The Scroll - Topical Viewer - Bible Translations

Apocrypha

Introduction
The word means hidden and conveys the idea that the contents of such books is secret or hidden and only for an elite group. Thus this word have come to be indicate writings as false or non-canonical having no inspired authority. The Jewish Rabbi's called such writings the outside books.

While this generally refers to the thirteen books between the Old Testament and New Testament known as the Old Testament Apocrypha there are other groups of Apocrypha writings known as The Apocrypha Old Testament and Modern Apocrypha writings.

Old Testament Apocrypha

These books consist of 1 & 2 Esdra, Tobit, Judith, the additions to Esther, The Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, the Letter of Jeremiah, Additions to the Book of Daniel, Baruch, Bel and the Dragon, 1 & 2 Maccabees.

1 Esdra
It recounts the events of Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah with the addition of an old Persian story called the Debate of the Three Soldiers. The Jewish historian Josephus quotes from Esdra instead of Ezra and Nehemiah. It may have come from the city of Alexandria about the 2nd century. It was in circulation in Jesus' day since Josephus used it. At best it is a compilation of the biblical text and folklore hardly qualifying it to be historical accurate let alone inspired.

2 Esdra
It was also sometimes called the Apocalypse of Ezra. It contains seven visions lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans and longing for its rebuilding. There is a dualistic conflict between good and evil and contrary to the view of the Old Testament prophets Israel is good.

Tobit
It reads like a Jewish romance novel about a captive of the Israelite Exile. Tobit is blind and the angel Raphael is sent to heal him and another Jewish woman named Sarah. The angel sends Tobias his son on a quest to find the heart, live and gall of a fish caught in the Tigris river. When Tobit's eyes are rubbed with the gall of the fish his sight is returned.

However there are numerous historical errors. Rages is not one day journey from Ecbatana but two weeks by camel caravan. Also there are errors concerning the relations of kings and conquests. But it does show 2nd century Jewish piety and reveals the development of angels, and spirits in Hebrew thinking.

Judith
Judith is the story of a Jewish woman who cunningly outwits the Assyrian commander and while dining with him cuts off his head and returns home in victory. The Israelites send the Assyrians running in confusion and songs of praise are sung in celebration. While the story line fits into the period of the Maccabean uprising it cannot possibly be historical because of several errors. For one thing nebuchadnezzar is given an impossibly long reign. It was written to lift the spirits of the people during the Maccabean revolt but cannot be considered factually accurate.

Baruch
The author is said to be a friend of Jeremiah who came back from exile to speak to the Israelites. It is broken down into three sections with much borrowed from Daniel, Job and Isaiah.

Bel and the Dragon
It was written to be placed at the end of Daniel and was to be used to make fun of idolatry and pagan worship. The first story shows Daniel exposing the priests of Bel for idolatry and the king ordering the idol destroyed. The second tells the tale of Daniel being put in a lions den for having killed a Babylonian dragon. He was miraculously fed for six days and then released by the king. These stories date from around 100 B.C.

1 Maccabees
Maccabees Genealogy Chart
This is by and large a historical work that cover the time of the Maccabean revolt around 175-134 B.C. It recounts the period of Judas Maccabeus in struggle with Antiochus IV, the Hasmonean wars and the rule of John Hyrcanus.

2 Maccabees
This work is radically different from 1 Maccabees in that it is a theological interpretation of the events of 1 Maccabees. Some of the work can be attributed to Jason of Cyrene and his five volume history of the Jews. This work has numerous discrepancies that shows the authors ignorance or confusion in writing the work.

Reasons for Rejection
These These works were placed among the scriptures by the translators of the Hebrew Bible into Greek (the Septuagint) by the Hellenistic Jewish Christians of Alexandria. The Apocryphal writings were not set apart in the text but mixed throughout so that the reader could not tell them apart from the other Scriptures. Some of the church fathers even quote them as Scripture not knowing the difference. Worthy of note is that the New Testament writers used the Septuagint as their Bible but never once quoted from the Apocrypha.

As early as 315-386 A.D. Cyril of Jerusalem wrote to his students to hold fast to the twenty-two books and avoid the Apocrypha. Then when Jerome was commissioned to translate the Bible into Latin, he discovered that they were not found in the Hebrew manuscripts and reported this to the Pope who said that they must be included in his translation. But while Jerome included them in his Latin version for the Pope he made it clear that any Jewish document not contained in the Hebrew Scriptures could be considered inspired. In his preface he clearly indicated that these books were Apocryphal in nature. These were officially made part of the Roman Catholic Bible in the 4th session of the Council of Trent in 1546. As early as the 4th century the eastern church distinguished the Apocryphal writings from the inspired Scriptures of the Hebrew Old Testament and could only use the Apocrypha for instruction but not authoritative.

The Protestant church from the Reformation has rejected these writing as Apocryphal. The only exception is the Anglican church who still use them to teach lessons in the back of the Anglican Prayer book. The reasons for rejection are as follows.

The Jews never acknowledged these books to be of divine authority.

They were not written in Hebrew but Greek after the close of the Old Testament.

They were never quoted by Christ or the Apostles.

Not one word can be found in the New Testament.

They contain many things which are erroneous, superstitious and immoral.

The writers acknowledge their own weakness and defects

Thus on this basis they can never be placed on a level of inspiration with the Word of God.

Apocryphal New Testament

Early in the life of the church competing writings were beginning to pop up. The church had to make some serious conclusions. Were these writing authentic or not. Each of the Biblical forms of communicating the Word were reproduced. Thus you have Gospels, Acts, Epistles and Apocalyptic literature. The process that was arrived at to sort through these writings was complex and eventually resulted in the recognition of the cannon of Scripture that we have today. Many of these works are only known by name and with the discovery of the Gnostic Library at Nag Hammadi in Egypt, but fifty titles have been uncovered in Coptic. Many of these titles can be read in M.R. James, The Apocryphal New Testament (Oxford, 1924; corrected edition. 1955)

The Agrapha
These are saying that have been attributed to Jesus which are not recorded in the Gospels.

The Apocryphal Gospels
This group of writings seeks to supplement the accounts of the life of Christ.

Jewish Christian Gospels
These were circulated by an early Jewish-Christian sect called Ebionites and other heretical groups. These include The Gospel of Hebrews, The Gospel of the Egyptians, The Gospel of Peter, Gospel of the Nazarenes and Epistles of the Apostles plus numerous papyrus fragments.

Gnostic Gospels
A common feature of these writings is the extended period between the resurrection and Ascension. (18 months) It was during this time that the disciples supposedly asked Jesus numerous perplexing questions and then wrote down His answers. They deal with visionary experiences, and the rewrite of the creation account among other things. Writings include Apocryphon of John, Sophia Jesu Christi

Another group of writings centre around the leaders of Gnostic schools of thought. Men like Cerinthus, Basilides and Marcion. Then there are the three gospels, The Gospel of Truth, Gospel of Thomas and Gospel of Philip. They do not appear in the form of a Gospel at all but rather are a string of loosely compiled sayings, mediations and visions.

Infancy Gospels
These seek to rewrite or fill in missing gaps in the early years of Jesus life. There is The Infancy Gospel of Thomas, The Protoevangelum of James (which glorifies the birth of Mary). The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew. During the middle ages these writings had a great influence on the art and literature of the day. Perhaps even more influence than the Bible itself.

The Apocryphal Epistles
The Apocryphal Epistles are a few letters one in particular said to be in Paul's name called The Epistle to the Laodiceans sent to the Alexandrians. The letters of Paul and Senecca tries to lend the support of Roman philosophers to the Christian faith. There is also a letter from Corinth to Paul called 3 Corinthians and one supposedly from Christ to Abgar, king of Edessa which is mentioned by Eusebius.

The Apocryphal Acts

These were more lengthy works called the Acts of Andrew, John, Paul, Peter and Thomas. They were meant to give additional information about the Apostles and not intended to replace the Biblical accounts. But although the apostles are highly regarded they are romanticised by using miracles for miracles sake and cannot be relied upon for their historical accuracy.

The Apocryphal Apocalypses

Fashioned after the Revelation of John we have The Ascension of Isaiah who is to be ascended through the seven heavens. It was known to Clement of Alexandria and may date from the 2nd century. There is also the Apocalypses of Peter.

Modern Apocryphal Writing

Chart of Modern Apocryphal Books
Within the last one hundred years there have been a dozen or so works written that purport to add to the revelation of Scripture. They have been promoted as being based on real ancient documents but close investigation has shown them all to be frauds and without any authority. They usually deal with the life of Christ and the silent years. They either contradict or rewrite Scripture.

All of these books have been shown to be forgeries. The common theme is that each writing tries to add something new to the teaching of the Scriptures teaching ideas like reincarnation, no resurrection and astrology. Despite their obvious forgery they have gathered a following and in some cases quite large. (i.e. Mormons)