Showing posts with label Deuterocanonical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Deuterocanonical. Show all posts

Monday, July 8, 2013

Scriptures and Deuterocanonicals part 2

Excerpts from a blog by By Michael E. Stone (his source:  Israeli Foreign Ministry):

All the Apocrypha and most of the Pseudepigrapha are Jewish works (some contain Christianizing additions). They provide essential evidence of Jewish literature and thought during the period between the end of biblical writing (ca. 400 BCE) and the beginning of substantial rabbinic literature in the latter part of the first century CE.”

“Most of these works were written in the Land of Israel, in Aramaic or Hebrew. However, some of them, such as The Wisdom of Solomon, were written in Greek. These Jewish Greek writings were produced in the widespread Jewish Diaspora of the time, mainly in Egypt (Alexandria) and in North Africa. Although most of the Hebrew and Aramaic texts have been lost over the centuries, many of them, translated into Greek or Oriental Christian languages (such as Ethiopic, Syriac or Armenian) have been found.”
More excerpts:

“Scholarly interest was renewed after the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947. In the eleven caves near Qumran north-west of the Dead Sea, parts of more than 700 ancient Jewish manuscripts were discovered. These had been written in the same period as the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, mostly in Hebrew, with a lesser number in Aramaic and even fewer in Greek. The Dead Sea Scrolls, as they came to be known, are assumed to have been the library of a sectarian community at Qumran. The scrolls survived the Roman ravaging of Judea in the years 68-70 CE, because they were hidden in caves. They have been a major focus of scholarly and general interest for the last half-century.

Among the Dead Sea Scrolls were a number of manuscripts of the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha,…”

“Dating of the manuscripts by their script shows that certain parts of Enoch are at least as old as the third century BCE. Fragments of Ben Sira in Hebrew, Tobit in Aramaic, the Epistle of Jeremiah in Greek, and others were also found at Qumran.”
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The Apochrypa found in the dead sea scrolls were not purely Hebrew bec originally some were greek, so as the author revealed. The letter to jeremiah is greek, but actually, it was specified in the Apochrypa books that indeed majority were originally greek. There is no documentary proof that Apochrypa is purely Hebrew.

What do I want to prove?

That my first post about the old testament as must be written in Hebrew still stands. It must be that all old testament scriptures must be in Hebrew bec they were writing it to Jews. Majority were Hebrew speaking citizens therefore god must send his letter in Hebrew to cater to them all bec they never lost their Hebrew language even during the diaspora wherein they were captives in Babylon, and was Hellenized. Biblical evidences show that they never lost their Hebrew language.
Christ used Hebrew.

Mt 27:46 “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Hebrew was prevalent then as greek and Latin.

Lk 23:38 “And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

Ac 26:14 “And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? [it is] hard for thee to kick against the pricks.”

Re 9:11 “And they had a king over them, [which is] the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue [is] Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath [his] name Apollyon.”
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The Jewish Diaspora began with the exile of Judeans to Babylonia by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 bc. The majority of Judeans remained in Babylonia even after the refounding of Jerusalem. Under Hellenistic rulers, large numbers of Jews settled in Alexandria, Egypt.
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
An excerpt:
“All the Apocrypha and most of the Pseudepigrapha are Jewish works (some contain Christianizing additions). They provide essential evidence of Jewish literature and thought during the period between the end of biblical writing (ca. 400 BCE) and the beginning of substantial rabbinic literature in the latter part of the first century CE.”
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The diaspora begun 586 BC.

Biblical writing of the Old Testament allegedly ends 400 BCE. Even then Hebrew language was the only prophets’ writing medium.

As a matter of fact Daniel was among those who were in the diaspora but he wrote his book in Hebrew which nullifies the reason that bec they were Hellenize, they must somehow wrote in Greek. As I said, it must be that ALL the old testament canons be originally written in Hebrew for it to be canonical bec how about the Israelites who never known Greek. Though they were Hellenized but thru the long years span til Christ it doesn’t imply a perpetual Greek language adherence. It got lost with some descendants of course, and as a matter of fact, the masoretes reformed the original Hebrew copies of the bible which were then pure consonant texts into voweled Hebrew texts called the masoretic text which means that indeed the Israelites retained their Hebrew language even with the influence of the greek culture. They can still read Hebrew, the renewed Hebrew language, that is, supplied with vowels-THE MASORETIC TEXTS.
As proof, the dead sea scrolls contained some of these Masoretic texts either dating from 250 BC-68 AD.

Excerpts from: The Dead Sea Scrolls and Biblical Integrity
by Garry K. Brantley, M.A., M.Div.

“When the scrolls first were discovered in 1947, scholars disputed their dates of composition. Scholars now generally agree that although some materials are earlier,

the Qumran materials date primarily to the Hasmonean (152-63 B.C.) and early Roman periods (63 B.C.-A.D. 68). Several strands of evidence corroborate these conclusions. 

First, archaeological evidence from the ruins of the Qumran community supports these dates. After six major seasons of excavations, archaeologists have identified three specific phases of occupation at the ancient center of Qumran. Coinage discovered in the first stratum dates from the reign of Antiochus VII Sidetes (138-129 B.C.). Such artifacts also indicate that the architecture associated with the second occupational phase dates no later than the time of Alexander Jannaeus (103-76 B.C.). Also reflected in the material remains of the site is the destruction of its buildings in the earthquake reported by the first-century Jewish historian, Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews, 15.5.2). Apparently, this natural disaster occurred around 31 B.C. a position that prompted the occupants to abandon the site for an indeterminate time. Upon reoccupation of the area—the third phase—the buildings were repaired and rebuilt precisely on the previous plan of the old communal complex. The community flourished until the Romans, under the military direction of Vespasian, occupied the site by force (see Cross, 1992, pp. 21-22). Such evidence is consistent with the second century B.C. to first-century A.D. dates for the scrolls.

The second strand of evidence is that the generally accepted dates for the scrolls are corroborated by palaeographical considerations. Palaeography is the study of ancient writing and, more specifically, the shape and style of letters. Characteristic of ancient languages, the manner in which Hebrew and Aramaic letters were written changed over a period of time. The trained eye can determine, within certain boundaries, the time frame of a document based upon the shape of its letters.

This is the method by which scholars determine the date of a text on palaeographical grounds. According to this technique, the scripts at Qumran belong to three periods of palaeographical development: (1) a small group of biblical texts whose archaic style reflects the period between about 250-150 B.C.; (2) a large cache of manuscripts, both biblical and non-biblical, that is consistent with a writing style common to the Hasmonean period (c. 150-30 B.C.); and (3) a similarly large number of texts that evinces a writing style characteristic of the Herodian period (30 B.C.-A.D. 70). This linguistic information also is consistent with the commonly accepted dates of the Qumran materials.”

“This second point is of particular importance since, prior to the discovery of the Qumran manuscripts, the earliest extant Old Testament texts were those known as the Masoretic Text (MT), which dated from about A.D. 980. The Masoretic Text is the result of editorial work performed by Jewish scribes known as the Masoretes. The scribes’ designation was derived from the Hebrew word masora, which refers collectively to the notes entered on the top, bottom, and side margins of the Masoretic Text manuscripts to safeguard traditional transmission. Hence, the Masoretes, as their name suggests, were the scribal preservers of the masora (Roberts, 1962, 3:295). From the fifth to the ninth century A.D., the Masoretes labored to introduce both these marginal notes and vowel points to the consonantal text—primarily to conserve correct pronunciation and spelling (see Seow, 1987, pp. 8-9).
Critical scholars questioned the accuracy of the MASORETIC TEXT, which formed the basis of our English versions of the Old Testament, 

since there was such a large chronological gap between it and the autographs. Because of this uncertainty, scholars often “corrected” the text with considerable freedom.
Qumran, however, has provided remains of an early Masoretic edition predating the Christian era on which the traditional Masoretic Text is based. A comparison of the Masoretic Text to this earlier text revealed the remarkable accuracy with which scribes copied the sacred texts. Accordingly, the integrity of the Hebrew Bible was confirmed, which generally has heightened its respect among scholars and drastically reduced textual alteration.

Most of the biblical manuscripts found at Qumran belong to the MASORETIC TEXT tradition or family. This is especially true of the Pentateuch and some of the Prophets.”
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NO OLD TESTAMENT PROPHET EVER USED GREEK. BIBLICAL SCROLLS OF THE MASORETES ARE HEBREW. 

But of course, catholic apologists will ask, what proof do you have mr. yogi that old testament books must all be written in Hebrew? Even if the masoretic bible is Hebrew but what proof is there that it is requisite for prophets to write in Hebrew only?

Prophets had been using the Hebrew language in relaying God’s messages.
An example:

Ezk 3:4 “And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.
Ezk 3:5 For thou [art] not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, [but] to the house of Israel;
Ezk 3:6 Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee.
Ezk 3:7 But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel [are] impudent and hardhearted.”

For thou [art] not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, [but] to the house of Israel

But some hard smarts may insist, but does that prohibit the use of greek?

GOD ONLY SPOKE TO PROPHETS.

Num 12:6 “And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, [I] the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, [and] will speak unto him in a dream.”

Am 3:7 “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.”


ONLY PROPHETS WERE OLD TESTAMENT SPEAKERS OF GOD. ONLY PROPHETS THEREFORE WERE CREDITED THE OLD TESTAMENT WRITINGS. EVEN THE HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS WERE BY PROPHETS.

Hb 1:1 “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Hb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by [his] Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;”
 in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Hath in these last days spoken unto us by [his] Son

 Dn 9:10 “Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.”

 the voice of the LORD our God which he set before us by his servants the prophets
 Jer 26:4 “And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you,

Jer 26:5 To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending [them], but ye have not hearkened;”

If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you,
To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you

All those commanded to speak to Israel then were prophets. Nothing more, nothing less. Being prophets, they were the only spokesperson of god til Christ and as we see, all old testament writings by prophets were in Hebrew, this alone proves that indeed god relayed his messages to all Israel in Hebrew. It was never in greek.

NO OLD TESTAMENT PROPHET EVER USED GREEK.

In contrary, the apochrypa included in itself writings by non-prophets as the book of Sirach, Judith, Baruch and spurious Daniel writings as bel and the dragon, the book of suzanna etc… and most of them in Greek.

We must first establish that all scriptures inspired, are those pure words of God.

2Ti 3:16 “All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”
If Apochrypa is scriptures or inspired scriptures, meaning, the words of God, then it must have been written to us by prophets onlly prophets were the one given privilege to speak for god.

Hb 1:1 “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,”

Fathers means Israel’s forefathers.

Ro 9:4 “Who are Israelites; to whom [pertaineth] the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service [of God], and the promises;

Ro 9:5 Who (greek “hon”: who) are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ [came], who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.”

The fathers are those also to whom Isaiah spoke to also, meaning, Israel in old testament times.

Ac 28:25 “And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,

Ac 28:26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:”

 Ac 7:52 “Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:”

 God have been using only prophets in communicating to Israel in the past. And Apochrypa were not by prophets at all so how can Apochrypa belong to old testament’s only prophets writings then? TO QUALIFY AS PROPHETS OF GOD, THEY MUST FIRSTLY SPEAK NO ERROR, AND SECONDLY, THEY MUST SOMEHOW HAVE SPOKEN OF CHRIST.

Now, is apochrypa’s Sirach, Judith etc… by prophets?
It’s not.

Sirach is just a translator. He translated his grandfather’s works of allegedly biblical wisdom from moses’ law and other biblical canons.

SIRACH’S FOREWORD:

“Anyone who values learning should be able to help others by what he himself says and writes. That is why my grandfather Jesus devoted himself to reading the Law, the prophets, and the other books of our ancestors. After he had mastered them, he was led to write a book of his own inorder to share his wisdom and learning with others.

Let me urge you then to read this book carefully and with an open mind. And please be patient in those places where, inspite of all my diligent efforts, I may not have translated some phrases very well.”
SIRACH’S GRANDFATHER ADMITTED HE IS NOT A PROPHET.

SIRACH 24:32-33 “and so I present you with my learning, I hold it high, so that its light can be seen everywhere like that of a rising sun. LIKE AN INSPIRED PROPHET I POUR OUT MY TEACHINGS.”

LIKE AN INSPIRED PROPHET is not a prophet.

 This sole admission compromised the integral apochrypa false, bec as the bible said, god only spoke to Israel by no one else but prophets.

Hb 1:1 “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Hb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by [his] Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;”
 in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

Dn 9:10 “Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.”
 the voice of the LORD our God which he set before us by his servants the prophets

Baruch likewise is not a prophet but  the secretary of prophet jeremiah. So how will his book be qualified as canonical when he was not a prophet?

Jer 36:4 “Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.”
what?

It is still canonical?

Moreover, not all apochrypa’s writers prophesied of this: Jesus Christ.

Ac 3:20 “And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
Ac 3:21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”

Jesus Christ, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets
 by the mouth of “ALL” his holy prophets

Did Tobit spoke a single verse about Christ?
He did. he spoke of the church built by God in Jerusalem. As Christians know, Christ and the church are one so Tobit had indeed spoke indirectly of Christ.

TOBIT 1:4 “all the tribes in Israel were supposed to offer sacrifices in Jerusalem. It was the one city that god had chosen from among all the Israelite cities AS THE PLACE WHERE HIS TEMPLE WAS TO BE BUILT FOR HIS HOLY AND ETERNAL HOME.”
But then, he failed in this other aspect, he spoke contradictions with the truth.
TOBIT 4:17 “when one of god’s faithful people has died, prepare food for the family BUT NEVER DO THIS WHEN SOMEONE EVIL DIES.”

It says, not to prepare foods to families, as wife or husband and children of an evil person. Does god complies with it? Do children bear the iniquity of their parents to be included with the consequences of their parents’ evil?

Ezk 18:20 “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”

As you all know, even if a person is evil it doesn’t mean his wife and children are likewise. What if these families are righteous, will god forsake them? If god won’t forsake them then Tobit is lying when he said of not showing this specific goodness as preparing food to an evil person’s families.

Ro 11:22 “Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in [his] goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.”
but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in [his] goodness

That’s god’s assurance. Actually, god contradicted Tobit in many ways.

Ga 6:10 “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all [men], especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”
 let us do good unto all [men]

 They might stubbornly say, Tobit’s doctrine is the exception, we must not do this specific good to them, that is, preparing food for an evil person’s families.
If that is the case, then god contradicted himself.

Ho 2:19 “And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
Ho 2:20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.”
I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies

Let’s quote god’s assurance again.

Ro 11:22 “Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in [his] goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.”
but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in [his] goodness

compare:

TOBIT 4:17 “when one of god’s faithful people has died, prepare food for the family BUT NEVER DO THIS WHEN SOMEONE EVIL DIES.”

 Another one,

TOBIT 1:8-10 “it is better to pray sincerely and to please god by helping the poor than to be rich and dishonest. it is better to give to the poor than to store up gold. SUCH GENEROSITY WILL SAVE YOU FROM DEATH AND WILL WASH AWAY ALL YOUR SINS. Those who gives to the poor will live full lives but those who live a life of sin and wickedness are their own worst enemies.”
Generosity done in faith will wash away all sins? Not so in the Christian dispensation. To say that generosity while you also pray to god will wash away all your sins is paradox statement bec mortal sins done by a believer merits unforgiveness, it can’t anymore be washed, even if you pray and give to the poor to please god.

Hb 6:4 “For [it is] impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,

Hb 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

Hb 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put [him] to an open shame.”
Mortal sins and wickedness, as Tobit was referring to it, is forgivable by generosity, is a lie.
For [it is] impossible for those who were once enlightened If they shall fall away
to renew them again unto repentance, 

 Hb 10:26 “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,”
 there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins

This means, Christ will not again be sacrificed and shed his blood the 2nd time for the remission of your sins, meaning, no 2nd washing of mortal sins after receiving the knowledge of truth.

Hb 9:22 “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.”

Understand this:

 and without shedding of blood is no remission- (this is Christ’s sacrifice in the cross.)
For if we sin willfully… there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins
compare to Tobit:

SUCH GENEROSITY WILL SAVE YOU FROM DEATH AND WILL WASH AWAY ALL YOUR SINS

On another thing,

Though Tobit indirectly spoke of Christ but on the contrary, Judith never spoke a thing about it or at least hinted about it. The book of Judith is not by a known prophet also. It is a war documentary but lacked the prophetic aspect about Christ therefore a false canon.

Ac 3:20 “And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:

Ac 3:21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”
Jesus Christ, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets

by the mouth of “ALL” his holy prophets

In all these qualifiers, how to know Old Testament canons, Apochrypa failed. Did apochrypa’s writers all spoke of Christ? No, they didn’t therefore they failed to qualify as true biblical canons.
The four qualifiers. (sorry for being redundant, this is for the knuckleheads!)
Old Testament canons must be written by prophets.

Hb 1:1 “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

Hb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by [his] Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;”

 in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
 Dn 9:10 “Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.”

 the voice of the LORD our God which he set before us by his servants the prophets
 Jer 26:4 “And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you,

Jer 26:5 To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending [them], but ye have not hearkened;”

If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you,
To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you

whom I sent unto you

It must have no contradiction with the other books.

2C 6:14 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what participation hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?”
 for what participation hath righteousness with unrighteousness

It must be gathered with the book of the lord.

Isa 34:16 “Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.”
 the book of the LORD… his spirit it hath gathered them
Lastly, it must speak about Christ in one way or the other.

Ac 3:20 “And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
Ac 3:21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”
Jesus Christ, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets

by the mouth of “ALL” his holy prophets

ALL PROPHETS OF GOD MUST SPEAKS OF CHRIST. This last qualifier is the sign of true prophethood also. Jonah is an exception of it though, he never talks about Christ but only prophesied to non-people of god, Nineveh, therefore is not a prophet speaking about the future of the people of god but specifically, to non-people of god. He was not an appropriate prophet to the people of God, therefore he would not speak anything concerning their future including Christ.
But they said Christ referred to the Apochrypa in some of his teachings therefore it qualifies as scriptures. Is that true?

Let’s check if indeed Christ has ever made any reference to any parts of the apochrypa.
an example:

Christ referred to Tobit 4:15 as he preached in Matt 7:12 so as catholics claimed. Let’s quote it.
Christ was allegedly quoting this:

TOBIT 4:15 “NEVER DO TO ANYONE ELSE ANYTHING THAT YOU WOULD NOT WANT SOMEONE DO TO YOU.”

 Christ preached:

Mt 7:12 “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.”

 Having that, did Christ ever refer to Tobit when he preached that certain doctrine, or he summarized the integral mosaic teachings and the prophets into one. Notice the verse: for this is the law and the prophets!

Perhaps Tobit invented his doctrine himself bec it was differently spoken with Christ. Christ said in the positive, DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WANT OTHERS TO DO UNTO YOU, whereas Tobit spoke in the negative, DON’T DO UNTO OTHERS WHAT YOU WANT OTHERS TO DO UNTO YOU. A clear huge difference of proverbial essence is it not? Now tell me, do you think you are now right with your other assumptions when you are wrong in this certain aspect? I’ll disprove you anyway.
Next post: more on the alleged christ’s quotation from apochrypa.

CONCLUSION: APOCHRYPA WAS NOT BY PROPHETS OF GOD BEC APOCHRYPAL WRITERS ARE PLAIN LIARS! THEY CONTRADICTED GOD IN SO MANY WAYS!

What kind of Israelites claimed that apochrypa is also of god?
Jer 8:5 “Why [then] is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.

Jer 8:6 I hearkened and heard, [but] they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.

Jer 8:8 How do ye say, We [are] wise, and the law of the LORD [is] with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he [it]; the pen of the scribes is falsehood.”

[but] they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness
God said to these wicked liar-jews:

How do ye say, We [are] wise, and the law of the LORD [is] with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he [it]; the pen of the scribes is falsehood

GOD SOMEHOW IMPLIED: THE PEN OF APOCHRYPA’S SCRIBES IS FALSEHOOD!
Clearly, apochrypa is an imposition not by god or by god inspired men but simply by the figment of lying minds or influence.

Clear?
Lastly,

I took this from another blogger.

“Why did the Catholic church accept them as canonical?

         In a nutshell, the Roman Catholic church has never had any biblical support for its teachings such as purgatory, prayers for the dead, works for salvation, etc. The events of the Reformation brought the Roman Catholic heresies into question and they had not scriptural authority for teachings. However, these false teachings are found in the Apocryphal books, so the Council of Trent in 1546, canonized them proclaiming them to be “sacred” books. This ruse gave them support for there erroneous teachings. It is always the clear mark of a cult or false church to add extra biblical revelations to the Bible in order to seek to justify their false teachings. Historically, the Roman Catholic church did not accept these books for the first 1300 years of their history. Clearly, the reason they changed their position was that during the Reformation the teachings of Catholicism came under scrutiny by people who were studying God’s word, they could find no mention in the Bible of a place called Purgatory, prayers for the dead, paying of indulgences and other practices of the Roman church.”

Deuterocanonicals and the Scriptures

God had a promise of gathering his book.

Isa 34:16 “Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.”

And as proven by history, it was indeed gathered, firstly with the Old Testament as an already established scripture before the compilation of new testament canons in codex form as codex sinaiticus, vaticanus and alexandrinus during the 4th-5th century AD. It was then 66 books though the Apochrypa were already existing then but was not yet part of the scriptures til 16th century at the council of Trent. This piece of information tells us that Apochrypa was not canon of the scriptures yet during 4th-16th century AD which suddenly becomes scriptural due to the correctness of those at the council of Trent and errancy of the catholic’s fathers who have opted not to include the Apochrypa.
Pr 30:6 “Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”
It cannot be that the word of god given initially to Israel was written in Greek bec they were not Greeks whereas Apochrypa has not any proof of Hebrew origin at all declarative of its non-scriptural structure. APOCHRYPA WAS GREEK.
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Apocrypha (Greek apokryphos, “hidden”), word coined by the 5th-century biblical scholar Saint Jerome for the biblical books received by the church of his time as part of the Greek version of the Old Testament (see Septuagint), but that were not included in the Hebrew Bible.
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Dead Sea Scrolls, collection of more than 700 Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek manuscripts discovered in a group of caves near Khirbat Qumrān in Jordan, at the northwestern end of the Dead Sea. The leather and papyrus scrolls, which survive in varying states of preservation, came to light in a series of archaeological finds that began in 1947. The manuscripts have been attributed to members of a previously unknown Jewish brotherhood. The scrolls include manuals of discipline, hymnbooks, biblical commentaries, and apocalyptic writings; two of the oldest known copies of the Book of Isaiah, almost wholly intact; and fragments of every book in the Old Testament except that of Esther. Among the latter is a fanciful paraphrase of the Book of Genesis. Also found were texts, in the original languages, of several books of the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. These texts—none of which was included in the Hebrew canon of the Bible—are Tobit, Sirach, Jubilees, portions of Enoch, and the Testament of Levi, hitherto known only in early Greek, Syriac, Latin, and Ethiopic versions.

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Apochrypa in its original languages was written either in early Greek, Syriac, Latin and Ethiopic versions but never in Hebrew language. Apochrypa was not Hebrew texts therefore was not a Judaic document bec the bible tells us that only the Jews were god’s people then, so by logic it must be that god delivers his words to them in Hebrew and not with other else.
The Apochrypa was only accepted and canonized at the council of trent 16th century AD.
     Deuterocanonical Books, writings included in the Roman Catholic canon of the Bible, and—with certain exceptions—in the canon of the Orthodox Church, but not in the Hebrew canon (see Canon). They were definitively introduced into the Roman Catholic canon by the Council of Trent in 1546. Until that time, their place in the Bible had been disputed for about 12 centuries.The Council of Trent decreed that the authentic canon was to be determined by what had been included in the Latin Vulgate translation of the Old Testament. The Vulgate Old Testament, in part a translation of the Greek Septuagint, which was in part an original translation by Saint Jerome of the Hebrew Scriptures, included certain books and parts of books that Jews and most Protestants today know as the Apocrypha. Catholics reserve that term for the works that Protestants call the pseudepigrapha—books that stand entirely outside the biblical canon.Many Jewish scholars accepted the books now considered deuterocanonical (a term derived from Greek words meaning “second canon”) until about ad 90. Then the Council of Jamnia ruled them to be outside the authentic Hebrew canon. The early Christian church and the Septuagint also accepted these books as part of the Old Testament. The books excluded by the Hebrew canon but included in the Septuagint and Vulgate are Judith, the Wisdom of Solomon, Tobit, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus, not to be confused with the Book of Ecclesiastes), Baruch, and 1 and 2 Maccabees. The Council of Trent designated these books, and parts of Esther and Daniel, deuterocanonical. As the minutes of the council make clear, however, the prefix deutero-was not intended to indicate a secondary canonical status for this literature but rather to note the controversy over these materials during the church’s canonizing process.Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.______________________________ 
IT WAS BY CATHOLICS WHO DECIDED THE APOCHRYPA AS NOT CANONICAL AT THE COUNCIL OF JAMNIA THEN IT WAS ALSO BY THEM THAT LATER ON DECIDED IT OTHERWISE AT THE COUNCIL OF TRENT. THERE SEEMS TO BE AN EVIDENT STRIFE AND CONFUSION BETWEEN THE TWO COUNCILS, IS IT NOT?
1C 14:33 “For God is not [the author] of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”

These prove that the Apochrypa is a later addition to the already gathered 66 books of the bible and not a genuine scripture, firstly bec it was Greek, secondly bec it is not biblically moral. It contradicted the bible. Read on for the contradictions.
God’s way of compiling his book as fulfillment to his promise:

The idea in Israel of a sacred book dates at least from 621 BC. During the reform of Josiah, king of Judah, when the temple was being repaired, the high priest Hilkiah discovered “the book of the law” (see 2 Kings 22). The scroll was probably the central part of the present Book of Deuteronomy, but what is important is the authority that was ascribed to it. More reverence was paid to the text read by Ezra, the Hebrew priest and scribe, to the community at the end of the 5th century bc (see Nehemiah 8).

The Hebrew Bible became Holy Scripture in three stages. The sequence corresponds to the three parts of the Hebrew canon: the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings. On the basis of external evidence it seems clear that the Torah, or Law, became Scripture between the end of the Babylonian exile (538 BC) and the separation of the Samaritans from Judaism, probably by 300 bc. The Samaritans recognized only the Torah as their Bible.

The second stage was the canonization of the Nebiim (Prophets). As the superscriptions to the prophetic books indicate, the recorded words of the prophets came to be considered the word of God. For all practical purposes the second part of the Hebrew canon was closed by the end of the 3rd century, not long before 200 BC.

In the meantime other books were being compiled, written, and used in worship and study. By the time the Book of Sirach was written (circa 180 bc), an idea of a tripartite Bible had developed. The contents of the third part, the Ketubim (Writings), remained somewhat fluid in Judaism until after the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in AD 70. By the end of the 1st century ad the rabbis in Palestine had established the final list.

Both positive and negative forces were at work in the process of canonization. On the one hand, most of the decisions had already been made in practice: The Law, the Prophets, and most of the Writings had been serving as Scripture for centuries. Controversy developed around only a few books in the Writings, such as Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon (Songs). On the other hand, many other religious books, also claiming to be the word of God, were being written and circulated. These included the books in the present Protestant Apocrypha, some of the New Testament books, and many others. Consequently, the official action of establishing a Bible took place in response to a theological question: According to which books would Judaism define itself and its relationship to God?
The second canon—what is now the Roman Catholic version of the Old Testament—arose first as a translation of the earlier Hebrew books into Greek.

The process began in the 3rd century BC outside of Palestine, because Jewish communities in Egypt and elsewhere needed the Scriptures in the language of their culture. The additional books in this Bible, including supplements to older books, arose for the most part among such non-Palestinian Jewish communities. By the end of the 1st century ad, when the earliest Christian writings were being collected and disseminated, two versions of Scripture from Judaism were already in existence: the Hebrew Bible and the Greek Old Testament (known as the Septuagint). The Hebrew Bible, however, was the official standard of belief and practice; no evidence indicates that an official list of Greek Scriptures ever existed in Judaism. The additional books of the Septuagint were only given official recognition in Christianity. The writings of the early Fathers of the Church contain numerous different lists, but it is clear that the longer Greek Old Testament prevailed.

The last major step in the history of the Christian canon took place during the Protestant Reformation. When Martin Luther translated the Bible into German, he rediscovered what others—notably St. Jerome, the 4th-century biblical scholar—had known: that the Old Testament had originated in Hebrew. He removed from his Old Testament the books that were not in the Bible of Judaism and established them as the Apocrypha. This step was an effort to return to the presumed earliest—and therefore best—text and canon, and to establish in opposition to the authority of the church the authority of that older version of the Bible.

Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
“When Martin Luther translated the Bible into German, he rediscovered what others—notably St. Jerome, the 4th-century biblical scholar—had known: that the Old Testament had originated in Hebrew. He removed from his Old Testament the books that were not in the Bible of Judaism and established them as the Apocrypha. This step was an effort to return to the presumed earliest—and therefore best—text and canon, and to establish in opposition to the authority of the church the authority of that older version of the Bible.”

This act of Martin Luther removing the apochrypa from the bible bec of the reason of its linguistic discrepancy with the old testament as it is greek whereas Judaic books were Hebrew, is sensible and justified. Can the old testament Jews comprehend Greek for them to have Greek apochrypa?
BUT THEN Apochrypa by the stubbornness of catholics was incorporated to their bible (not all bibles) during a convention in trent wherein they decided, that it is scriptural, but will such act redeem the fact that it was not scriptural 4th-16th century AD? Is that what god said as his way of gathering his book or was it only a demonic manipulation for deception? This is a clear hint that it was just an addition to authentic canons. But in order to really confirm it is to test or proves the veracity of its words if indeed it conforms to biblical truth bec if it fails the test of the scripture then it is false and unscriptural. It must be that if it is an authentic canon then it must profess no contradiction with the scriptures to be canonical.

1Jn 4:1 “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

1Th 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”
It is imperative then to test any claim if it is indeed pure good without any trace of evil.
Lam 3:38 “Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?”

Let’s test it then.
  1. 1.     APOCHRYPA-WISDOM 8:16 “when I come home to WISDOM I will find contentment bec THERE IS NO CONFLICT OR PAIN IN LIVING WITH HER ONLY HAPPINESS AND JOY.”
This next verse is the biblical truth. Compare the two.

BIBLE-Ec 1:17 “And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.
Ec 1:18 FOR IN MUCH WISDOM IS MUCH GRIEF and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.”

The Apochrypa: WITH WISDOM “ONLY” HAPPINESS AND JOY
The bible:FOR IN MUCH WISDOM IS MUCH GRIEF

It’s a clear contradiction, also this,
  1. 2.     APOCHRYPA-WISDOM 10:17 “she rewarded god’s people for their hardships. She guided them a miraculous journey. She gave them SHADE DURING THE DAY AND BRILLIANT STARLIGHT AT NIGHT. She led them thru the deep waters of the red sea.”
She guided them a miraculous journey She gave them SHADE DURING THE DAY AND BRILLIANT STARLIGHT AT NIGHT
It contradicts this.

BIBLE-Neh 9:12 “Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go.”
Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire.
As you can see god guided their journey not by brilliant starlight but by a pillar of fire. A huge breach of discrepancy, is it not?
  1. 3.     APOCHRYPA-TOBIT 13:16-17 “Jerusalem will be rebuilt and will be his home forever etc… your gates will be built with sapphires and emeralds and all your walls with precious stones. Your towers will be made of gold and their fortifications pure gold. YOUR STREETS WILL BE PAVED WITH RUBIES AND PRECIOUS JEWELS.”
It is not so, New Jerusalem’s street is not paved with rubies and precious jewels BUT ONLY GOLD.
BIBLE-Rev 21:21 “And the twelve gates [were] twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city [was] pure gold, as it were transparent glass.”

and the street of the city [was] pure gold

Pure gold? It means it is not mixed with anything as rubies and precious jewels.
How about this?
  1. 4.     APOCHRYPA-ESTHER 4:4-5 “you are the lord of all and there is no one who can stand against you. YOU KNOW ALL THINGS.”
It contradicts this.
BIBLE-Jer 19:5 “They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire [for] burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake [it], neither came [it] into my mind:

Jer 19:6 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter.”
neither came [it] into my mind? How can this support the “you know all things” doctrine?
How about this also?
  1. 5.     APOCHRYPA-WISDOM OF SOLOMON 1:13 “God did not invent death and when living creatures die it gives him no pleasure.”
God did not invent death? 

He did bec all things were of him.

BIBLE-1C 8:6 “But to us [there is but] one God, the Father, OF WHOM ARE ALL THINGS and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom [are] all things, and we by him.”

How did death come into being if it was not created?
Re 4:11 “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”

for thou hast created all things
The apochrypa says wisdom was created.
  1. 6.     APOCHRYPA-SIRACH 1:4,9 “Wisdom was created before anything else…etc… the Lord himself created wisdom.”
It was not so biblically bec Wisdom was brought forth from everlasting. If it was from everlasting then, how come it was created, how come it has a beginning?

BIBLE-Pr 8:12 “I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions.
Pr 8:23 I was brought forth (nacak in Hebrew: to pour out)from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.”

“I was brought forthisnot made or created. WISDOM is one of the exceptions of all things created bec it is specified that it is not created whereas death has no specifications likewise, therefore it belongs to the category of all things created.

  1. 7.     APOCHRYPA-TOBIT 4:15 “do not drink so much wine that you get drunk and do not let drinking become a habit.”
Implyingly, you can drink intoxicating wine but only not excessively to the point of drunkenness. That is not so biblically. There is total prohibition of intoxicant intake except in two exceptions, to one near death and as a medicine.

BIBLE-Pr 23:31 “Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, [when] it moveth itself aright.

Pr 23:32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

Pr 20:1 “Wine [is] a mocker, strong drink [is] raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.”

Look not thou upon the wine when it is red? If you are prohibited to even look then how will you drink it?

Fact is, bishops have total prohibition to it.

1Ti 3:2 “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
1Ti 3:3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;”

Not given to wine

Bec bishops have one mind with all Christians therefore all Christians have total prohibition regarding intoxicant intake.

Phl 2:1 “If [there be] therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
Phl 2:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, [being] of one accord, of one mind.”

that ye be likeminded, having the same love, [being] of one accord, of one mind

they have the same rule.

Phl 3:16 “Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.”

What is that same rule?
Not given to wine

How about christ’s miracle turning water into wine?

Mt 9:17 “Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.”

New wine implies there is also old wine, a preserved fermented wine or an intoxicant. Wine has two categories, an intoxicating wine or an old wine and a non-intoxicant or the new wine, like today, we have non-alcoholic wine and an alcoholic wine. Christ knowing Pr 23:31, will he be making intoxicating wine to contradicts it?
  1. 8.     APOCHRYPA-WISDOM 5:15, 18 “the righteous live on forever…etc…Righteousness will be his armor, genuine justice will be his helmet, holiness will be his invincible shield.”

Incongruent with this:

BIBLE- Eph 6:16 “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:”


APOCHRYPA: HELMET: JUSTICE
SHIELD: HOLINESS
BIBLE: HELMET: SALVATION
SHIELD: FAITH


And so on and so forth of blatant exhibit of numerous Apochrypal blunder…
Catholics have ridiculously included these to their faith as it is also their source of the Purgatory doctrine. They incorporated it to their faith as an insignia of their falsehood.

They deceive as they were also deceived by it but never wondering why Jesus or the apostles never at any instance had any mention in reference to it. Jesus kept referring to the Hebrew texts, the law and the psalms and the prophets etc… but never at an instance hinted its approval of the Greek Apochrypal books.

Why?
Bec it is Greek documents not meant for Israel and Christians alike. It was never part of the Hebrew bible given to the Jews bec as I said, how will they read Greek being Hebrews as that?

They might say, it was only added later when the Septuagint was made, or when the Hebrew old testament was Hellenized or made Greek implyingly, it was added for Greek speaking Jews.

Then how about Hebrew only speaking jews-THE MAJORITY OF JEWS, was it not also for them? Then where was the Hebrew Apochrypa for them then?

If there was no Hebrew Apochrypa then how would God convey his truth to whom he initially intended his words to –ALL the Israelites?

Ro 9:4 “Who are Israelites; to whom [pertaineth] the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law , and the service [of God], and the promises;

Ro 9:5 Whose [are] the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ [came], who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.”
to whom [pertaineth] the giving of the law
to whom [pertaineth] the service [of God]

Only jews gave service to god then. They were initially the only god’s jurisdiction during old testament times.

Eph 2:11 “Wherefore remember, that ye [being] in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;

Eph 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:”

Gentiles, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world

and without God in the world

Gentiles as greeks didn’t do service to god as they didn’t have god in the world as the verses above have proven, therefore god will not send them a greek old testament scripture bec they were not doing god service yet. He was not God to them. THIS MEANS THAT ONLY JEWS WERE PEOPLE OF GOD THEN therefore It must be that god’s “old testament” books were all written in Hebrew bec it was then initially intended FOR ALL JEWS.

2Ki 5:15 “And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that [there is] no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.”
now I know that [there is] no God in all the earth, but in Israel


Apochrypa being greek prove that it is not scriptural. The greek translation of the old testament, the Septuagint meant for greek speaking jews were just a translation from Hebrew therefore it must be also that if the Apochrypa was written initially for Israel then it must have Hebrew copies and/or origin, which it lacked, therefore explicitly confirming its incongruence to old testament canons.

Ps 81:13 “Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!
How will non-greek speaking jews hearkened to god’s greek Apochrypa then?
Fact is, Apochrypa was just an addition to Hebrew scriptures.

Septuagint, name given the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. The term is derived from the Latin word septuaginta (“seventy”; hence, the customary abbreviation LXX), which refers to the 70 (or 72) translators who were once believed to have been appointed by the Jewish high priest of the time to render the Hebrew Bible into Greek at the behest of the Hellenistic emperor Ptolemy II.

The legend of the 70 translators contains an element of truth, for the Torah (the five books of Moses—Genesis to Deuteronomy) probably had been translated into Greek by the 3rd century bc to serve the needs of Greek-speaking Jews outside Palestine who were no longer able to read their Scriptures in the original Hebrew. The translation of the remaining books of the Hebrew Old Testament, the addition to it of books and parts of books (the Apocrypha), and the final production of the Greek Old Testament as the Bible of the early Christian church form a very complicated history. Because the Septuagint, rather than the Hebrew text, became the Bible of the early church, other Jewish translations of the Hebrew Bible into Greek were made by the 3rd century; these are extant only in fragments, and their history is even more obscure than that of the Septuagint.
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

“The translation of the remaining books of the Hebrew Old Testament, the addition to it of books and parts of books (the Apocrypha), and the final production of the Greek Old Testament as the Bible of the early Christian church form a very complicated history.”

There is no convincing affiliation of the Apochrypa with the bible in terms of doctrinal harmony and in linguistic compliance, and as testified to by history, it was only an addition to the Old Testament when it was Hellenized therefore it is wrong to canonize such when in essence it lacked validity.

Ezk 13:7 Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith [it]; albeit I have not spoken?

Ezk 13:8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I [am] against you, saith the Lord GOD.”

“whereas ye say The LORD saith it albeit I have not spoken”

Think of that.

Lastly,
WHY IS THE APOCHRYPA CANONICAL FOLKS? WHAT MAKES IT CANONICAL?

Ask your priests and apologists, catholics, your reasons why, or better yet, consider the reasons why it is not then weigh it yourselves. I have this to say though, watch what you believe and what you have to believe! It might be poison in sweet coats!

Eph 4:14 “That we [henceforth] be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, [and] cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, [even] Christ:”

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Apocrypha is not God inspired Scriptures

 

Apocrypha (‘hidden’, ‘doubtful’) most commonly refers to disputed books rejected by Protestants and accepted by both the Roman Catholics and the Orthodox Church. In 1546 the Council of Trent declared the apocryphal seven books and four parts of books in the Old Testament as part of inspired Scripture, stating that anyone who did not accept the said books as sacred.. “Let him be anathema”. (The four parts of books are integrated into Esther and Daniel). Apocryphal books did appear in Protestant Bibles prior to the Council of Trent but were generally placed in a separate section, as they were not considered of equal credence.

There are several main reasons for the rejection of the Apocrypha.
 
1) Non-acceptance by the Jewish canon. 

The Jewish Canon does not include the Apocrypha. This is significant as it was to the Jews that the OT was entrusted (Rom 3:1,2) and they are the custodians of the limits of their own canon. (Some of the Apocrypha books were written in Greek, not Hebrew).
    • A) The Jewish scholars of Jamnia (ca. A.D. 90) did not accept the Apocrypha as part of divinely inspired canon.    
    •  
    • B) Philo, an Alexandrian Jewish teacher (20 B.C.- A.D. 40) quoted extensively from virtually every canonical book but never once quoted the Apocrypha as inspired.   
     
    C) Josephus (A.D. 30-100), a Jewish historian explicitly excluded the Apocrypha, speaking of the number of Jewish books which are divinely trustworthy, not leaving a place for the apocryphal books. . He numbered the OT books as 22 (the equivalent of the 39 books in the Protestant Old Testament). Josephus expressed the common Jewish perspective when he said that the prophets wrote from the time of Moses to that of Artaxerxes, and that no writing since that time had the same authority.       
    1. Genesis - 1 
    2. Exodus - 1 
    3. Leviticus - 1 
    4. Numbers - 1 
    5. Deuteronomy - 1 (the 5 books of Moses) 
    6. Joshua - 1 
    7. Judges and Ruth, folded together on one scroll as they were in Josephus' time - 1 
    8. 1 and 2 Samuel - also considered one book in Josephus' time - 1 
    9. 1 and 2 Kings - Ditto. - 1 
    10. 1 and 2 Chronicles - Ditto again. - 1 
    11. Jeremiah and Lamentations - also considered as one book at the time - 1 
    12. Isaiah - 1 
    13. Amos, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Malachi, Jonah, Haggai, Habakkuk, Nahum, Micah, Hosea, Joel, Obadiah - all folded together, as noted above - 1 
    14. Daniel - 1 
    15. Ezekiel - 1 
    16. Ezra and Nehemiah, folded together - 1 
    17. Esther - 1 
    18. Job - 1 (the 13 prophetic books) 
    19. Proverbs - 1 
    20. Psalms - 1 
    21. Song of Songs - 1 
    22. Ecclesiastes - 1. (the 4 instructional books)
      
    • D) The Jewish Talmud teaches that the Holy Spirit departed from Israel after the time of Malachi, both of whom lived about four centuries before Christ, while the books of the Apocrypha were composed in the vicinity of two centuries before Christ.   
    •  
    • E) There are several statements by Rabbis that prophecy ceased in the fourth century B.C. acknowledging that the Apocrypha was written in a period when God had ceased giving inspired writings. 

2) Seeming Exclusion by Jesus Himself.

When Jesus or the apostles appealed simply to "the Scriptures" against their Jewish opponents, there is no suggestion whatsoever that the identity and limits of such writings were vague or in dispute.
    Jesus seems to exclude the Apocrypha in his statement in Luke 11:51 - "from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation" (NKJV). The death of Abel is recorded in Genesis, the first book in the Hebrew canon. The death of Zechariah is included in 2Chronicles, which appears troublesome since Zechariah was not chronologically the last martyr mentioned in the Bible (cf. Jer. 26:20-23). 
    However, Zechariah is the last martyr we read of in the Old Testament according to Jewish canonical order (cf. II Chron. 24:20-22), which was the order recognized by Jesus and his hearers. The traditional Jewish canon was divided into three sections (Law, Prophets, Writings), and an unusual feature of the last section was the listing of Chronicles out of historical order, placing it after Ezra-Nehemiah and making it the last book of the canon. In light of this, the words of Jesus in Luke 11:50-51 reflect the settled character of the Jewish canon (with its peculiar order) already established in his day.
(The order of books as they appear today is taken from the Septuagint (second century BC Greek translation of the OT).

3) Lack of reference to the Apocrypha in the NT.

While the NT quotes mainly from the Greek Old Testament (LXX) it is uncertain as to whether the Septuagint contained the Apocrypha. No direct quotations from any Apocryphal books appear in the NT although they were aware of these books and alluded to them at times. However Hebrews 11:37 may very well refer to 1 Kings 17:22 and not 1 Maccabees, as is often claimed. But none of these allusions rise to the apostles using the Apocrypha as an authoritative source. On the other hand there are literally hundreds of quotations in the NT from the ‘Law and Prophets’ which Jesus called “all the Scripture”. Luke 24:27).
 
[Note: Jesus nor the New Testament authors quoted from 35 of the 39 Old Testament books and, either directly or indirectly, the New Testament quotes the Old Testament over 600 times. However an apocryphal book is not cited by name even once].
 
So with the lack of authoritative quotes from the Apocrypha in the NT, it appears the NT writers, and Jesus Himself, did not accept the Apocrypha as Scripture.

Not every book of the Hebrew canon is quoted in the NT (such as the Song of Solomon, or Canticles as it is named in Catholic Bibles). But every section of the OT as Jews divided it is quoted from (i.e. the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings).

The absent of any quotes from any of the Apocryphal books is rather striking. This is especially so given that many of the OT quotes in the NT were actually taken from the Septuagint and not from the Hebrew text (It is for this reason that if you compare OT quotes in the NT with their OT counterparts they don't match up exactly). In any case, what this means is, the Bible text the NT authors had before them had the Apocrypha in it; but they seem to have completely ignored the Apocrypha when they were looking to support a statement with an authoritative source.

So the evidence of the NT strongly suggest the writers of the NT did not accept the Apocryphal books as canon.

4) Rejection by many early church fathers.

Early church fathers like Origen, Cyril of Jerusalem, Athanasius, and The great Roman Catholic translator Jerome spoke out against the Apocrypha.
In 382 Bishop Damascus had Jerome (the greatest Bible scholar of the early Medieval period) work on a Latin text to standardize the Scripture. 

The resulting Vulgate was used throughout the Christian world though Jerome himself separated the Apocrypha from the rest. He stated the church reads them “for example and instruction of manners”, but does not “apply them to establish any doctrine”. More damning was his statement that “they exhibit no authority as Holy Scripture” (Preface to Vulgate Book of Solomon,) He initially refused to translate the apocrypha into Latin but later made a hasty translation of a few books. 

But Augustine (c. 400 AD) did recognize the Apocrypha. So it was mainly from his influence that the Apocrypha eventually became accepted. However, the Catholic Church itself did not officially canonize the Apocrypha until the council of Trent in the 1500's. (Called as a response to the Protestant heresy by the Catholic Church) 

Before that, there was always debate as to their inspiration. Some of the Church Fathers, for instance, quoted from the Apocrypha as Scripture but others didn't. But however it is looked at, the official acceptance of the Apocrypha occurred well after the NT was written and the final canonization of the Hebrew Scriptures by the Jews. 

The reformers were also forced to face the Canon issue. After the Reformation the books of the canon were widely agreed on. Instead of the authority of the Church, Luther and the reformers focused on the internal witness of the Holy Spirit.

5) Test of Propheticity.

One of the tests of whether writing was seen as inspired or not was propheticity. God determined which books would be in the Bible by giving their message to a prophet. 


Only books written by a prophet or accredited spokesperson for God belong in the canon. The people to whom the prophet wrote knew which of the prophets fulfilled the requirements for god’s representatives and authenticated the writings by accepting them. Moses’ books were accepted and stored in a holy place (Deut 31:26) as was Joshua’s writings (Joshua 24:26). 

Daniel already had a copy of Jeremiah and Peter had a collection of Paul’s writings, equating them with the OT as Scripture. False prophets were weeded out if their prophecy did not come true (Deut 18: 20-22) and alleged revelations that contradicted previously revealed truths were rejected as well. (Deut 13:1-3.).
    Additionally Moses’ writings are cited through the OT beginning with Joshua all the way to Malachi. (E.g. Josh 1:7, 1 Kings 2:3, Ezra 6:18, Jeremiah 8:8, Malachi 4:4.
    Later prophets cite earlier ones (E.g. Jer 26:18, Ezek 14:14, Dan 9:2, Jonah 2: 2-9). 
    On the NT Paul cites Luke (1Tim 5:18), Peter recognizes Paul’s Epistles (2 Peter 15-16)
    Revelation Is filled with imagery largely from Daniel.
On the other hand no Apocryphal book claims to be written by a prophet and there is no predictive prophecy in the Apocrypha. Not once is a an Apocryphal book cited authoritatively by a prophetic book written after it, nor is there any supernatural confirmation of the writers of the Apocrypha as there is for prophets who wrote the canon.

6) Errors in the Apocrypha

The books of the Apocrypha abound in doctrinal, ethical, and historical errors. For instance, Tobit claims to have been alive when Jeroboam revolted (931 B.C.) and when Assyria conquered Israel (722 B.C.), despite the fact that his lifespan was only a total of 158 years (Tobit 1:3-5; 14:11)! 

Judith mistakenly identifies Nebuchadnezzar as king of the Assyrians (1:1, 7). Tobit endorses the superstitious use of fish liver to ward off demons (6: 6,7)! 

The theological errors are equally significant. Wisdom of Solomon teaches the creation of the world from pre-existent matter (7:17). II Maccabees teaches prayers for the dead (12:45-46), and Tobit teaches salvation by the good work of almsgiving (12:9) -- quite contrary to inspired Scripture (such as John 1:3; II Samuel 12:19; Hebrews 9:27; Romans 4:5; Galatians 3:11).

Conclusion.

The apocryphal books were sometimes highly regarded or cited for their antiquity or for their historical, moral, or literary value, but the conceptual distance between "valuable" and "divinely inspired" is considerable. Roman Catholic apologists sometimes jump to canonical conclusions from the simple fact that the books of the Apocrypha were copied and included among ancient manuscripts or from the fact than an author draws upon them. But obviously a writer can quote something from a work, which he takes to be true without thereby ascribing divine authority to it (for instance, Paul quoting a pagan writer in I Corinthians 15:33).

Roman Catholic apologists often misunderstand the Protestant rejection of the Apocrypha, thinking it entails having no respect or use for these books whatsoever. Calvin wrote, "I am not one of those, however, who would entirely disapprove the reading of those books"; his objection was to "placing the Apocrypha in the same rank" with inspired Scripture ("Antidote" to the Council of Trent, pp. 67,68). Likewise, Luther placed the Apocrypha in an appendix to the Old Testament in his German Bible, describing them in the title as "Books which are not to be held equal to holy scripture, but are useful and good to read."
To sum up, Jews, apparently the NT writers and Jesus, some Church Fathers, and Protestants do not accept the Apocrypha all of which is strong evidence against the inclusion of the Apocrypha.

WHEN IS THE TIME WHEN THE APOCRYPHA WAS INCLUDED IN THE CATHOLIC BIBLE:




Not all Canon from the Septuagint are in the Catholic Bible


The Catholic Defenders' accusations that Protestants reduced the Canon of Scriptures is also their doing.

Apocrypha contradicts the prophets of God's teachings



Apocrypha teachings VERSUS Prophet of God's teachings:

First, There is the account of a supposed high and good angel of God who lies and teaches the use of magic! In Tobit 5:4 we are told that the angel's name is "Raphael," but later he lies to Tobit, claiming to be "Azarias the son of the great Ananias, one of your relatives" (Tobit 5:12).

This angel professes to be "one of the seven holy angels who present the prayers of the saints and enter into the presence of the glory of the Holy One" (Tobit 12:15). Yet he not only lies about his name, but teaches magic. "Then the angel said to him, `Cut open the fish and take the heart and liver and gall and put them away safely.' ... Then the young man said to the angel, `Brother Azarias, of what use is the liver and heart and gall of the fish?' He replied, `As for the heart and the liver, if a demon or evil spirit gives trouble to any one, you make a smoke from these before the man or woman, and that person will never be troubled again. And as for the gall, anoint with it a man who has white films in his eyes, and he will be cured'" (Tobit 6:4,6-8).

The Bible clearly condemns magical practices such as this (consider Deuteronomy 18:10-12; Leviticus 19:26,31; Jeremiah 27:9; Malachi 3:5).

Second, The book of Judith contains the account of how a supposedly godly widow destroyed one of Nebuchadnezzar's generals through deceit and sexual offers. It is also important to note that Judith's counsel regarding resisting Nebuchadnezzar was contrary to that given by God's prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 38:1-4). God warned the Israelites to submit to Nebuchadnezzar rather than to resist, because the Babylonian captivity and destruction of Israel was a judgment from God upon the Jew's rebellion and idolatry.

Third, The Apocryphal books were rejected from the canon of Scripture by the early church leaders. "It is a significant fact that the best of the early Fathers adopted the Hebrew canon as giving the authoritative Scriptures of the O.T." (Analytical, p. 1083).

Fourth, Tobit taught that help is only to be given to the deserving. "Place your bread on the grave of the righteous, but give none to sinners" (Tobit 4:17). Contrariwise, in Exodus 23:4-5 God taught even in O.T. times that His people were to do good to their enemies and not only toward the righteous.


MORE PROOFS THAT IT IS NOT GOD INSPIRED:


A) Ecclesiasticus 25:24 From a woman sin had its beginning. Because of her we all die

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

B) Ecclesiasticus 22:3 It is a disgrace to be the father of an undisciplined, and the birth of a daughter is a loss.

Psalms 127:3 Lo, children [are] an heritage of the LORD: [and] the fruit of the womb [is his] reward.  



C) The false doctrine of salvation through works is taught in the book of Tobit. "For almsgiving delivers from death, and it will purge away every sin" (Tobit 12:9). "So now, my children, consider what almsgiving accomplishes and how righteousness delivers" (Tobit 14:11). These false teachings must be contrasted with Leviticus 17:11, which says "it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul," 

Another example:

Wisdom 8:19-20  For I was a witty child, and had a good spirit.  (20)  Yea rather, being good, I came into a body undefiled.

Romans 3:10  As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;

Romans 5:18  Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.

And, still another:

Sirach 3:3  Whoso honoureth his father maketh an atonement for his sins.

Sirach 3:30  Water will quench a flaming fire; and alms maketh an atonement for sins.

Leviticus 17:11  For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.

One more:

Sirach 12:4-7   Give to the godly man, and help not a sinner.  (5)  Do well unto him that is lowly, but give not to the ungodly: hold back thy bread, and give it not unto him, lest he overmaster thee thereby: for else thou shalt receive twice as much evil for all the good thou shalt have done unto him.  (6)  For the most High hateth sinners, and will repay vengeance unto the ungodly, and keepeth them against the mighty day of their punishment.  (7)   Give unto the good, and help not the sinner.

Luke 6:27-28  “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, (28)  bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

Romans 12:18-20  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  (19)  Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.  (20)  On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

This one can’t really be answered in one Bible verse, but you should see the obvious:

Sirach 25:19  All wickedness is but little to the wickedness of a woman: let the portion of a sinner fall upon her.

There are also historical discrepancies between the Bible and the Apocrypha. Such as:

Judith 1:7  Then Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians sent unto all that dwelt in Persia, and to all that dwelt westward, and to those that dwelt in Cilicia, and Damascus, and Libanus, and Antilibanus, and to all that dwelt upon the sea coast,

2 Kings 24:1  During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded the land, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. But then he changed his mind and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.
It should be obvious that there is no way that we could place the Apocrypha on the same level as divinely inspired inerrant Scripture.

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