by Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\tI. When addressing what books are accepted into the Old Testament canon, you will run\ninto a set of writings known as the Apocrypha\n
A. “Apocrypha” means “doubtful writings”<\/p>\n
B. There are 15 books or writings which fall under this heading<\/p>\n
C. The Roman Catholic church accepts 12 of these books and calls them “deutero-canonical” books<\/p>\n
D. See chart for list of books<\/p>\n E. The books rejected by the Catholic church are I and II Esdras and the Prayer of\nManassah.\n 1. In the Roman Catholic Bibles, The Additions to Esther are added to the\nfront of the book of Esther.\n
2. The Prayer of Azariah is added to the end of Daniel 3 (adding verses 24-90)<\/p>\n
3. Susanna is added to the end of Daniel, becoming Daniel 13<\/p>\n
4. Bel and the Dragon is added to the end of Daniel, becoming Daniel 14<\/p>\n
5. The Letter of Jeremiah was added as chapter six in the book of Baruch.<\/p>\n 6. This gives the Catholic Bible a total of seven extra books plus five\nadditions to books.\n
II. How did we get these books?<\/p>\n A. Some later translations of the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old\nTestament) contained some of these books in an appendix. They were considered\nuseful reading, but not inspired.\n B. Augustine influenced the councils of Hippo (393 A.D.) and Carthage (397 A.D.) \nto accept these extra books. He made sure that any opposition to these books was\nsuppressed. However, these writings still held a secondary position to the rest of\nthe Bible.\n C. The Council of Trent (1546 A.D.), in reaction to the growing Protestant\nmovement, resolved “if anyone receives not as sacred and canonical the said\nbooks entire with all their parts, as they have been used to be read in the Catholic\nChurch . . . Let him be anathema (accursed)!”\n D. The reason for the Catholic’s interest in these books is that some of their unusual\nbeliefs are justified by these writings.\n 1. II Maccabees 12:39-45 talks of praying for the dead which leads to the\nCatholic teaching of purgatory.\n
2. Ecclesiasticus 3:30 speaks of gaining salvation by almsgiving.<\/p>\n E. The reason all 15 writings were not included was because some contradicted\nCatholic teachings\n
1. II Esdras 7:105 speaks against praying for the dead.<\/p>\n F. It should be noted that all of these books only exist in Greek copies. We do not\nhave Hebrew copies.\nIII. None of these writings have been accepted by the Jews as being inspired writings. They\nhave failed the tests\n
A. They were not seen to be written by a recognized prophet who<\/p>\n 1. Does not lead the people away from God – Deuteronomy 13:1-5 (i.e. his\nwords does not conflict with God’s known teachings)\n
2. Statements about future events always comes true – Deuteronomy 18:20-22<\/p>\n
B. Ecclesiasticus or sometimes called Sirach<\/p>\n
1. The author is named as Jesus, the son of Sirach. <\/p>\n
2. Nowhere in the book is there a claim of prophecy, such as “The Lord said”<\/p>\n 3. The writer’s grandson translated the book into Greek, but notice what he\nsays about the book in his prologue: “Many great teachings have been\ngiven to us through the Law and the Prophets and the others that followed\nthem, and for these we should praise Israel for instruction and wisdom.\nNow, those who read the scriptures must not only themselves understand\nthem, but must also as lovers of learning be able through the spoken and\nwritten word to help the outsiders. So my grandfather Jesus, who had\ndevoted himself especially to the reading of the Law and the Prophets and\nthe other books of our ancestors, and had acquired considerable\nproficiency in them, was himself also led to write something pertaining to\ninstruction and wisdom, so that by becoming familiar also with his book\nthose who love learning might make even greater progress in living\naccording to the law.”\n
4. This is not a statement of inspiration, but of good reading and instruction.<\/p>\n
a. Note claim that the teachings came from Israel and not God<\/p>\n
b. Note claim that these is based on personal wisdom learned.<\/p>\n 5. Therefore this book fails the requirement of being written by a recognized\nprophet.\n
C. Baruch<\/p>\n 1. This book is supposed to have been written by Jeremiah’s secretary,\nBaruch, yet it contains several errors.\n
2. Baruch is in the wrong place<\/p>\n a. Baruch 1:1 says “These are the words of the book that Baruch son\nof Neriah son of Mahseiah son of Zedekiah son of Hasadiah son of\nHilkiah wrote in Babylon,”\n b. Jeremiah 43:6-7 says “the men, the women, the children, the king’s\ndaughters and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the\nbodyguard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and grandson\nof Shaphan, together with Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son\nof Neriah— and they entered the land of Egypt (for they did not\nobey the voice of the LORD) and went in as far as Tahpanhes.”\n
3. Conflicts with Ezra and Nehemiah about the return of the temple items<\/p>\n a. Baruch 1:8 says “At the same time, on the tenth day of Sivan,\nBaruch took the vessels of the house of the Lord, which had been\ncarried away from the temple, to return them to the land of\nJudah—the silver vessels that Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of\nJudah, had made,”\n b. Ezra 5:14-15 says “Also the gold and silver utensils of the house of\nGod which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in\nJerusalem, and brought them to the temple of Babylon, these King\nCyrus took from the temple of Babylon and they were given to one\nwhose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor.\nHe said to him, “Take these utensils, go and<\/i> deposit them in the\ntemple in Jerusalem and let the house of God be rebuilt in its\nplace.”\n 4. It has the return taking place during the reigns of Nebuchadnezzar and\nBelshazzar, not Cyrus, king of Persia.\n
5. This book fails the test of not conflicting with God’s revealed word.<\/p>\n
D. The Letter of Jeremiah (Baruch 6)<\/p>\n
1. Length of the captivity<\/p>\n a. Baruch 6:3 – “Therefore when you have come to Babylon you will\nremain there for many years, for a long time, up to seven\ngenerations; after that I will bring you away from there in peace.”\n b. Jeremiah 25:11 – “This whole land will be a desolation and a\nhorror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy\nyears.”\n
2. This writing fails the test of not conflicting with God’s revealed word.<\/p>\n
E. I and II Maccabees<\/p>\n 1. While a fascinating history of the Jewish rebellion, it contains several\nstatements stating that the prophets were gone.\n 2. I Maccabees 4:46 – “and stored the stones in a convenient place on the\ntemple hill until a prophet should come to tell what to do with them.”\n 3. I Maccabees 9:27 – “So there was great distress in Israel, such as had not\nbeen since the time that prophets ceased to appear among them.”\n 4. I Maccabees 14:41 – “The Jews and their priests have resolved that Simon\nshould be their leader and high priest forever, until a trustworthy prophet\nshould arise”\n
F. Tobit<\/p>\n 1. Contains many historical and geographical errors, but most telling is the\nclaim that Tobit’s was a youth when the ten tribes revolted (B.C. 925) and\nlived to see the Assyrian conquest (B.C. 725) – a period of 200 years, yet it\nsays Tobit died at the ripe old age of 158.\n
G. Judith<\/p>\n
1. Contains many historical and geographical errors.<\/p>\n 2. Judith 1:1 – “It was the twelfth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, who\nruled over the Assyrians in the great city of Nineveh.”\n 3. Nebuchadnezzar was the King of Babylon. Daniel 1:1 – “In the third year\nof the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of\nBabylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.”\n
IV. The New Testament also recognizes the works of the prophets as inspired of God.<\/p>\n
A. Jesus refers to the Law and the Prophets on several occasions. – Matthew 26:56<\/p>\n
1. Notice the emphasis that the Scriptures were written by the prophets.<\/p>\n
B. The Apostles also made similar statements – II Peter 1:20-21<\/p>\n
1. Men moved by the Holy Spirit (prophets) spoke the Scriptures.<\/p>\n C. We don’t who wrote the books of Esther, Chronicles, and Job, but they are always\nlisted with the prophets. The remainder have names associated with them that we\nrecognize as prophets of God.\n D. The New Testament quotes from every book of the Old Testament as Scripture,\nexcept for Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. This\ndoes not mean these five books were not inspired, just that the words they spoke\nwere not useful to the New Testament writers to support the topics they were\nwriting about.\n E. Of all the books of the Old Testament, Esther is the only one in a weak position. \nWe don’t know who wrote it and it was never quoted. However, knowing how\ncareful the Jews were about accepting only prophetic writings, we can feel\nconfident that the book was known by the Jews of that day to be written by a\nprophet of God.\n
V. Unlike the books of the Old Testament<\/p>\n A. Jesus and the Apostles never quoted from these books, even though they existed\nin some Septuagint versions. Jesus and the Apostles often used the Septuagint for\ntheir quotations.\n
B. These books were never accepted by the Jews as being inspired writings<\/p>\n C. The early church writers never referred to these writings as inspired, though they\nobviously knew of their existence.\n D. As we have noted before, the writings of the Bible were accepted because of who\nwrote the books. – II Peter 1:21\n
Title<\/p><\/td>\n | Date \n Believed to be Written<\/td>\n | Style \n of Writing<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n |
Tobit<\/p><\/td>\n | about \n B.C. 200<\/td>\n | Religious \n Novel<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n |
| Letter \n of Jeremiah<\/td>\n | about \n B.C. 200<\/td>\n | Prophetic<\/p><\/td>\n <\/tr>\n |
I Esdras<\/p><\/td>\n | about \n B.C. 150<\/td>\n | History \n and Legend<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n |
Judith<\/p><\/td>\n | about \n B.C. 150<\/td>\n | Romantic \n Novel<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n |
| Prayer \n of Manassah<\/td>\n | about \n B.C. 150<\/td>\n | Legend<\/p><\/td>\n <\/tr>\n |
| Additions \n to Esther<\/td>\n | about \n B.C. 130<\/td>\n | Legend<\/p><\/td>\n <\/tr>\n |
I Maccabees<\/p><\/td>\n | about \n B.C. 110<\/td>\n | History<\/p><\/td>\n <\/tr>\n |
II Maccabees<\/p><\/td>\n | about \n B.C. 100<\/td>\n | History \n and Legend<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n |
| Prayer \n of Azariah<\/td>\n | about \n B.C. 100<\/td>\n | Legend<\/p><\/td>\n <\/tr>\n |
| Bel and \n the Dragon<\/td>\n | about \n B.C. 100<\/td>\n | Legend<\/p><\/td>\n <\/tr>\n |
Suzanna<\/p><\/td>\n | about \n B.C. 100<\/td>\n | Legend<\/p><\/td>\n <\/tr>\n |
| Wisdom \n of Solomon<\/td>\n | B.C. 30<\/p><\/td>\n | Teachings<\/p><\/td>\n <\/tr>\n |
Ecclesiasticus<\/p><\/td>\n | B.C. 32<\/p><\/td>\n | Teachings<\/p><\/td>\n <\/tr>\n |
Baruch<\/p><\/td>\n | about \n 100 A.D.<\/td>\n | Prophetic<\/p><\/td>\n <\/tr>\n |
II Esdras<\/p><\/td>\n | about \n 100 A.D.<\/td>\n |