The Apocrypha

[Gregory Matthews]

The Apocrypha is little known among SDA members.  I am working on an in-depth article in which I will introduce us to the individual writings.  I have decided to post my article in parts, as I finish it.  I will open this thread for comment when I have finished.

                                                                   The Apocrypha

 The Bible that Christians use today consists of a selection of writings that were commonly used in the congregations as Christianity spread in the years after the accession of Christ back to heaven.

 The Old Testament consists Jewish writings thought to be necessary for the Christian faith. The New Testament consists of Christian writings that were produced as Christianity developed in the early years.

 The Apocrypha is is a group of writings that were produced during the Intertestamental period between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Those writings have been accepted as having value by some Christian groups and therefore included in the Bibles that they use. Some of these are additions to standard Old Testament books. Other parts are complete books that are added to the Old Testament. Many Protestants, to include Seventh-day Adventists do not include them in their Bibles. In this document I will inform you as to the various material included in the Apocrypha. NOTE, Current SDA scholars are giving study to the comments that Ellen White make that are related to this issue. She was favorable.

 The Pseudepigrapha consists of similar writings that developed in the early years of Christianity. This is a very large collection of material, I will not further comment on those writings. How ever, it is interesting to note that the New Testament book of Jude, in the 14tn verse clearly quotes from the Pseudepigraphal book of Enoch.

 

[Gregory Matthews]

The following is a lilting of the materials that are commonly included in the Apocrypha. In some cases, I may have shortened the title from what is the title as included in Bibles. Also, I do not list in the order in which they are included in the Bibles.  If you wish to read the following, they are probably all available on the Internet.

 1^st Maccabees: This book is considered to be the best history that we have of the specific period of time that it describes.

 2nd Maccabees: This book is thought to have some historical value for the covered period of time, but not as much as the one directly above. NOTE: Two other similar (3rd & 4^th) versions did not make it into the cannon of any present Christian group.

 The Three Holy Children: This section tells the story of the three who were thrown into the furnace of fire, their conversations while they were in the furnace, and their deliverance.

 Susanna: This is the story of a woman falsely accused of immoral conduct. Daniel steps in to defend her and proves her innocent. It is an addition to the book of Daniel.

 Bel and the Dragon: This is a fanciful story of Daniel who destroyed the Babylonian god Bel, and also a dragon god, who was then thrown into the den of lions for 6-days during which God fed Daniel.,

1^st Esdras: This is a long story of how Cyrus allowed the Jews to return from their captivity in Babylon to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.

2^nd Esdras: This book begins with the story of God delivering the Jews from Egypt. It has a focus on End Time Events that differs from the other book.

 Prayer of Manasses: He is a captive in Babylon. This is his prayer asking for forgiveness.

Tobit: This is the story of a righteous man on a journey, accompanied by an angel of God who encounters an evil spirit. He heals people with gall. One person dies at 185 years of age. Tobit dies at 127 years of age.

 Judith: In this story, God uses the woman, Judith to deliver Israel from the enemy. It differs some, but, is similar to the story of Jael killing Sisera in Judges 4:17-22.

 Additions to Esther: These additions to the book of Esther expand upon the story of the attempt to kill the Jews and how Esther approached the King to request that they be saved.

Wisdom of Solomon: This is simply alleged to be the teachings of King Solomon. Christians would likely agree with much.

Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach or Ecclesiasticus: This is a collection of the teachings of a man named Jesus who lived many years prior to Jesus the Christ.

 Baruch: this book was written to Jews in captivity in Babylon. It states that such happened due to their sins and assures them that if they repent, God will deliver them and return them to their previous land.