The Biblical Apocrypha

Biblical apocrypha

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_apocrypha

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

This article is about a class of books included in some Bibles.

For other books generally excluded from Bibles, see Apocrypha.

 

This article is about biblical books printed apart from the New and Old Testaments.

For books whose inclusion in the Old Testament canon

is controversial, see Deuterocanonical books.

 

 

The Biblical apocrypha (from the Greek word ἀπόκρυφος, apókruphos, meaning "hidden") denotes the collection of ancient books found, in some editions of the Bible, in a separate section between the Old and New Testaments^[1] or as an appendix after the New Testament.^[2] Although the term apocrypha had been in use since the 5th century, it was in Luther's Bible of 1534 that the Apocrypha was first published as a separate intertestamental section.^[3] Luther was making a polemical point about the canonicity of these books. As an authority for this division, he cited St. Jerome, who in the early 5th century distinguished the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments,^[4] stating that books not found in the Hebrew were not received as canonical. Although his statement was controversial in his day,^[5] Jerome was later titled a Doctor of the Church and his authority was also cited in the Anglican statement in 1571 of the Thirty-Nine Articles.^[6]

 

There was agreement among the Reformers that the Apocrypha contained "books proceeding from godly men" and therefore recommended reading. The Geneva Bible^[7] said this in 1560:

These bokes that follow in order unto the Newe testament, are called Apocrypha, that is, bokes, which were not received by a comune consent to be red and expounded publickely in the Church, neither yet served to prove any point of Christian religion, save inasmuche as they had the consent of the other Scriptures called Canonical to confirme the same, or rather whereon they were grounded : but as bokes proceding from godlie men, were received to be red for the advancement and furtherance of the knowledge of the historie, and for the instruction of godlie maners : which bokes declare that at all times God had an especial care of his Church and left them not utterly destitute of teachers and meanes to confirme them in the hope of the promised Messiah, and also witnesse that those calamities that God sent to his Church, were according to his providence, who had bothe so threatened by his Prophetes, and so broght it to passe for the destruction of their enemies, and for the tryal of his children.

 

Later, during the English Civil War, the Westminster Confession of 1647 excluded the Apocrypha from the canon and made no recommendation of the Apocrypha above "other human writings",^[8] and, as the Catholic Encyclopedia says, "...the name Apocrypha soon came to have an unfavourable signification which it still retains, comporting both want of genuineness and canonicity."^[9] This hostile attitude towards the Apocrypha (considered Catholic by some British Protestants) is represented by the refusal of the British and Foreign Bible Society in the early 19th century to print it (see below).

 

Catholic and Orthodox Christians regard as fully canonical most of these books called Apocrypha, and their canonicity was explicitly affirmed at the Council of Trent in 1546^[10] and Synod of Jerusalem (1672) respectively. They are called deuterocanonical by Catholics and anagignoskomena by the Orthodox.

 

Biblical canon

Main articles: Biblical canon, Christian biblical canons, Development of the Christian biblical canon, Protocanonical books, and Deuterocanonical books

 

Vulgate prologues

 

Jerome completed his version of the Bible, the Latin Vulgate, in 405. In the Middle Ages the Vulgate became the de facto standard version of the Bible in the West. These Bibles were divided into Old and New Testaments only; there was no separate Apocrypha section. Nevertheless, the Vulgate manuscripts included prologues^[11] that clearly identified certain books of the Vulgate Old Testament as apocryphal or non-canonical. In the prologue to the books of Samuel and Kings, which is often called the Prologus Galeatus, Jerome described those books not translated from the Hebrew as apocrypha; he specifically mentions that Wisdom, the book of Jesus son of Sirach, Judith, Tobias, and the Shepherd "are not in the canon". In the prologue to Esdras he mentions 3 and 4 Esdras as being apocrypha. In his prologue to the books of Solomon, he mentioned "the book of Jesus son of Sirach and another pseudepigraphos, which is titled the Wisdom of Solomon". He says of them and Judith, Tobias, and the Books of the Maccabees, that the Church "has not received them among the canonical scriptures".

 

He mentions the book of Baruch in his prologue to the Jeremias and does not explicitly refer to it as apocryphal, but he does mention that "it is neither read nor held among the Hebrews". In his prologue to the Judith he mentions that "among the Hebrews, the authority [of Judith] came into contention", but that it was "counted in the number of Sacred Scriptures" by the First Council of Nicaea.

 

Although in his Apology against Rufinus, Book II he denied the authority of the canon of the Hebrews, this caveat does not appear in the prologues themselves, nor in his prologues does he specify the authorship of the canon he describes. Whatever its origin or authority, it was this canon, without qualification, that the prologues of the bibles of Western Europe described.

 

Apocrypha in editions of the Bible

 

Apocrypha are very well attested in surviving manuscripts of the Christian Bible. (See for example Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Alexandrinus, Vulgate, and Peshitta.) After the Lutheran and Catholic canons were defined by Luther (c. 1534) and Trent^[12] (April 8, 1546) respectively, early Protestant editions of the Bible (notably the Luther Bible in German and 1611 King James Version in English) did not omit these books, but placed them in a separate Apocrypha section apart from the Old and New Testaments to indicate their status. The 1647 Westminster Confession of Faith during the English Civil War (1642–1651) specifically excluded the Apocrypha, thus Bibles printed by English Protestants who separated from the Church of England began to exclude these books.

 

Gutenberg Bible

 

This famous edition of the Vulgate was published in 1455. Like the manuscripts it was based on, the Gutenberg Bible lacked a specific Apocrypha section;^[13] its Old Testament included the books that Jerome considered apocryphal, and those Clement VIII later moved to the appendix. The Prayer of Manasses was located after the Books of Chronicles, and 3 and 4 Esdras followed 2 Esdras (Nehemiah), and Prayer of Solomon followed Ecclesiasticus.

 

Luther Bible

Main article: Luther Bible

 

Martin Luther translated the Bible into German during the early part of the 16th century, first releasing a complete Bible in 1534. His Bible was the first major edition to have a separate section called Apocrypha. Books and portions of books not found in the Masoretic Text of Judaism were moved out of the body of the Old Testament to this section.^[14] Luther placed these books between the Old and New Testaments. For this reason, these works are sometimes known as inter-testamental books. See also Intertestamental period and Luther's canon. The books 1 and 2 Esdras were omitted entirely.^[15]

 

Luther also expressed some doubts about the canonicity of four New Testament books, although he never called them apocrypha: the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Epistles of James and Jude, and the Revelation to John. He did not put them in a separate named section, but he did move them to the end of his New Testament.^[16]

 

Clementine Vulgate

See also: Books of the Latin Vulgate

 

In 1592, Pope Clement VIII published his revised edition of the Vulgate, referred to as the Sixto-Clementine Vulgate. He moved three books not found in the canon of the Council of Trent from the Old Testament into an appendix "lest they utterly perish" (ne prorsus interirent).^[17]

• Prayer of Manasses
• 3 Esdras (1 Esdras in the King James Bible)
• 4 Esdras (2 Esdras in the King James Bible)

The protocanonical and deuterocanonical books he placed in their traditional positions in the Old Testament.

 

King James Version

 

The English-language King James Version (KJV) of 1611 followed the lead of the Luther Bible in using an inter-testamental section labelled "Books called Apocrypha", or just "Apocrypha" at the running page header. The KJV followed the Geneva Bible of 1560 almost exactly (variations are marked below). The section contains the following:^[18]

• 1 Esdras (Vulgate 3 Esdras)
• 2 Esdras (Vulgate 4 Esdras)
• Tobit
• Judith ("Judeth" in Geneva)
• Rest of Esther (Vulgate Esther 10:4-16:24)
• Wisdom
• Ecclesiasticus (also known as Sirach)
• Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremy ("Jeremiah" in Geneva) (all part of Vulgate Baruch)
• Song of the Three Children (Vulgate Daniel 3:24-90)
• Story of Susanna (Vulgate Daniel 13)
• The Idol Bel and the Dragon (Vulgate Daniel 14)
• Prayer of Manasses (follows 2 Chronicles in Geneva)
• 1 Maccabees
• 2 Maccabees

 

Included in this list are those books of the Clementine Vulgate that were not in Luther's canon. These are the books most frequently referred to by the casual appellation "the Apocrypha". These same books are also listed in Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England.^[19] Despite being placed in the Apocrypha, in the table of lessons at the front of some printings of the King James Bible, these books are included under the Old Testament.

 

Other early Bible editions

 

This section requires expansion. (May 2008)

 

All English translations of the Bible printed in the sixteenth century included a section or appendix for Apocryphal books. Matthew's Bible, published in 1537, contains all the Apocrypha of the later King James Version in an inter-testamental section. The 1538 Myles Coverdale Bible contained an Apocrypha that excluded Baruch and the Prayer of Manasseh. The 1560 Geneva Bible placed the Prayer of Manasseh after 2 Chronicles; the rest of the Apocrypha were placed in an inter-testamental section. The Douay-Rheims Bible (1582–1609) placed the Prayer of Manasseh and 3 and 4 Esdras into an Appendix of the second volume of the Old Testament.

 

In the Zürich Bible (1529–30) they are placed in an Appendix. They include 3 Maccabees, along with 1 Esdras & 2 Esdras. The 1st edition omitted the Prayer of Manasseh and the Rest of Esther, although these were included in the 2nd edition. The French Bible (1535) of Pierre Robert Olivétan placed them between the Testaments, with the subtitle, "The volume of the apocryphal books contained in the Vulgate translation, which we have not found in the Hebrew or Chaldee".

 

In 1569 the Spanish Reina Bible, following the example of the pre-Clementine Latin Vulgate, contained the deuterocanonical books in its Old Testament. Following the other Protestant translations of its day, Valera's 1602 revision of the Reina Bible moved these books into an inter-testamental section.

 

Modern editions

 

All King James Bibles published before 1666 included the Apocrypha.^[20] In 1826,^[21] the British and Foreign Bible Society decided that no BFBS funds were to pay for printing any Apocryphal books anywhere. Since then most modern editions of the Bible and reprintings of the King James Bible omit the Apocrypha section. In the 18th century, the Apocrypha section was omitted from the Challoner revision of the Douay-Rheims version. In the 1979 revision of the Vulgate, the section was dropped. Modern reprintings of the Clementine Vulgate commonly omit the Apocrypha section. Many reprintings of older versions of the Bible now omit the apocrypha and many newer translations and revisions have never included them at all.

 

There are some exceptions to this trend, however. Some editions of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible include not only the Apocrypha listed above, but also the third and fourth books of the Maccabees, and Psalm 151; the RSV Apocrypha also lists the Letter of Jeremiah (Epistle of Jeremy in the KJV) as separate from the book of Baruch, following the Orthodox tradition.

 

The American Bible Society lifted restrictions on the publication of Bibles with the Apocrypha in 1964. The British and Foreign Bible Society followed in 1966.^[22] The Stuttgart edition of the Vulgate (the printed edition, not most of the on-line editions), which is published by the UBS, contains the Clementine Apocrypha as well as the Epistle to the Laodiceans and Psalm 151.

 

Brenton's edition of the Septuagint includes all of the Apocrypha found in the King James Bible with the exception of 2 Esdras, which was not in the Septuagint and is no longer extant in Greek.^[23] He places them in a separate section at the end of his Old Testament, following English tradition.

 

In Greek circles, however, these books are not traditionally called Apocrypha, but Anagignoskomena (ἀναγιγνωσκόμενα), and are integrated into the Old Testament. The Orthodox Study Bible, published by Thomas Nelson Publishers, includes the Anagignoskomena in its Old Testament, with the exception of 4 Maccabees. This was translated by the Saint Athanasius Academy of Orthodox Theology, from the Rahlfs Edition of the Septuagint using Brenton's English translation and the RSV Expanded Apocrypha as boilerplate. As such, they are included in the Old Testament with no distinction between these books and the rest of the Old Testament. This follows the tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church where the Septuagint is the received version of Old Testament scripture, considered itself inspired in agreement with some of the Fathers, such as St Augustine, rather than the Hebrew Masoretic text followed by all other modern translations.^[24]

 

Anagignoskomena

 

The Septuagint, the pre-eminent Greek version of the Old Testament, contains books that are not present in the Hebrew Bible. These texts are not traditionally segregated into a separate section, nor are they usually called apocrypha. Rather, they are referred to as the Anagignoskomena (ἀναγιγνωσκόμενα, "things that are read"). The anagignoskomena are Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Jesus ben Sira (Sirach), Baruch, Epistle of Jeremy (in the Vulgate this is chapter 6 of Baruch), additions to Daniel (The Prayer of Azarias, Susanna and Bel and the Dragon), additions to Esther, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, 1 Esdras, i.e. all the Deuterocanonical plus 3 Maccabees and 1 Esdras.^[25]

 

Some editions add additional books, as Psalm 151 or the Odes, including the Prayer of Manasses. 2 Esdras is added as appendix in the Slavonic Bibles and 4 Maccabees as appendix in Greek editions.^[25]

 

Pseudepigrapha

 

Technically, a pseudepigraphon is a book written in a biblical style and ascribed to an author who did not write it. In common usage, however, the term pseudepigrapha is often used by way of distinction to refer to apocryphal writings that do not appear in printed editions of the Bible, as opposed to the texts listed above. Examples^[26] include:

• Letter of Aristeas
• Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah
• Joseph and Aseneth
• Life of Adam and Eve
• Lives of the Prophets
• Ladder of Jacob
• Jannes and Jambres
• History of the Rechabites
• Eldad and Modad
• History of Joseph
• Odes of Solomon
• Prayer of Joseph
• Prayer of Jacob

 

Often included among the pseudepigrapha are 3 and 4 Maccabees because they are not traditionally found in western Bibles, although they are in the Septuagint. Similarly, the Book of Enoch, Book of Jubilees and 4 Baruch are often listed with the pseudepigrapha although they are commonly included in Ethiopian Bibles. The Psalms of Solomon are found in some editions of the Septuagint.

 

Classification

 

This section does not cite any references or sources. (June 2011)

 

The Apocrypha of the King James Bible constitutes the books of the Vulgate that are present neither in the Hebrew Old Testament nor the Greek New Testament. Since these are derived from the Septuagint, from which the old Latin version was translated, it follows that the difference between the KJV and the Roman Catholic Old Testaments is traceable to the difference between the Palestinian and the Alexandrian canons of the Old Testament. This is only true with certain reservations, as the Latin Vulgate was revised by Jerome according to the Hebrew, and, where Hebrew originals were not found, according to the Septuagint. Furthermore, the Vulgate omits 3 and 4 Maccabees, which generally appear in the Septuagint, while the Septuagint and Luther's Bible omit 2 Esdras, which is found in the Apocrypha of the Vulgate and the King James Bible. Luther's Bible, moreover, also omits 1 Esdras. It should further be observed that the Clementine Vulgate places the Prayer of Manasses and 3 Esdras and 4 Esdras in an appendix after the New Testament as apocryphal.

 

It is hardly possible to form any classification not open to some objection. Scholars are still divided as to the original language, date, and place of composition of some of the books that come under this provisional attempt at order. (Thus some of the additions to Daniel and the Prayer of Manasseh are most probably derived from a Semitic original written in Palestine, yet in compliance with the prevailing opinion they are classed under Hellenistic Jewish literature. Again, the Slavonic Enoch goes back undoubtedly in parts to a Semitic original, though most of it may have been written by a Greek Jew in Egypt.)

 

A distinction can be made between the Palestinian and the Hellenistic literature of the Old Testament, though even this is open to serious objections. The former literature was written in Hebrew or Aramaic, and seldom in Greek; the latter in Greek.

 

Next, within these literatures there are three or four classes of subject material.

• Historical,
• Legendary (Haggadic),
• Apocalyptic,
• Didactic or Sapiential.

 

The Apocrypha proper then would be classified as follows:--

• Palestinian Jewish Literature
  • Historical
    • 1 Esdras (i.e. Greek Ezra).
    • 1 Maccabees.
  • Legendary
    • Book of Baruch
    • Book of Judith
  • Apocalyptic
    • 2 Esdras (see also Apocalyptic literature)
  • Didactic
    • Sirach (also known as Ecclesiasticus)
    • Tobit
• Hellenistic Jewish Literature:--
  • Historical and Legendary
    • Additions to Daniel
    • Additions to Esther
    • Epistle of Jeremy
    • 2 Maccabees
    • Prayer of Manasseh
  • Didactic
    • Book of Wisdom

 

Cultural impact

• Christopher Columbus was said to have been inspired by a verse from 4 Esdras 6:42 to undertake his hazardous journey across the Atlantic.^[27]
• The introitus, "Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them", of the traditional Requiem in the Catholic Church is loosely based on 4 Esdras 2:34-35.
• The alternative introitus for Quasimodo Sunday in the Roman rite of the Catholic Church is loosely based on 4 Esdras 2:36-37.
• The Story of Susanna is perhaps the earliest example of a courtroom drama, and perhaps the first example of an effective forensic cross-examination (there are no others in the Bible: except perhaps Solomon's judgement at 1Kings 3:25).
• Bel and the Dragon is perhaps the earliest example of a locked room mystery.
• Shylock's reference in The Merchant of Venice to "A Daniel come to judgment; yea, a Daniel!" refers to the story of Susanna and the elders.
• The theme of the elders surprising Susanna in her bath is a common one in art, such as in paintings by Tintoretto and Artemisia Gentileschi, and in Wallace Stevens' poem Peter Quince at the Clavier.
• Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, the title of James Agee's 1941 chronicle of Alabama sharecroppers, was taken from Ecclesiasticus 44:1: "Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us."
• In his spiritual autobiography Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, John Bunyan recounts how God strengthened him against the temptation to despair of his salvation by inspiring him with the words, "Look at the generations of old and see: did any ever trust in God, and were confounded?"

“

At which I was greatly encouraged in my soul... So coming home, I presently went to my Bible, to see if I could find that saying, not doubting but to find it presently... Thus I continued above a year, and could not find the place; but at last, casting my eye upon the Apocrypha books, I found it in Ecclesiasticus, chap. ii. 10. This, at the first, did somewhat daunt me; because it was not in those texts that we call holy and canonical; yet, as this sentence was the sum and substance of many of the promises, it was my duty to take the comfort of it; and I bless God for that word, for it was of good to me. That word doth still ofttimes shine before my face.[28]

”

 

See also

• New Testament apocrypha

 

 References

1. ^ As in the original King James or Authorized Version, and in modern Bibles such as the New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha, 4th Expanded Edition: New Revised Standard Version
2. ^ See the English Standard Version with the Apocrypha, and the New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha, 3rd Revised and Expanded Edition: Revised Standard Version
3. ^ Bruce, F.F. "The Canon of Scripture". IVP Academic, 2010, Location 1478-86 (Kindle Edition).
4. ^ See the Theological Glossary of the Jerusalem Bible Reader's Edition: "One tradition within the Church excluded the Greek books, and this tradition was taken up by the 15th century {sic} Reformers, who relegated these books to the Apocrypha. 1 Maccabees 12:9." Note that the JB is explicitly approved by the CBCEW (the Bishop's Conference of England and Wales)
5. ^ Catholic Encyclopaedia, "St. Jerome evidently applied the term to all quasi-scriptural books which in his estimation lay outside the canon of the Bible, and the Protestant Reformers, following Jerome's catalogue of Old Testament Scriptures — one which was at once erroneous and singular among the Fathers of the Church — applied the title Apocrypha to the excess of the Catholic canon of the Old Testament over that of the Jews. Naturally, Catholics refuse to admit such a denomination, and we employ "deuterocanonical" to designate this literature, which non-Catholics conventionally and improperly known as the Apocrypha".
6. ^ "And the other books (as Hierome saith) the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners; but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrine."
7. ^ Geneva Bible, 1560; a facsimile, mostly of the Scheide Library copy, was published in 2007 by Hendrickson: Peabody, Mass. Geneva was regarded as authoritative in England (often even by Catholics) until well into the 17th century.
8. ^ "The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are no part of the Canon of the Scripture; and therefore are of no authority in the Church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved, or made use of, than other human writings." For more details see Development of the Old Testament canon#Church of England.
9. ^ Catholic Encyclopaedia article on Apocrypha
10. ^ Council of Trent, 4th Session (8th April 1546)
11. ^ Prologues of Saint Jerome, Latin text
12. ^ "Canon of the Old Testament". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. section titled "The Council of Florence 1442": "...contains a complete list of the books received by the Church as inspired, but omits, perhaps advisedly, the terms canon and canonical. The Council of Florence therefore taught the inspiration of all the Scriptures, but did not formally pass on their canonicity."
13. ^ Scanned pages of the Gutenberg Bible
14. ^ 1945 Edition of the Luther Bible on-line
15. ^ Preface to the Revised Standard Version Common Bible
16. ^ Six Points On Luther's "Epistle of Straw", 3 April 2007
17. ^ Introductory material to the appendix of the Vulgata Clementina, text in Latin
18. ^ The Bible: Authorized King James Version with Apocrypha, Oxford World's Classics, 1998, ISBN 978-0-19-283525-3
19. ^ Article VI at episcopalian.org
20. ^ Sir Frederic G. Kenyon, Dictionary of the Bible edited by James Hastings, and published by Charles Scribner's Sons of New York in 1909
21. ^ Howsam, Leslie (2002). Cheap Bibles. Cambridge University Press. p. 14. ISBN 0-521-52212-9, 9780521522120. http://books.google.com/books?id=gT8f6wbTzHcC&pg=PA14#PPA14,M1.
22. ^ A Brief History of the United Bible Societies
23. ^ 2 Esdras at earlyjewishwritings.com
24. ^ "The Orthodox Study Bible" 2008, Thomas Nelson Inc. p. XI
25. ^ ^{a b} Vassiliadis, Petros (2005). "Canon and authority of Scripture". In S. T. Kimbrough. Orthodox and Wesleyan Scriptural understanding and practice. Crestwood, N.Y: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-88141-301-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=q-vhwjamOioC&pg=PA23#v=onepage&q&f=false.
26. ^ The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Volume 2, James H. Charlesworth
27. ^ Christopher Columbus: Motivations to Reach the Indies by Sailing West, Janet L. Dotterer
28. ^ Gilmore, George William (1916). Selections from the World's Devotional Classics. Funk & Wagnalls company. p. 63.

Texts

• Robert Holmes and James Parsons, Vet. Test. Graecum cum var. lectionibus (Oxford, 1798–1827)
• Henry Barclay Swete, Old Testament in Greek, i.-iii. (Cambridge, 1887–1894)
• Otto Fridolinus Fritzsche, Libri Apocryphi V. T. Graece (1871).

Commentaries

• O. F. Fritzsche and Grimm, Kurzgef. exeget. Handbuch zu den Apok. des A.T. (Leipzig, 1851–1860)
• Edwin Cone Bissell, Apocrypha of the Old Testament (Edinburgh, 1880)
• Otto Zöckler, Die Apokryphen des Alten Testaments (Munchen, 1891)
• Henry Wace, The Apocrypha ("Speaker's Commentary") (1888)

Introduction and General Literature:

• Emil Schürer, Geschichte des jüdischen Volkes, vol. iii. 135 sqq., and his article on "Apokryphen" in Herzog's Realencykl. i. 622-653
• Porter, Frank C. (1898). "Apocrypha". In James Hastings. A Dictionary of the Bible. I. pp. pages 110–123. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/hastings/dictv1/Page_110.html. 

 

External links

• "The Apocrypha, Bridge of the Testaments" by Robert C. Dentan at orthodoxanglican.net
• "Lutheran Cyclopedia: Apocrypha" at lcms.org
• "Apocrypha" in the Catholic Encyclopaedia at newadvent.org/cathen

 

 

The Jewish Apocrypha

Jewish Apocrypha

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_apocrypha

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Jewish apocrypha includes texts written in the Jewish religious tradition either in the Intertestamental period or in the early Christian era, but outside the Christian tradition. It does not include books in the canonical Hebrew Bible, nor those accepted into the canon of some or all Christian faiths.

 

Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in Judaism

See also: Biblical apocrypha

 

Although Judaism historically insisted on the exclusive canonization of the 24 books in the Tanakh, see Development of the Hebrew Bible canon for details, it also claimed to have an oral law handed down from Moses. Just as apocryphal books sometimes overshadowed canonical scriptures in Christianity, so did the oral laws of Judaism sometimes overtake the written ones.^{[citation needed]}

 

Certain circles in Judaism, such as the Essenes in Judea and the Therapeutae in Egypt, were said to have a "secret" literature (see Dead Sea scrolls). The Pharisees were also familiar with these texts.

 

A large part of this "secret" literature was the apocalypses. Based on unfulfilled prophecies, these books were not considered scripture, but rather part of a literary form that flourished from 200 BCE to 100 CE. These works usually bore the names of ancient Hebrew worthies to establish their validity among the true writers' contemporaries. To reconcile the late appearance of the texts with their claims to primitive antiquity, alleged authors are represented as "shutting up and sealing" (Dan. xii. 4, 9) the works until the time of their fulfillment had arrived; as the texts were not meant for their own generations but for far-distant ages (also cited in Assumption of Moses i. 16-17).

 

This literature was highly treasured by many Jewish enthusiasts, in some cases more so than the canonical scriptures. The book of 4 Ezra reinforces this theory: when Ezra was inspired to dictate the sacred scriptures that were destroyed in the overthrow of Jerusalem, "in forty days they wrote ninety-four books: and it came to pass when the forty days were fulfilled that the Highest spake, saying: the first that thou hast written publish openly that the worthy and unworthy may read it; but keep the seventy last that thou mayst deliver them only to such as be wise among the people; for in them is the spring of understanding, the fountain of wisdom and the stream of knowledge." (4 Ezra xiv. 44 sqq.) Such esoteric books are apocryphal, in the original conception of the term.

 

In due course, the Jewish authorities drew up a canon in response to Christianity.^{[citation needed]} They marked other books off from those that claimed to be such without justification.^{[citation needed]} Whether Judaism had any distinct name for the esoteric works is unknown. Scholars Theodor Zahn, Emil Schürer, among others, stated that these secret books formed a class by themselves and were called "Genuzim" (גנוזים), and that this name and idea passed from Judaism over into the Greek, with αποκρυφα βιβλια as a translation of ספרים גנוזים. But the Hebrew verb does not mean "to hide" but "to store away", and is only used of things that are in themselves precious. Moreover, the phrase is unknown in Talmudic literature. The derivation of this idea from Judaism has therefore not yet been established.

 

Writings that were wholly apart from scriptural texts, such as the books of heretics or Samaritans, were designated as Hisonim, Sanh. x. I (ספרים חצונים and ספרי המינים. After the 3rd century CE, Sirach and other apocryphal books were included in this category; until then, Sirach was largely quoted by rabbis in Palestine, indicating some change in this classification throughout the centuries.

 

In the following centuries, these apocrypha fell out of use in Judaism. Although they are Jewish literature, the apocrypha were actively preserved through the Middle Ages exclusively by Christians.

 

Historical

 

History of Johannes Hyrcanus

 

The History of Johannes Hyrcanus is mentioned in 1 Macc. xvi. 23-24, but no trace has been discovered of its existence elsewhere. It must have early passed out of circulation, as it was unknown to Josephus.

 

Legendary

 

Book of Jubilees

Main article: Book of Jubilees

 

The Book of Jubilees was written in Hebrew between the year of the accession of Hyrcanus to the high-priesthood in 135 BC and his breach with the Pharisees some years before his death in 105 BC. Jubilees was translated into Greek and from Greek into Ethiopic and Latin. It is preserved in its entirety only in Ethiopic. Jubilees is the most advanced pre-Christian representative of the midrashic tendency, which was already at work in the Book of Chronicles. This is a rewriting of the book of Genesis and the early chapters of Exodus. His work constitutes an enlarged targum on these books, and its object is to prove the everlasting validity of the law, which, though revealed in time, was superior to time. Writing in the palmiest days of the Maccabean dominion, he looked for the immediate advent of the Messianic kingdom. This kingdom was to be ruled over by a Messiah sprung not from Judah but from Levi, that is, from the reigning Maccabean family. This kingdom was to be gradually realized on earth, the transformation of physical nature going hand in hand with the ethical transformation of man.

 

Paralipomena Jeremiae, or the Rest of the Words of Baruch

Main article: 4 Baruch

 

This book has been preserved in Greek, Ethiopic, Armenian and Slavonic. The Greek was first printed at Venice in 1609, and next by Antonio Maria Ceriani in 1868 under the title Paralipomena Jeremiae. It bears the same name in the Armenian, but in Ethiopic it is known by the second title.

 

Martyrdom of Isaiah

Main article: Ascension of Isaiah

 

This Jewish work has been in part preserved in the Ascension of Isaiah. To it belong i. 1, 2a, 6b-13a; ii. 1-8, 10-iii. 12; v. 1c-14 of that book. It is of Jewish origin, and recounts the martyrdom of Isaiah at the hands of Manasseh.

 

Pseudo-Philo's Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum

 

Though the Latin version of this book was thrice printed in the 16th century (in 1527, 1550 and 1599), it was practically unknown to modern scholars until it was recognized by F. C. Conybeare and discussed by Cohn in the Jewish Quarterly Review, 1898, pp. 279–332. It is an Haggadic revision of the Biblical history from Adam to the death of Saul. Its chronology agrees frequently with the LXX, against that of the Massoretic text, though conversely in a few cases. The Latin is undoubtedly translated from the Greek. Greek words are frequently transliterated. While the LXX. is occasionally followed in its translation of Biblical passages, in others the Massoretic is followed against the LXX., and in one or two passages the text presupposes a text different from both. On many grounds Cohn infers a Hebrew original. The eschatology is similar to that taught in the similitude of the Book of Enoch. In fact, Eth. En. li. 1 is reproduced in this connexion. Prayers of the departed are said to be valueless. The book was written after A.D. 70; for, as Cohn has shown, the exact date of the fall of Herod's temple is stated.

 

The Gospel of Adam and Eve

 

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Writings dealing with this subject are extant in Greek, Latin, Slavonic, Syriac, Armenian and Arabic. They go back undoubtedly to a Jewish basis, but in some of the forms in which they appear at present they are Christianized throughout. The oldest and for the most part Jewish portion of this literature is preserved to us in Greek, Armenian, Latin and Slavonic.

1. The Greek Διηγησις περι Αδαμ και Ευας (published under the misleading title Αποκαλυψις Μωυσεως in Tischendorf's Apocalypses Apocryphae, 1866) deals with the Fall and the death of Adam and Eve. Antonio Ceriani edited this text from a Milan MS. (Monumenta Sacra et Profana, v. i). This work is found also in Armenian, and has been published by the Mechitharist community in Venice in their Collection of Uncanonical Writings of the Old Testament, and translated by Conybeare (Jewish Quarterly Review, vii. 216 sqq., 1895), and by Issaverdens in 1901.
2. The Vita Adae et Evae is closely related and in part identical with the Διηγησις. It was printed by Wilhelm Meyerin Abh. d. Münch. Akad., Philos.-philol. Cl. xiv., 1878.
3. The Slavonic Adam book was published by Jajic along with a Latin translation (Denkschr. d. Wien. Akad. d. Wiss. xlii., 1893). This version agrees for the most part with the Διηγησις. It has, moreover, a section, §§ 28-39, which though not found in the Διηγησις is found in the Vita.

Before we discuss these three documents we shall mention other members of this literature, which, though derivable ultimately from Jewish sources, are Christian in their present form.

• The Book of Adam and Eve, also called the Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan, translated from the Ethiopic (1882) by S. C. Malan. This was first translated by August Dillmann (Das christl. Adambuch des Morgenlandes, 1853), and the Ethiopic book first edited by Ernest Trumpp (Abh. d. Münch. Akad. xv., 1870–1881).
• A Syriac work entitled Die Schalzhöhle translated by Carl Bezold from three Syriac MSS. in 1883 and subsequently edited in Syriac in 1888. This work has close affinities to the Conflict, but is said by Dillmann to be more original.

Armenian books on the Death of Adam (Uncanonical Writings of O.T. pp. 84 sqq., 1901, translated from the Armenian), Creation and Transgression of Adam (op. cit. 39 sqq.), Expulsion of Adam from Paradise (op. cit. 47 sqq.), Penitence of Adam and Eve (op. cit. 71 sqq.) are mainly later writings from Christian hands.

 

Returning to the question of the Jewish origin of Διηγησις, Vita, Slavonic Adam book, we have already observed that these spring from a common original. As to the language of this original, scholars are divided. The evidence, however, seems to be strongly in favour of Hebrew. How otherwise are we to explain such Hebraisms (or Syriacisms) as ευω ῥεει το ἑλαιον εξ αυτου (§ 9), οὑ ειπεν... μη φαγειν απ αυτου (§ 21). For others see §§ 23, 33. Moreover, as Fuchs has pointed out, in the words ἑση εν ματαιοις addressed to Eve (§ 25) there is a corruption of חבליס into הבליס. Thus the words were: "Thou shalt have pangs." In fact, Hebraisms abound throughout this book.^[1]

 

Jannes and Jambres

For more details on this topic, see Iannes.

 

These two men are referred to in 2 Tim. iii. 8 as the Egyptian magicians who withstood Moses. The book that treats of them is mentioned by Origen,^[2] and in the Gelasian Decree as the Paenitentia Jamnis et Mambre. The names in Greek are generally Ιαννησ και Ιαμβρης (=יניס וימבריס) as in the Targ.-Jon. on Exod. i. 15; vii. ii. In the Talmud they appear as יוחני וממרא. Since the western text of 2 Tim. iii. 8 has Μαμβρης, Westcott and Hort infer that this form was derived from a Palestinian source. These names were known not only to Jewish but also to heathen writers, such as Pliny and Apuleius. The book, therefore, may go back to pre-Christian times.^[3]

 

Joseph and Aseneth

Main article: Joseph and Aseneth

 

The statement in Gen. xli. 45, 50 that Joseph married the daughter of a heathen priest gave offence to later Judaism, and gave rise to the belief that Asenath was really the daughter of Shechem and Dinah, and only the foster-daughter of Potipherah.^[4] Origen also was acquainted with some form of the legend.^[5] The Christian legend, which is no doubt in the main based on the Jewish, is found in Greek, Syriac, Armenian, Slavonic and Medieval Latin. Since it is not earlier than the 3rd or 4th century, it is sufficient to refer to Smith's Dict. of Christ. Biog. i. 176-177; James, M. R. (1898). "Asenath". In James Hastings. A Dictionary of the Bible. I. pp. pages 162–163. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/hastings/dictv1/Page_162.html. ; Schürer, iii. 289-291.

 

 

 

The New Testament Apocrypha

New Testament apocrypha

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Testament_apocrypha

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

The New Testament apocrypha are a number of writings by early Christians that claim to be accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. These writings often have links with books regarded as "canonical". Not every branch of the Christian church agrees on which writings should be regarded as "canonical" and which are "apocryphal" (See, for example, the Gospel according to the Hebrews).

 

Definition

 

The word "apocrypha" means "things put away" or "things hidden" and comes from the Greek through the Latin. The general term is usually applied to the books that were considered by the church as useful, but not divinely inspired. As such, to refer to Gnostic writings as "apocryphal" is misleading since they would not be classified in the same category by orthodox believers. Often used by the Greek Fathers was the term antilegomena, or "spoken against", although some canonical books were also spoken against, such as the Apocalypse of John in the East. Often used by scholars is the term pseudepigrapha, or "falsely inscribed" or "falsely attributed", in the sense that the writings were written by an anonymous author who appended the name of an apostle to his work, such as in the Gospel of Peter or The Æthiopic Apocalypse of Enoch: almost all books, in both Old and New Testaments, called "apocrypha" in the Protestant tradition are pseudepigrapha. In the Catholic and Orthodox traditions, what are called the apocrypha by Protestants include the deuterocanonical books: in the Catholic tradition, the term "apocrypha" is synonymous with what Protestants would called the pseudepigrapha, the latter term of which is almost exclusively used by scholars.^[1]

 

History

 

Development of the New Testament Canon

Main article: Development of the New Testament canon

 

That some works are categorized as New Testament Apocrypha is indicative of the wide range of responses that were engendered in the interpretation of the message of Jesus of Nazareth. During the first several centuries of the transmission of that message, considerable debate turned on safeguarding its authenticity. Three key methods of addressing this survive to the present day: ordination, where groups authorize individuals as reliable teachers of the message; creeds, where groups define the boundaries of interpretation of the message; and canons, which list the primary documents certain groups believe contain the message originally taught by Jesus (in other words, the Bible). There was substantial debate about which books should be included in the canons. In general, those books that the majority regarded as the earliest books about Jesus were the ones included. Books that were not accepted into the canons are now termed apocryphal. Some of them were vigorously suppressed and survive only as fragments. The earliest lists of canonical works of the New Testament were not quite the same as modern lists; for example, the Book of Revelation was regarded as disputed by some Christians (see Antilegomena), while Shepherd of Hermas was considered genuine by others, and appears (after the Book of Revelation) in the Codex Sinaiticus.

 

The works that presented themselves as "authentic" but that did not obtain general acceptance from within the churches are called New Testament Apocrypha. These are not accepted as canonical by most mainstream Christian denominations; only the Ethiopian Orthodox Church recognizes the Shepherd of Hermas, 1 Clement, Acts of Paul, and several Old Testament books that most other denominations reject, but it should be noted that this church does not adhere to an explicit canon.^{[citation needed]}

 

The Syriac Peshitta, used by all the various Syrian Churches, originally did not include 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, Jude and Revelation (and this canon of 22 books is the one cited by John Chrysostom (~347-407) and Theodoret (393-466) from the School of Antioch).^[2] Western Syrians have added the remaining five books to their New Testament canons in modern times^[2] (such as the Lee Peshitta of 1823). Today, the official lectionaries followed by the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church and the East Syriac Chaldean Catholic Church, which is in communion with the Bishop of Rome, still only present lessons from the 22 books of the original Peshitta.^[2]

 

The Armenian Apostolic church at times has included the Third Epistle to the Corinthians, but does not always list it with the other 27 canonical New Testament books. This Church did not accept Revelation into its Bible until 1200 CE.^[3] The New Testament of the Coptic Bible, adopted by the Egyptian Church, includes the two Epistles of Clement.

 

Modern scholarship

 

Tischendorf and other scholars began to study New Testament apocrypha seriously in the 19th Century and produce new translations. The "standard" scholarly edition of the New Testament Apocrypha in German and English is that of Schneemelcher.^[4] The texts of the Nag Hammadi library are often considered separately but the current edition of Schneemelcher also contains eleven Nag Hammadi texts.^[5]

 

Books that are known objectively not to have existed in antiquity are usually not considered part of the New Testament Apocrypha. Among these are the Libellus de Nativitate Sanctae Mariae (also called the "Nativity of Mary") and the Latin Infancy gospel. The latter two did not exist in antiquity, and they seem to be based on the earlier Infancy gospels.^{[citation needed]}

 

Gospels

Main articles: Gospel and List of gospels

 

Canonical gospels

 

Four gospels came to be accepted as part of the New Testament, or canonical. Many other documents (of various genres) given the title "gospel" were written subsequently.

• Gospel according to Matthew
• Gospel according to Mark
• Gospel according to Luke
• Gospel according to John

Infancy gospels

 

The rarity of information about the childhood of Jesus in the canonical gospels led to a hunger of early Christians for more detail about the early life of Jesus. This was supplied by a number of 2nd century and later texts, known as infancy gospels, none of which were accepted into the biblical canon, but the very number of their surviving manuscripts attests to their continued popularity.

 

Most of these were based on the earliest infancy gospels, namely the Infancy Gospel of James (also called the "Protoevangelium of James") and Infancy Gospel of Thomas, and on their later combination into the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew (also called the "Infancy Gospel of Matthew" or "Birth of Mary and Infancy of the Saviour").

 

The other significant early infancy gospels are the Syriac Infancy Gospel, the History of Joseph the Carpenter and the Life of John the Baptist.

 

Jewish Christian gospels

Main article: Jewish-Christian gospels

 

Jewish Christian sects within Early Christianity that retained a strong allegiance to Judaism, upholding Mosaic Law, used these gospels as specific to themselves:

• Gospel of the Ebionites - 7 quotes cited, all by Epiphanius
• Gospel of the Hebrews - 7 quotes survive, six of them by Jerome
• Gospel of the Nazarenes - 30 quotes survive in works by Jerome and Origen

Some scholars consider that the 2 last named are in fact the same source.^[6]

 

Non-Canonical gospels

 

Other documents entitled "gospels" came into existence in the second and third Christian centuries. Sometimes, those attributed to the text state elsewhere that their text is the earlier version, or that their text excises all the additions and distortions made by their opponents to the more recognised version of the text. The Church Fathers insisted that these people were the ones making distortions, but some modern scholars do not. It remains to be seen whether any are earlier and more accurate versions of the canonical texts. Details of their contents only survive in the attacks on them by their opponents, and so for the most part it is uncertain as to how extensively different they are, and whether any constitute entirely different works. These texts include:

• Gospel of Marcion (mid 2nd century)
• Gospel of Mani (3rd century)
• Gospel of Apelles (mid-late 2nd century)
• Gospel of Bardesanes (late 2nd - early 3rd century)
• Gospel of Basilides (mid 2nd century)

 

Sayings gospels

 

One or two texts take the form of brief logia—sayings and parables of Jesus—which are not embedded in a connected narrative:

• Gospel of Thomas

A minority of scholars regard the Gospel of Thomas as part of the tradition from which the canonical gospels eventually emerged; in any case both of these documents are important as showing us what the theoretical Q document might have looked like.

 

Passion gospels

 

A number of gospels are concerned specifically with the "Passion" (arrest, execution and resurrection) of Jesus:

• Gospel of Peter
• Gospel of Nicodemus (also called the "Acts of Pilate")
• Gospel of Bartholomew
• Questions of Bartholomew
• Resurrection of Jesus Christ (which claims to be according to Bartholomew)

Although three texts take Bartholomew's name, it may be that one of the Questions of Bartholomew or the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is in fact the unknown Gospel of Bartholomew.

 

Harmonized gospels

 

A number of texts aim to provide a single harmonization of the canonical gospels, that eliminates discordances among them by presenting a unified text derived from them to some degree. The most widely read of these was the Diatessaron.

 

Gnostic texts

Main article: Gnostic gospels

 

In the modern era, many Gnostic texts have been uncovered, especially from the Nag Hammadi library. Some texts take the form of an expounding of the esoteric cosmology and ethics held by the Gnostics. Often this was in the form of dialogue in which Jesus expounds esoteric knowledge while his disciples raise questions concerning it. There is also a text, known as the Epistula Apostolorum, which is a polemic against Gnostic esoterica, but written in a similar style as the Gnostic texts.

 

Dialogues with Jesus

• Apocryphon of James (also called the "Secret Book of James")
• Book of Thomas the Contender
• Dialogue of the Saviour
• Gospel of Judas (also called the "Gospel of Judas Iscariot")
• Gospel of Mary (also called the "Gospel of Mary Magdalene")
• Gospel of Philip
• Greek Gospel of the Egyptians (distinct from the Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians)
• The Sophia of Jesus Christ

 

General texts concerning Jesus

• Coptic Apocalypse of Paul (distinct from the Apocalypse of Paul)
• Gospel of Truth
• Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter (distinct from the Apocalypse of Peter)
• Pistis Sophia
• Second Treatise of the Great Seth

 

Sethian texts concerning Jesus

 

The Sethians were a gnostic group who originally worshipped the biblical Seth as a messianic figure, later treating Jesus as a re-incarnation of Seth. They produced numerous texts expounding their esoteric cosmology, usually in the form of visions:

• Apocryphon of John (also called the "Secret Gospel of John")
• Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians (distinct from the Greek Gospel of the Egyptians)
• Trimorphic Protennoia

 

Ritual diagrams

 

Some of the Gnostic texts appear to consist of diagrams and instructions for use in religious rituals:

• Ophite Diagrams
• Books of Jeu

 

Acts

Main article: Acts of the Apostles (genre)

 

Several texts concern themselves with the subsequent lives of the apostles, usually with highly supernatural events. Almost half of these are said^[who?] to have been written by Leucius Charinus (known as the Leucian Acts), a companion of John the apostle. The Acts of Thomas and the Acts of Peter and the Twelve are often considered Gnostic texts. While most of the texts are believed to have been written in the 2nd century, at least two, the Acts of Barnabas and the Acts of Peter and Paul are believed to have been written as late as the 5th century.

• Acts of Andrew
• Acts of Barnabas
• Acts of John
• Acts of the Martyrs
• Acts of Paul
• Acts of Paul and Thecla
• Acts of Peter
• Acts of Peter and Andrew
• Acts of Peter and Paul
• Acts of Peter and the Twelve
• Acts of Philip
• Acts of Pilate
• Acts of Thomas
• Acts of Timothy
• Acts of Xanthippe, Polyxena, and Rebecca

 

Epistles

Main article: Epistles

 

There are also non-canonical epistles (or "letters") between individuals or to Christians in general. Some of them were regarded very highly by the early church:

• Epistle of Barnabas
• Epistles of Clement
• Epistle of the Corinthians to Paul
• Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans
• Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians
• Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians
• Epistle to Diognetus
• Epistle to the Laodiceans (an epistle in the name of Paul)
• Epistle to Seneca the Younger (an epistle in the name of Paul)
• Third Epistle to the Corinthians - accepted in the past by some in the Armenian Orthodox church.

 

Apocalypses

Main article: Apocalyptic literature

 

Several works frame themselves as visions, often discussing the future, afterlife, or both:

• Apocalypse of Paul (distinct from the Coptic Apocalypse of Paul)
• Apocalypse of Peter (distinct from the Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter)
• Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius
• Apocalypse of Thomas (also called the Revelation of Thomas)
• Apocalypse of Stephen (also called the Revelation of Stephen)
• First Apocalypse of James (also called the First Revelation of James)
• Second Apocalypse of James (also called the Second Revelation of James)
• The Shepherd of Hermas

 

Fate of Mary

 

Several texts (over 50) consist of descriptions of the events surrounding the varied fate of Mary (the mother of Jesus):

• The Home Going of Mary
• The Falling asleep of the Mother of God
• The Descent of Mary

 

Miscellany

 

These texts, due to their content or form, do not fit into the other categories:

• Apostolic Constitutions (church regulations supposedly asserted by the apostles)
• Book of Nepos
• Canons of the Apostles
• Cave of Treasures (also called The Treasure)
• Clementine literature
• Didache (possibly the first written catechism)
• Liturgy of St James
• Penitence of Origen
• Prayer of Paul
• Sentences of Sextus
• Physiologus

 

Fragments

 

In addition to the known Apocryphal works, there are also small fragments of texts, parts of unknown (or uncertain) works. Some of the more significant fragments are:

• The Unknown Berlin Gospel (also called the Gospel of the Saviour)
• The Naassene Fragment
• The Fayyum Fragment
• The Secret Gospel of Mark
• The Oxyrhynchus Gospels
• The Egerton Gospel

 

Lost works

 

Several texts are mentioned in many ancient sources and would probably be considered part of the apocrypha, but no known text has survived:

• Gospel of Eve (a quotation from this gospel is given by Epiphanius (Haer. xxvi. 2, 3). It is possible that this is the Gospel of Perfection he alludes to in xxvi. 2. The quotation shows that this gospel was the expression of complete pantheism)
• Gospel of the Four Heavenly Realms
• Gospel of Matthias (probably different from the Gospel of Matthew)
• Gospel of Perfection (used by the followers of Basilides and other Gnostics. See Epiphanius, Haer. xxvi. 2)
• Gospel of the Seventy
• Gospel of Thaddaeus (this may be a synonym for the Gospel of Judas, confusing Judas Iscariot for Judas Thaddaeus)
• Gospel of the Twelve
• Memoria Apostolorum

 

A note about The Eastern Orthodox Church

See also: Orthodoxy

 

While many of the books listed here were considered heretical (especially those belonging to the gnostic tradition—as this sect was considered heretical by Proto-orthodox Christianity of the early centuries), others were not considered particularly heretical in content, but in fact were well accepted as significant spiritual works.

 

While some of the following works appear in complete Bibles from the fourth century, such as 1 Clement and The Shepherd of Hermas, showing their general popularity, they were not included when the canon was formally decided at the end of that century.

• 1 and 2 Clement
• Shepherd of Hermas
• Didache
• Epistle of Barnabas
• Apocalypse of Peter
• The Protevangelium of James
• Third Epistle to the Corinthians

 

Evaluation

 

Among historians of early Christianity the books are considered invaluable, especially those that almost made it into the final canon, such as Shepherd of Hermas. Bart Ehrman, for example, said:

The victors in the struggles to establish Christian Orthodoxy not only won their theological battles, they also rewrote the history of the conflict; later readers then naturally assumed that the victorious views had been embraced by the vast majority of Christians from the very beginning ... The practice of Christian forgery has a long and distinguished history ... the debate lasted three hundred years ... even within "orthodox" circles there was considerable debate concerning which books to include.^[7]

This debate primarily concerned whether certain works should be read in the church service or only privately. These works were widely used but not necessarily considered Catholic or 'universal.' Such works include the Didache, Shepherd of Hermas, 1 Clement, 2 Clement, the Epistle of Barnabas, and to a lesser extent the Apocalypse of Peter. Considering the generally accepted dates of authorship for all of the canonical New Testament works (ca. 100 AD or before), as well as the various witnesses to canonicity extant among the writings of Ignatius, Polycarp, Irenaeus, etc., the four gospels and letters of Paul were universally held as scriptural, and only ~200 years were needed to finalize the canon; from the beginning of the 2nd Century to the mid-4th Century, no book in the final canon was ever declared spurious or heretical, except for the Revelation of John which the Council of Laodicea in 363-364 AD rejected (although it accepted all of the other 26 books in the New Testament). This was possibly due to fears of the influence of Montanism which used the book extensively to support their theology. See Revelation of John for more details. Athanasius wrote his Easter letter in 367 AD which defined a canon of 27 books, identical to the current canon, but also listed two works that were "not in the canon but to be read:" The Shepherd of Hermas and the Didache. Nevertheless, the early church leaders in the 3rd and 4th Centuries generally distinguished between canonical works and those that were not canonical but 'useful,' or 'good for teaching,' though never relegating any of the final 27 books to the latter category. One aim with establishing the canon was to capture only those works which were held to have been written by the Apostles, or their close associates, and as the Muratorian fragment canon (ca. 150-175 AD) states concerning the Shepherd of Hermas:

...But Hermas wrote The Shepherd very recently, in our times, in the city of Rome, while bishop Pius, his brother, was occupying the chair of the church of the city of Rome. And therefore it ought indeed to be read; but it cannot be read publicly to the people in church either among the Prophets, whose number is complete, or among the Apostles, for it is after their time.

 

See also

• Nag Hammadi library
• List of gospels
• The Q document, a hypothetical document underlying much of the text of the canonical gospels of Matthew and Luke
• Textual criticism
• Historicity of Jesus
• History of Christianity
• Authorship of the Pauline epistles
• Books of the Bible; Biblical canon
• List of early Christian writers

 

References

1. ^ Charlesworth, James H (1985). Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson. p. 2257. ISBN 978-1-59856-489-1.
2. ^ ^{a b c} Peshitta
3. ^ Reliability
4. ^ James McConkey Robinson, Christoph Heil, Jozef Verheyden The Sayings Gospel Q: collected essays 2005 p279 "Not only has a third, fourth, fifth, and sixth edition of the standard German work by Edgar Hennecke and Wilhelm Schneemelcher prepared under the editorship of Schneemelcher appeared, but independent editions are being produced ...
5. ^ The fifth Gospel: the Gospel of Thomas comes of age - 1998 p105 Stephen J. Patterson, James McConkey Robinson, Hans-Gebhard Bethge -"The current edition of Wilhelm Schneemelcher's standard New Testament Apocrypha contains eleven Nag Hammadi tractates,"
6. ^ Craig A. Evans
7. ^ Ehrman, Lost Scriptures P 2,3

External links

• New Testament Apocrypha texts
• New Testament Apocrypha resources
• New Testament Apocrypha histories