Short Defense of the Deuterocanonical Books: Introduction

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Meaning

Apocrypha: “That which is hidden.” During the 16th-century controversies about the biblical canon, the word acquired a negative connotation, and has become a synonym for “spurious” or “false.”

The Roman Catholic Church uses the term deuterocanonical books: canonical books of 2nd-tier rating. This designation goes all the way back to Cyril of Jerusalem (315-386).

Eastern Orthodox churches use the term Anagignoskomena: books worthy of being read. This designation goes back to Athanasius (295-373).

What is the Apocrypha?

The Apocryphal books were written from the 3rd to 1st centuries BC. The books hail from locations such as Israel, Alexandria (Egypt), and Antioch (Syria). Some were written originally in Greek, the common language (lingua franca) of the Mediterranean world from the 3rd-century into the New Testament era. Others were written in Hebrew and Aramaic and later translated into Greek.

The reason the Apocrypha is considered of value today is because it was included in the Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint (LXX), the primary Old Testament during Jesus’ day, the Apostolic era, and the early Church.

Today, only the Protestant versions of the Old Testament do not contain the Apocrypha. Besides the Roman Catholic Church, other churches that can also trace their lineage back to apostolic times include the Apocrypha, such as the Eastern Orthodox churches and Coptic churches.

Some NT Uses of the Apocrypha

Contrary to Protestant myth, the New Testament is full of references to the Old Testament Apocryphal books. Like knowing the Old Testament, to understand the New Testament in its fullness also requires knowledge of the Apocrypha.

Jesus Calls a Book of the Apocrypha “Scripture”

In Matthew 22:23-28, the Sadducees tried to mock the resurrection of the body and the larger Old Testament that other Jews recognized. (Remember, the Sadducees only recognized the five books of Moses). So they used the story in Tobit about a woman being married seven times to mock the truthfulness of the resurrection and the larger Old Testament, which included the Apocrypha.

This is how Jesus answered the Sadducees: “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.”

Jesus Used Familiar Language Structures from the OT Apocrypha

Jesus used familiar OT language from the Apocrypha. When Jesus adapted and made His own that which was familiar to 1st-century Jews, He invited hearers to see Him–not just as another rabbi–but as a true teacher of wisdom.

Matthew 11:28-30: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for you souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Sirach 51:23, 26-27: Draw near to me, you who are untaught, and lodge in the house of instruction…. Put your neck under the yoke and let your souls receive instruction; it is found close by. See with your eyes that I have labored little and found for myself much rest.

The Golden Rule: No Masoretic Text Reference

“The Law and the Prophets” was the shorthand way to refer to the Old Testament. Here, Jesus makes a statement that is nowhere found in the Protestant Old Testament (Masoretic Text). The only reference found is in the book of Tobit.

Matthew 7:12: So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Luke 6:31: And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

Tobit 4:15: And what you hate, do not do to anyone.
 
Jewish Leaders Mock Jesus

Here, we see the Jewish leaders in Jesus’ day use Wisdom of Solomon in an authoritative way. The Jewish leaders mocked Jesus, but by the end of Matthew’s Gospel, we see His resurrection as proof of His divine sonship.

In Matthew 27:43, Jesus is being taunted, not for merely being loved by God (Psalm 22:8-9) but specifically because “He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” This taunting by the Scribes and Pharisees clearly had its basis from the Apocrypha book of Wisdom of Solomon. Wisdom of Solomon expresses directly that the Son of God would be delivered from mockers and detractors.

Matthew 27:41-43: So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the king of Israel; let him come down now from the cross and save himself, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the son of God.’”

Wisdom 2:17-22: Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life; for if the righteous man is God’s son. He will help him and deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. Let us test him with insult and torture, that we may find out how gentle he is and make trial of his forbearance. Let us condemn him to a shameful death for, according to what he says, he will be protected.”

Jesus celebrated a Jewish religious festival of the Feast of Dedication (for Jews today it has morphed into Chanukah)

Backdrop: Antiochus IV, the Syrian ruler over Israel, turned the Temple into a shrine for Zeus (1 Maccabees 1:41-61, 2 Maccabees 6:1-2). He insisted on being called “Epiphanes,” meaning that he was a manifestation of the divine. The Jews saw this as being blasphemous and attempting to be “equal to God” (2 Maccabees 9:12, 28). Judas (Judah) Maccabee, a Jewish military leader, led a revolt to cleanse and rededicate the Temple in 164 BC (1 Maccabees 4:36-59, 2 Maccabees 10:1-8).

In John chapter 10, John shows Jesus as the fulfillment of all that was celebrated in the Jewish liturgical calendar, including the Feast of Dedication.

John 10:22: At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem.

1 Maccabees 4:59: Judas and his brothers and all the assembly of Israel determined that every year at the season the days of the dedication of the altar should be observed.

One can only understand what Jesus is doing and fulfilling if one knows and understands Jewish history from 1st and 2nd Maccabees.

The Apostle Paul References the Septuagint (Only) and the Apocrypha

2 Corinthians 9:7: Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Sirach 35:11: With every gift show a cheerful face and dedicate your tithe with gladness.

Proverbs 22:8a (Septuagint only): God blesses a cheerful man and a giver …

James Speaks of the Impossibility of God Tempting People to Sin

When James wrote that God does not tempt people to sin, and that they may not blame God for their falling away, he was drawing on truths already accepted by 1st-century Jews.

James 1:13-14: Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

Sirach 15:11-12, 20: Do no say, “Because of the Lord I left the right way”; for he will not do what he hates. Do not say, “It was he who led me astray”; for he has no need of sinful man…. He has not commanded anyone to be ungodly, and he has not given anyone permission to sin.

Jesus is described as the Radiance of God

Here we have a description of Jesus that only comes from the Apocrypha

Hebrews 1:3: He is the radiance [Greek: *apaugasma] of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Wisdom of Solomon 7:26: For she [Wisdom, a feminine-gendered word in the Greek] is a reflection [Greek: *apaugasma] of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness.

Martyrs Extolled in Hebrews 11

The book of Hebrews list many martyrs who died for the faith in the Old Testament. The movement is chronological, from older to newer. Hebrews 11:35 describes only what took place in 2nd Maccabees.

Hebrews 11:35: Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.

2 Maccabees 7:1, 13-14: It happened also that seven brothers and their mothers were arrested and were being compelled by the king, under torture with whips and cords, to partake of unlawful swine’s flesh…. When he too had died, they maltreated and tortured the fourths in the same way. And when he was near death, he said, “One cannot but choose to die at the hands of men and to cherish the hope that God gives of being raised again by him. But for you there will be no resurrection to life.
 
I sent a non-denominational evangelical friend of mine a study on the correlations between the Prophesy in Wisdom 2 and Matthew 27, he now accepts them as inspired.

He sent it to his dad and some other stuff regarding the Eucharist and baptism (my friend believes it to be a Consubstantiation now rather than a symbol, and believes in a grace given through baptism to remit sin and enter a familial Covenant,) and his dad said: " be careful what those early christians believed, they believed all sorts of nonsense back then son :eek:

I think that, with the new media of evangelization, the Catholic Church will be welcoming many into Her bosom soon!

When I was a non-denominational evangelical, I would have never guessed how beautiful a sacramental economy could be! The Deuterocanonical Books are great, but where would I be without, the Eucharist, I truly don’t know!

Peace and Love in Christ!
 
onemangang said:
I sent a non-denominational evangelical friend of mine a study on the correlations between the Prophesy in Wisdom 2 and Matthew 27, he now accepts them as inspired.
…
Peace and Love in Christ!
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Is this study available?

It sounds interesting.

Iggy… good start.

I’m seeing some original stuff here.
 
The reason the Apocrypha is considered of value today is because it was included in the Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint (LXX), the primary Old Testament during Jesus’ day, the Apostolic era, and the early Church.
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There were books in the LXX that Catholics do not accept, like 3 Maccabees and I Esdras.
 
This was great information! I just put an edition of the Apocrypha on my Amazon wishlist. 🙂
 
IggyAntiochus said:
Jewish Leaders Mock Jesus

Here, we see the Jewish leaders in Jesus’ day use Wisdom of Solomon in an authoritative way. The Jewish leaders mocked Jesus, but by the end of Matthew’s Gospel, we see His resurrection as proof of His divine sonship.

In Matthew 27:43, Jesus is being taunted, not for merely being loved by God (Psalm 22:8-9) but specifically because “He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” This taunting by the Scribes and Pharisees clearly had its basis from the Apocrypha book of Wisdom of Solomon. Wisdom of Solomon expresses directly that the Son of God would be delivered from mockers and detractors.

Here are some verses, in the New Testament, that comes rfrom the deuterocanonical book
Matthew 2:16 Herod was furious on realising that he had been fooled by the wise men, and in Bethlehem and its surrounding district he had all the male children killed who were two years old or less, reckoning by the date he had been careful to ask the wise men. Wisdom 11:7 to punish them for their decree of infanticide, you gave your people, against all hope, water in abundance,

**Matthew 6:19 'Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and woodworm destroy them and thieves can break in and steal. But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworm destroys them and thieves cannot break in and steal. **Sirach 29:10 Spend your money on your brother or your friend, do not leave it under a stone to rust away. 11 Use your wealth as the Most High has decreed; you will find that more profitable than gold.

** Matthew 7: 11 If you, then, evil as you are, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him! 12 'So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the Law and the Prophets. 13 'Enter by the narrow gate, since the road that leads to destruction is wide and spacious, and many take it; **Tobit 4:11 Wisdom brings up her own children and cares for those who seek her.12 Whoever loves her loves life, those who seek her early will be filled with joy. 13 Whoever possesses her will inherit honour, and wherever he walks the Lord will bless him.

** Matthew 7:17 In the same way, a sound tree produces good fruit but a rotten tree bad fruit.18 A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a rotten tree bear good fruit. 19 Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown on the fire. 20 I repeat, you will be able to tell them by their fruits.** Sirach 27:4 In a shaken sieve the rubbish is left behind, so too the defects of a person appear in speech.5 The kiln tests the work of the potter, the test of a person is in conversation. 6 The orchard where the tree grows is judged by its fruit, similarly words betray what a person feels. 7 Do not praise anyone who has not yet spoken, since this is where people are tested. 8 If you pursue virtue, you will attain it and put it on like a festal gown.

** Matthew 6:35 Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing all kinds of disease and all kinds of illness. 36 And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers to his harvest.’ **Judith 11:19 I shall be your guide right across Judaea until you reach Jerusalem; there I shall enthrone you in the very middle of the city. And then you can round them up like shepherd-less sheep, with never a dog daring to bark at you. Foreknowledge tells me this; this had been foretold to me and I have been sent to reveal it to you.’

** Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus exclaimed, 'I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to little children.26 Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do.** Tobit 7:16 She went and made the bed in this room as he had ordered, and took her daughter to it. She wept over her, then wiped away her tears and said, ‘Courage, daughter! May the Lord of heaven turn your grief to joy! Courage, daughter!’ And she went out.

**Matthew 22:25 Now we had a case involving seven brothers; the first married and then died without children, leaving his wife to his brother; Tobit 3:8 For she had been given in marriage seven times, and Asmodeus, the worst of demons, had killed her bridegrooms one after another before ever they had slept with her as man with wife. The servant-girl said, ‘Yes, you kill your bridegrooms yourself. That makes seven already to whom you have been given, and you have not once been in luck yet **Tobit 7:11 I have tried to find a husband for her seven times among our kinsmen, and all of them have died the first evening, on going to her room. But for the present, my boy, eat and drink; the Lord will grant you his grace and peace.’ Tobias spoke out, ‘I will not hear of eating and drinking till you have come to a decision about me.’ Raguel answered, ‘Very well. Since, by the prescription of the Book of Moses she is given to you, Heaven itself decrees she shall be yours. I therefore entrust your sister to you. From now on you are her brother and she is your sister. She is given to you from today for ever. The Lord of heaven favour you tonight, my child, and grant you his grace and peace.’
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Credo_ergo_sum said:
There were books in the LXX that Catholics do not accept, like 3 Maccabees and I Esdras.
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Also the prayer of Manasseh and Psalm 151. In the interest of full disclosure, however, the Greeks and Russians do not include 4 Maccabees (even though I think it’s included in the septuagint), instead relegating it to the appendix, if it is included at all.
 
IMO, the most telling argument is that the dueterocannonicals typically WERE accepted by all christians up until the time of Luther (though there were questions raised by some, including St. Jerome earlier). Luther seized upond Jerome’s concerns as a means to avoid dealing with the conflicts between some aspects of the deuteros (especially Maccabbees, IIRC) and his own theology.

Protestants who label these books Apocrypha should ponder what would have happened if Luther had read Mathew, Mark and Luke first and then objected to the higher Christological viewpoint in John and as a result downgraded that gospel to mere appendix status! It would have been the SAME logic he used to toss the Deuteros (minus the Jerome fig leaf he relied heavily on).

The fact is that there are a LOT of early texts claiming to be authored by apostles and teaching (sometimes heretical) ideas about Christ. If one rejects the authority of the Church hierarchy, I’m not sure why they so implicitly trust the decisions of that Church on the matter of which early christian writings were inspired and which were not!
 
manualman said:
IMO, the most telling argument is that the dueterocannonicals typically WERE accepted by all christians up until the time of Luther (though there were questions raised by some, including St. Jerome earlier). Luther seized upond Jerome’s concerns as a means to avoid dealing with the conflicts between some aspects of the deuteros (especially Maccabbees, IIRC) and his own theology.

Protestants who label these books Apocrypha should ponder what would have happened if Luther had read Mathew, Mark and Luke first and then objected to the higher Christological viewpoint in John and as a result downgraded that gospel to mere appendix status! It would have been the SAME logic he used to toss the Deuteros (minus the Jerome fig leaf he relied heavily on).

The fact is that there are a LOT of early texts claiming to be authored by apostles and teaching (sometimes heretical) ideas about Christ. If one rejects the authority of the Church hierarchy, I’m not sure why they so implicitly trust the decisions of that Church on the matter of which early christian writings were inspired and which were not!
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I addressed Luther’s view in a separate post relating to this topic.

As to his view of Maccabbees, this is usually discussed from the point of view that he had a lower opinion of the book because of the doctrine of purgatory. However, Luther’s first public opinion of Maccabees being invalid for setting doctrine was expressed during his debate with John Eck at Leipzig in 1519. At this point in Luther’s life, he still held quite firmly to purgatory. It was not related to purgatory, but due to prior theologians opinion of Maccabees, as well as a number of other factors.
 
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