Deuterocanonical books Heretical

[Toten]

I was reading this article on the Deuterocanonical books discribbing them as hertical. I would like to get the Catholic perspective on some of the acusations.

The First argument is that none of the orthadox held to it:

1. The apocrphal books are not in those most ancient works…Philo, the Jewish philosopher of Alexandria…,wrote prolifically and frequently quoted the Old Testament, yet he never cited the Apocrypa [Deuterocanonical books], nor did he even mention there documents… Josephus…Rejected them…"We have not the innummerable books… but only twenty-two books,… neither Origin nor his contemporary, Tertullian, recognized the books of the Apocrypha as being canonical…though some of the apocryphal books were being used in the church services by the 5th century A.D., they were read only by those who held inferior offices in the church (see: T.H. Horne, Critical Introduction to the Holy Scriptures, Philadelphia: Whetham &Son, 1841, Vol. I, p. 436).

Another accusation is that of Historical err. Citing the location of Baruch (Jer. 43:6,7; Baruch 1:1,2), the account of the death of Antochus Epiphanes (2nd Macc. 1:13-16;2nd Macc. 9:19-29), the age of Tobit

Tobit is said to have lived 158 years (14:11),…he was alive back when Jeroboam revolted against Jerusalem (931 B.C.), and then still around when the Assyrians invaded Israel (722/21 B.C.)-a span of some 210 years.

Also the accusation of heretical teachings, applauding suicide as a noble act (2nd Macc. 14:41-43), encourages magic (Tobit 6:1-17), and

The murder of the men of Shechem (Gen. 34)…which is condemned in the Scriptures (cf. Gen. 49:6,7), is commended and is described as an act of God (Judith 9:2-9).

I am sure that such accusations have not gone unanswered. Would you kind folks of the CatholicAnswer Forum give me your insight on these statements?

 

[vern_humphrey]

I was reading this article on the Deuterocanonical books discribbing them as hertical. I would like to get the Catholic perspective on some of the acusations.

The First argument is that none of the orthadox held to it:

1. The apocrphal books are not in those most ancient works…Philo, the Jewish philosopher of Alexandria…,wrote prolifically and frequently quoted the Old Testament, yet he never cited the Apocrypa [Deuterocanonical books], nor did he even mention there documents… Josephus…Rejected them…"**We have not the innummerable books… but only twenty-two books,… **neither Origin nor his contemporary, Tertullian, recognized the books of the Apocrypha as being canonical…though some of the apocryphal books were being used in the church services by the 5th century A.D., they were read only by those who held inferior offices in the church (see: T.H. Horne, Critical Introduction to the Holy Scriptures, Philadelphia: Whetham &Son, 1841, Vol. I, p. 436).

Go to the King James Version of the Bible and count the books of the Old Testament. Do you come up with twenty-two, or are there more?

If this argument is valid, then clearly the King James Version has some “heretical” books in it, too, no?

Note that the cited “authorities” are mostly post-Apostolic era, and many are not Christian.

Another accusation is that of Historical err. Citing the location of Baruch (Jer. 43:6,7; Baruch 1:1,2), the account of the death of Antochus Epiphanes (2nd Macc. 1:13-16;2nd Macc. 9:19-29), the age of Tobita

Those aren’t the only “errors” in the Bible – note how there are two creation stories, two flood stories, three accounts of how Abraham claimed Sarah was his wife, and so on. There are plenty of claims for long life in the Bible that are clearly exaggerations.

We must undestand that the inspired witers were not guarenteed to be inerrant in mattes of history, science, economics, geometry, astronomy, and so on. They are inerrent only in regard to their intention – which is to tell the story of God and His relationi to His creation.

Also the accusation of heretical teachings, applauding suicide as a noble act (2nd Macc. 14:41-43), encourages magic (Tobit 6:1-17), and

The story of the Witch of Endor appears in books accepted by both Jews and Protestants. Exodus tells how Pharoh’s magicians threw down their staffs which turned into serpents.