The Eastern Orthodox canon

[EphelDuath]

Is there any particular reason why Catholics do not accept 1 Esdras, 3 Maccabees, Prayer of Manasseh, or Psalm 151, other than because we didn’t affirm them at our councils? Like, is there anything heretical in those texts that we are not to believe?

 

[Digitonomy]

I am not aware of anything particularly objectionable in any of the apocryphal books accepted by the Orthodox. I think the Church may have simply concluded there wasn’t enough evidence of divine inspiration to include them in the canon.

Allegedly written by David, Psalm 151 isn’t much of a psalm, it almost fits better as an intro to Proverbs which follows it, presumably written by his son Solomon. There are also 4 other psalms by David not included in the canon, sometimes called Psalms 152-155. I’m not aware of anyone who counts them as canon.

The historicity of 3 Maccabbees is a bit sketchy, although that’s not necessarily a key question in determining if a book is inspired. I haven’t read it, but from a brief glance at the Wikipedia page it seems like its style may have undercut it. Finally, because of how recent it was I doubt it had as widespread acceptance as scripture in the Jewish world at the time, compared with some of the other books.

 

[Digitonomy]

I have been fascinated by the diverse canons of various Orthodox churches for awhile now, but at the time I first became aware little was available on the internet. This was particularly true of the Ethiopian canon, significantly larger than other Orthodox canons. I’m glad your post led me to investigate further, and discover a translation of the books of Meqabyan. If you’re a reggae fan, you’ll enjoy the dialect of English used.

Sample:

16; At that time them wept together - an them feared - arisin from JAH.

17; Returnin them faces Eastward an streachin forth them hands them begged toward JAH together - "Lord - should InI refuse these men who demolished Thy Command an Thy LAW?

 

[TheOneTrueFred]

The Ethiopian canon sure seems to have some treasures in it, Meqabyan being especially cool for telling a unique story nobody’s ever heard of before. Maybe I’d consider picking up one of the ecumenical bible editions if it included these books without the Jamaican accent