint are from the quaternary century, and suffer profoundly from a lack of uniformity as regards containing counterfeit books,^{[53] [54] [55]} and some as well contain books classed equally pseudepigrapha, from which texts were cited by some early writers in the second and later centuries every bit being scripture.^[21]

While a few scholars conclude that the Jewish canon was the achievement of the Hasmonean dynasty,^[56] it is by and large considered non to have been finalized until about 100 Advertizement^[57] or somewhat later, at which fourth dimension considerations of Greek language and beginnings of Christian credence of the Septuagint weighed confronting some of the texts. Some were not accepted by the Jews as part of the Hebrew Bible canon and the Apocrypha is non part of the historical Jewish catechism^{[ clarification needed ]}.

Early church fathers such equally Athanasius, Melito, Origen, and Cyril of Jerusalem, spoke against the canonicity of much or all of the apocrypha,^[51] just the most weighty opposition was the 4th century Cosmic scholar Jerome who preferred the Hebrew catechism, whereas Augustine and others preferred the wider (Greek) catechism,^[58] with both having followers in the generations that followed. The Catholic Encyclopedia states as regards the Middle Ages,

In the Latin Church, all through the Middle Ages [5th century to the 15th century] we find evidence of hesitation about the character of the deuterocanonicals. At that place is a current friendly to them, another one distinctly unfavourable to their authority and sacredness, while wavering between the two are a number of writers whose veneration for these books is tempered by some perplexity as to their exact continuing, and among those nosotros annotation St. Thomas Aquinas. Few are found to unequivocally acknowledge their canonicity.

The prevailing attitude of Western medieval authors is substantially that of the Greek Fathers.^[59]

The wider Christian catechism accepted by Augustine became the more established canon in the western Church^[lx] after being promulgated for employ in the Easter Letter of Athanasius (circa 372 A.D.), the Synod of Rome (382 A.D., but its Decretum Gelasianum is generally considered to be a much subsequently addition^[61] ) and the local councils of Carthage and Hippo in north Africa (391 and 393 A.D). Athanasius called approved all books of the Hebrew Bible including Baruch, while excluding Esther. He adds that "there are certain books which the Fathers had appointed to be read to catechumens for edification and pedagogy; these are the Wisdom of Solomon, the Wisdom of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Esther, Judith, Tobias, the Didache, or Doctrine of the Apostles, and the Shepherd of Hermas. All others are apocrypha and the inventions of heretics (Festal Epistle for 367)".^[62]

Nevertheless, none of these constituted indisputable definitions, and significant scholarly doubts and disagreements well-nigh the nature of the Apocrypha continued for centuries and fifty-fifty into Trent,^{[63] [64] [65]} which provided the first infallible definition of the Catholic canon in 1546.^{[66] [67]} This catechism came to run into appropriately 1,000 years of nearly uniform use by the bulk, even afterward the 11th-century schism that separated the church into the branches known as the Roman Cosmic and Eastern Orthodox churches.

In the 16th century, the Protestant reformers challenged the canonicity of the books and partial-books found in the surviving Septuagint only not in the Masoretic Text. In response to this claiming, later the death of Martin Luther (Feb 8, 1546) the ecumenical Quango of Trent officially ("infallibly") declared these books (called "deuterocanonical" by Catholics) to be function of the canon in Apr, 1546 A.D.^{[ citation needed ]} While the Protestant Reformers rejected the parts of the catechism that were not part of the Hebrew Bible, they included the iv New Attestation books Luther considered of doubtful canonicity along with the Apocrypha in his not-binding Luther'southward canon (although nigh were separately included in his Bible,^[21] every bit they were in some editions of the KJV bible until 1947).^[68]

Protestantism therefore established a 66 book canon with the 39 books based on the ancient Hebrew catechism, along with the traditional 27 books of the New Testament. Protestants too rejected the Catholic term "deuterocanonical" for these writings, preferring to employ the term "counterfeit" which was already in use for other early and disputed writings. As today (just along with other reasons),^[51] diverse reformers argued that those books independent doctrinal or other errors and thus should not have been added to the canon for that reason. The differences between canons can be seen under Biblical canon and Development of the Christian biblical canon.

Explaining the Eastern Orthodox Church's canon is fabricated difficult because of differences of perspective with the Roman Catholic church building in the interpretation of how it was done. Those differences (in matters of jurisdictional dominance) were contributing factors in the separation of the Roman Catholics and Orthodox around 1054, but the formation of the canon which Trent would later officially definitively settle was largely complete by the 5th century, in not settled, six centuries before the separation.^{[ citation needed ]} In the eastern part of the church, it took much of the 5th century likewise to come to agreement, but in the end it was accomplished. The canonical books thus established by the undivided church became the predominant canon for what was after to get Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox akin.^{[ citation needed ]}

The East already differed from the West in not considering every question of catechism nonetheless settled, and information technology subsequently adopted a few more books into its Former Testament. It also allowed consideration of yet a few more than to go along not fully decided, which led in some cases to adoption in one or more jurisdictions, but non all. Thus, in that location are today a few remaining differences of canon among Orthodox, and all Orthodox accept a few more than books than announced in the Cosmic canon. The Psalms of Solomon, 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, the Epistle of Jeremiah the Book of Odes, the Prayer of Manasseh and Psalm 151 are included in some copies of the Septuagint,^[69] some of which are accepted as canonical by Eastern Orthodox and another churches. Protestants accept none of these additional books as canon, just see them having roughly the same condition as the other Apocrypha.^{[ citation needed ]}

New Testament apocrypha [edit]

New Testament apocrypha—books like to those in the New Testament simply most universally rejected past Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants—include several gospels and lives of apostles. Some were written by early Jewish Christians (see the Gospel according to the Hebrews). Others of these were produced by Gnostic authors or members of other groups later on defined as heterodox. Many texts believed lost for centuries were unearthed in the 19th and 20th centuries, producing lively speculation about their importance in early Christianity among religious scholars,^{[ citation needed ]} while many others survive only in the class of quotations from them in other writings; for some, no more than the title is known. Artists and theologians have drawn upon the New Testament apocrypha for such matters as the names of Dismas and Gestas and details about the Three Wise Men. The first explicit mention of the perpetual virginity of Mary is found in the pseudepigraphical Infancy Gospel of James.

Before the fifth century, the Christian writings that were so under discussion for inclusion in the canon merely had not withal been accepted were classified in a group known as the ancient antilegomenae. These were all candidates for the New Testament and included several books which were somewhen accepted, such equally: The Epistle to the Hebrews, 2 Peter, 3 John and the Revelation of John (Apocalypse). None of those accustomed books tin exist considered Apocryphal now, since all Christendom accepts them as canonical. Of the uncanonized ones, the Early on Church considered some heretical but viewed others quite well.^[12]

Some Christians, in an extension of the meaning, might also consider the non-heretical books to be "counterfeit" forth the way of Martin Luther: not canon, but useful to read. This category includes books such as the Epistle of Barnabas, the Didache, and The Shepherd of Hermas which are sometimes referred to as the Apostolic Fathers. The Gnostic tradition was a prolific source of apocryphal gospels.^[12]

While these writings borrowed the characteristic poetic features of apocalyptic literature from Judaism, Gnostic sects largely insisted on allegorical interpretations based on a hole-and-corner apostolic tradition. With them, these apocryphal books were highly esteemed. A well-known Gnostic apocryphal volume is the Gospel of Thomas, the only complete text of which was found in the Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. The Gospel of Judas, a Gnostic gospel, also received much media attention when it was reconstructed in 2006.

Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians also every bit Protestants generally agree on the canon of the New Testament, see Development of the New Attestation canon. The Ethiopian Orthodox have in the past as well included I & 2 Clement and Shepherd of Hermas in their New Testament canon.

List of Sixty [edit]

The List of Sixty, dating to around the seventh century, lists the threescore books of the Bible. The unknown writer also lists several apocryphal books that are not included amongst the threescore. These books are:^[7]

• Adam
• Enoch
• Lamech
• Twelve Patriarchs
• Prayer of Joseph
• Eldad and Modad
• Testament of Moses
• Supposition of Moses
• Psalms of Solomon
• Apocalypse of Elijah
• Ascension of Isaiah
• Apocalypse of Zephaniah
• Apocalypse of Zechariah
• Apocalyptic Ezra
• History of James
• Apocalypse of Peter
• Itinerary and Didactics of the Apostles
• Epistle of Barnabas
• Acts of Paul
• Apocalypse of Paul
• Didascalia of Clement
• Didascalia of Ignatius
• Didascalia of Polycarp
• Gospel According to Barnabas^[a]
• Gospel Co-ordinate to Matthew^[b]

Taoism [edit]

Prophetic texts chosen the Ch'an-wei (zh:讖緯) were written by Han Dynasty (206 BC to AD 220) Taoist priests to legitimize likewise every bit adjourn purple power.^[13] They deal with treasure objects that were part of the Zhou (1066 to 256 BC) regal treasures. Emerging from the instability of the Warring States menstruum (476–221 BC), aboriginal Chinese scholars saw the centralized rule of the Zhou as an ideal model for the new Han empire to emulate.

The Ch'an-wei are texts written past Han scholars about the Zhou royal treasures, only they were not written to record history for its own sake, merely for legitimizing the current regal reign. These texts took the form of stories near texts and objects being conferred upon the Emperors by Heaven and comprising these aboriginal sage-king's (this is how the Zhou emperors were referred to by this time, about 500 years later their peak) imperial regalia.^[13] The desired outcome was to confirm the Han emperor'southward Heavenly Mandate through the continuity offered by his possession of these aforementioned sacred talismans.

It is considering of this politicized recording of their history that it is difficult to retrace the exact origins of these objects. What is known is that these texts were most probable produced by a class of literati chosen the fangshi. These were a class of nobles who were non part of the state administration; they were considered specialists or occultists, for instance diviners, astrologers, alchemists or healers.^[xiii] It is from this class of nobles that the first Taoist priests are believed to accept emerged. Seidel points out nonetheless that the scarcity of sources relating to the formation of early Taoism make the verbal link betwixt the counterfeit texts and the Taoist beliefs unclear.^[13]

Run across also [edit]

• List of Gospels
• Lost work
• Occult
• Shakespeare apocrypha

Notes [edit]

1. ^ Come across besides Gospel of Barnabas
2. ^ Come across also Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew

References [edit]

Citations [edit]

1. ^ The Oxford dictionary of the Christian Church building (3rd rev. ed.). Oxford: Oxford Academy Press. 2005. p. 68. ISBN9780192802903.
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Quaker Life, Volume eleven. Friends United Press. 1970. p. 141. Even though they were not placed on the same level as the canonical books , however they were useful for didactics . ... These–and others that total fourteen or fifteen altogether-are the books known every bit the Apocrypha.
3. ^ Apocrypha | biblical literature . Retrieved 14 April 2021.
4. ^ Wells, Preston B. (1911). The Story of the English Bible. Pentecostal Publishing Company. p. 41. 14 books and parts of books are considered Apocryphal by Protestants. Three of these are recognized past Roman Catholics also as Apocryphal.
5. ^ ^{a b c d due east} Ewert, David (eleven May 2010). A General Introduction to the Bible: From Ancient Tablets to Modernistic Translations. Zondervan. p. 104. ISBN9780310872436. English Bibles were patterned after those of the Continental Reformers by having the Apocrypha set off from the rest of the OT. Coverdale (1535) called them "Apocrypha". All English language Bibles prior to 1629 contained the Apocrypha. Matthew's Bible (1537), the Great Bible (1539), the Geneva Bible (1560), the Bishop's Bible (1568), and the King James Bible (1611) contained the Apocrypha. Soon subsequently the publication of the KJV, still, the English Bibles began to drop the Apocrypha and eventually they disappeared entirely. The get-go English Bible to exist printed in America (1782–83) lacked the Apocrypha. In 1826, the British and Foreign Bible Society decided to no longer impress them. Today the trend is in the opposite direction, and English Bibles with the Apocrypha are becoming more than popular once more.
6. ^ ^{a b} Henze, Matthias; Boccaccini, Gabriele (20 November 2013). Fourth Ezra and Second Baruch: Reconstruction afterward the Autumn. Brill. p. 383. ISBN9789004258815. Why 3 and 4 Esdraas (chosen 1 and two Esdras in the NRSV Apocrypha) are pushed to the front of the list is non clear, simply the motive may have been to distinguish the Anglican Apocrypha from the Roman Cosmic canon affirmed at the fourth session of the Council of trent in 1546, which included all of the books in the Anglican Apocrypha listing except 3 and iv Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh. These 3 texts were designated at Trent as Apocrypha and later included in an appendix to the Clementine Vulgate, showtime published in 1592 (and the standard Vulgate text until Vatican II).
7. ^ ^{a b} Bromiley, Geoffrey William, ed. (2009). "Apocrypha". The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (2 ed.). Grand Rapids, Michigan: W.B. Eerdmans.
8. ^ "Apocrypha - Definition". merriam-webster.com.
9. ^ Vanderkam, James (17 July 2018), "The Dead Sea Scrolls", Early on Judaism, NYU Printing, pp. 11–28, doi:10.18574/nyu/9781479896950.003.0002, ISBN978-1-4798-9695-0
10. ^ ^{a b} Webb, Diana Barton (2010). Forgotten women of God. Bonneville Books. ISBN978-1-59955-384-9. OCLC 704859621.
11. ^ Hastings, James (2014). A Dictionary of the Bible: Volume I (Part I: A -- Cyrus). The Minerva Group, Inc. p. 116. ISBN9781410217226.
12. ^ ^{a b c d due east f g h i j yard} Charles 1911
13. ^ ^{a b c d eastward f} Seidel, Anna. "Imperial treasures and Taoist sacraments". In Strickmann, 1000. (ed.). Tantric and Taoist Studies in Award of Rolf A. Stein, Two. Bruxelles: Institut belge des hautes etudes chinoises. pp. 291–371.
14. ^ Commentaries on Matthew, X. 18, XIII. 57^{[ not specific enough to verify ]}
15. ^ "apocryphal - Definition". merriam-webster.com.
16. ^ "Origen on the Catechism". BibleResearcher.com . Retrieved 29 November 2015.
17. ^ Geisler, Norman L.; MacKenzie, Ralph Eastward. (1995). Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: Agreements and Differences. Bakery Publishing Group. p. 171. ISBN978-0-8010-3875-four. Lutherans and Anglicans used it simply for ethical / devotional matters just did not consider information technology authoritative in matters of faith.
18. ^ "John Wycliffe'southward Translation". nnu.edu.
19. ^ ^{a b} Wesner, Erik J. "The Bible". Amish America. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
20. ^ deSilva, David A. (20 February 2018). Introducing the Apocrypha: Message, Context, and Significance. Baker Books. ISBN978-1-4934-1307-2.
21. ^ ^{a b c d} McDonald, Lee Martin (2009). Forgotten Scriptures: The Selection and Rejection of Early Religious Writings. Louisville, KY 40202-1396: Westminster John Knox Press. pp. 11–33. ISBN978-0664233570 . Retrieved 24 November 2015. {{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
22. ^ ^{a b} "The Thirty-Nine Manufactures". Anglicans Online. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
23. ^ ^{a b c} Wesley, John (1825). The Sunday Service of the Methodists; With Other Occasional Services. J. Kershaw. p. 136.
24. ^ DeSilva, David Arthur (2002). Introducing the Apocrypha: Message, Context, and Significance. Baker Academic. p. 76. ISBN978-0-8010-2319-4. The author also promotes an credo of matrimony, revealed mainly in the prayer of eight:5–seven (which is an optional Old Testament reading in Catholic, Anglican, and United Methodist marriage services).
25. ^ The Apocrypha, Bridge of the Testaments Archived August 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
26. ^ "THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION OF FAITH". BibleResearcher.com . Retrieved 29 November 2015.
27. ^ Blocher, Henri (2004). "Helpful or Harmful? The "Apocrypha" and Evangelical Theology". European Journal of Theology. 13 (two): 81–90.
28. ^ Webster, William. "The Old Attestation Canon and the Apocrypha Part three". Archived from the original on 13 December 2015. Retrieved 29 Nov 2015.
29. ^ Hudak, Thomas (1993). The Tale of Prince Samuttakote. ISBN9780896801745.
30. ^ Sengpan Pannyawamsa (2007). "The Tham Vessantara-jAtaka: A Critical Report of the Tham Vessantara-jAtaka and its Influence on Kengtung Buddhism, Eastern Shan Country, Burma." PhD Thesis.
31. ^ "APOCRYPHA - JewishEncyclopedia.com". world wide web.jewishencyclopedia.com . Retrieved 12 June 2020.
32. ^ "SADDUCEES". jewishencyclopedia.com.
33. ^ Holman study bible. Howard, Jeremy Royal., Blum, Edwin., Stabnow, David Thousand., Holman Bible Staff. (NKJV ed.). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Pub. 2013. ISBN978-1-4336-0509-3. OCLC 828886896. {{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
34. ^ The Old Testament Canon Archived December 6, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
35. ^ Ethiopian Orthodox Old Testament Archived December 31, 2007, at the Wayback Auto
36. ^ Encyclopaedia Judaica, Vol vi, p 1147.
37. ^ Readings from the Apocrypha. Frontwards Movement Publications. 1981. p. 5.
38. ^ Ewert, David (11 May 2010). A Full general Introduction to the Bible: From Aboriginal Tablets to Modern Translations. Zondervan. p. 104. ISBN9780310872436.
39. ^ Thomas, Owen C.; Wondra, Ellen Thousand. (1 July 2002). Introduction to Theology (3rd ed.). Church building Publishing, Inc. p. 56. ISBN9780819218971.
40. ^ Anderson, Charles R. (2003). Puzzles and Essays from "The Exchange": Tricky Reference Questions . Psychology Press. p. 123. ISBN9780789017628. Paper and printing were expensive and early publishers were able to concur down costs by eliminating the Apocrypha in one case it was deemed secondary textile.
41. ^ McGrath, Alister (ten December 2008). In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible and How Information technology Inverse a Nation, a Language, and a Culture. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 298. ISBN9780307486226.
42. ^ "The Revised Common Lectionary" (PDF). Consultation on Common Texts. 1992. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 July 2015. Retrieved 19 Baronial 2015. In all places where a reading from the deuterocanonical books (The Apocrypha) is listed, an alternating reading from the canonical Scriptures has also been provided.
43. ^ Kimbrough, Due south.T. (2005). Orthodox And Wesleyan Scriptural Understanding And Exercise. St Vladimir's Seminary Press. p. 23. ISBN978-0-88141-301-four. .
44. ^ The Style Manual for the Gild of Biblical Literature recommends the use of the term deuterocanonical literature instead of apocrypha in academic writing, although not all apocryphal books are properly deuterocanonical.
45. ^ Clontz, T.East.; Clontz, J. (2008). The Comprehensive New Attestation. Cornerstone Publications. ISBN978-0-9778737-ane-five.
46. ^ Accordance Bible Software. "New Release: Comprehensive Bible Cross References". Accordance Bible Software . Retrieved 21 Apr 2018.
47. ^ "References to the Apocrypha in the New Testament".
48. ^ "Decree of Council of Rome (Ad 382) on the Biblical Canon". Taylor Marshall. xix August 2008. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
49. ^ Coogan, Michael David (2007). The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books. Oxford, Uk: Oxford Academy Press. p. 457.
50. ^ Willett, Herbert Lockwood (1910). The Pop and Disquisitional Bible Encyclopædia and Scriptural Dictionary: Fully Defining and Explaining All Religious Terms, Including Biographical, Geographical, Historical, Archæological and Doctrinal Themes, Superbly Illustrated with Over 600 Maps and Engravings. Howard-Severance Visitor. Retrieved 21 April 2018 – via Google Books.
51. ^ ^{a b c} Wegner, Paul D. (2004). The Journey from Texts to Translations: The Origin and Evolution of the Bible. Bakery Bookish. p. 14. ISBN978-0801027994.
52. ^ Beckwith, Roger T. (1 November 2008). The Canon of the Old Testament (PDF). Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Pub. pp. 62, 382–283. ISBN978-1606082492 . Retrieved 23 Nov 2015.
53. ^ Ellis, E. Eastward. (1992). The Onetime Testament in Early Christianity. Ada, MI 49301: Bakery. pp. 34–35. {{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
54. ^ Archer, Jr, Gleason (2007). A survey of Erstwhile Testament introduction ([Rev. and expanded]. ed.). Chicago, IL: Moody Press. pp. 75–86. ISBN978-0802484345.
55. ^ Biddle, Martin Hengel (2004). The Septuagint as Christian Scripture : its prehistory and the problem of its canon (Northward American paperback ed.). Grand Rapids: Baker Academic. pp. 57–59. ISBN080102790X.
56. ^ Davies, Philip R. (ane September 2013). Rethinking Biblical Scholarship: Irresolute Perspectives 4. Routledge. p. 225. ISBN978-1844657278.
57. ^ Newman, Robert C. "THE COUNCIL OF JAMNIA AND THE Onetime TESTAMENT Catechism" (PDF). Gordon Faculty Online. Gordon College. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
58. ^ "Correspondence of Augustine and Jerome concerning the Latin Translation of the Scriptures". bible-researcher.com.
59. ^ Knight, Kevin. "Canon of the Old Attestation". New Advent. The Cosmic Encyclopedia. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
60. ^ Lienhard, Joseph. The Bible, the Church, and Authority. Collegeville, Minnesota: Fordham University. p. 59.
61. ^ Burkitt, F. C. "THE DECRETUM GELASIANUM". tertullian.org . Retrieved 26 Nov 2015.
62. ^ bible-researcher.com. "Athanasius on the Canon". Retrieved 26 November 2015.
63. ^ Jedin, Hubert (1947). Papal Legate At The Council Of Trent. St Louis: B. Herder Book Co. pp. 270–271.
64. ^ Wicks, Jared (1978). Cajetan Responds: A Reader in Reformation Controversy. Washington: The Catholic University Press of America.
65. ^ Metzger, Bruce (1957). An Introduction to the Apocrypha. New York: Oxford. p. 180.
66. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia (1908). Catechism of the Old Testament. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
67. ^ Tavard, George H. (1959). Holy Writ or Holy Church. London: Burns & Oates. pp. 16–17.
68. ^ Hiers, Richard H. (1 October 2001). The Trinity Guide to the Bible. Norcross, GA 3007: Trinity Printing International. p. 148. ISBN1563383403 . Retrieved 23 Nov 2015. {{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
69. ^ "The Old Attestation Canon and Apocrypha". BibleResearcher . Retrieved 27 November 2015.

Sources [edit]

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:Charles, Robert Henry (1911). "Apocryphal Literature". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. two (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 175–183.

External links [edit]

Wait up apocrypha in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Apocrypha

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Apocrypha.

• Alin Suciu's web log on diverse Coptic apocrypha
• The Apocrypha is in the religion section at the due east.Lib.
• Noncanonical Literature
• Complete NT Apocrypha Claims to be the largest drove of New Attestation apocrypha online
• Deuterocanonical books - Full text from Saint Takla Haymanot Church Website (too presents the full text in Arabic)
• LDS Bible Dictionary - Apocrypha – Definition & LDS POV, including brief book descriptions.
• Aldenicum The Trilogy, an apocryphal view on life and reality effectually us.
• Christian Cyclopedia article on Apocrypha
• New Testament Allusions to Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
• Canon Comparing Chart
• Schem, A. J. (1879). "Apocrypha". The American Cyclopædia.
• "Apocrypha". New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
• Apocrypha public domain audiobook at LibriVox
• EarlyChristianWritings.com A chronological list of early on Christian books and messages, both consummate and incomplete works; canonical, apocryphal and Gnostic. Many with links to English translations.

romanoron1989.blogspot.com

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocrypha

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