                            APOCRYPHA
                            =========

The Jews did not stop writing during the period of the Old
Testament and the New Testament.  Many literary works were produced
during the time frame between the two testaments.  Those works fall
into two canonical categories:  apocrypha and pseudepigrapha.

They did not attain canonical status, but some of them were cited
by early Christians almost on the level with the Old Testament
writings, and a few were copied into biblical manuscripts.

Apocrypha means "things that are hidden," and apply to a collection
of fifteen books written between approximately 200 B.C. and 100
A.D.

OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHAL WORKS:
Although never part of the Hebrew Scriptures, all but 2 Esdras
appeared in the Greek translation of the Septuagint (Old
Testament).  (NOTE:  Jesus never quoted from the Apocryphal
writings --- and the Apocryphal writings were never a part of the
Hebrew Scriptures).

They were made part of the official Latin Bible, the Vulgate; all
except 1 and 2 Esdras and the Prayer of Mannasseh are considered
canonical by the Roman Catholic Church.

The Apocryphal writings represent various types of literature:
historical, romance, wisdom, devotional, and apocalyptic.

[First Esdras] is a historical book from the early first century
A.D.  It parallels material found in the last chapters of
 2 Chronicals, Ezra, and Nehemiah.  In a number of places it
differs from the Old Testament account.

[1 Macabees] is the most important historical writing in the
Apocryphal works.  It is the primary source of history of the
period it covers --- 180 to 134 B.C.  The emphasis is God worked
through Mattathias and his sons to bring deliverance.

[2 Macabees] also gives the history of the early part of the revolt
against the Seleucids; it covers the period of approximately 180 to
161 B.C.  2 Macabees is based on five volumes written by Jason of
Cyrene about which volumes nothing is known.  2 Macabees was
written shortly after 100 B.C., and is not considered to be
historically as accurate as 1 Macabees; in certain places the two
books disagree.

[Tobit] is a romance story written about 200 B.C.  It is more
concerned to teach lessons than to record history.  Tobit
introduces the concept of a 'guardian angel.'

[Judith] covers the period of 250 to 150 B.C., and covers the topic
of obedience to the law, and the 'end justifies the means'.  The
book contains many historical inaccuracies.

[additions to the book of Esther] to give a more religious meaning
to the book of Esther.

[The Song of Three Young Men] is one of three additions to the book
of Daniel.  It follows Daniel 3:23 in the Greek text.

[Susanna], the story, is added at the close of the book of Daniel
in the Septuagint.  It tells of two judges who were overpowered by
the beauty of Susanna and sought to become intimate with her.

[Bel and the Dragon] was the third addition to Daniel, placed
before Susanna in the Septuagint.  This story deals with idol and
dragon worship.

[Wisdom of Solomon] (which was not written by Solomon) was probably
written around 100 B.C. in Egypt.  It deals with the pros of wisdom
over wickedness.  This apocryphal work presents the Greek concept
of immortality rather than the biblical teaching of the
resurrection.

[Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach] (also known as Ecclesiasticus)
emphasizes the importance of obedience to the law --- wisdom is
identified with the law; it was written approximately 180 B.C.

[Baruch] in the first section claims to give a history of the
period of Jeremiah and Baruch, but it differs from the Old
Testament account.  The second section is poetry and praise of
wisdom.  The third and final section equates wisdom with the law.
This work was written around 100 B.C.

[Letter of Jeremiah] is often added to Baruch as chapter six, and
strongly condemns idolatry.

[Prayer of Manasseh] is a devotional writing claiming to be the
payer of the repentant king whom the Old Testament portrayed as
being very evil (2 Kings 21:10-17).  2 Kings makes no suggestion
that Manasseh repented; though 2 Chronicles 33:11-13, 18-19 state
he did repent and God accepted him.

[2 Esdras] was written too late to be included in the Septuagint.
Chapters 1-2 and 15-16 are Christian writings; while chapters 3-14
(the significant part of the book) are from about 20 B.C.  These
writings are mostly apocalypse (prophetic).  One of the visions, an
obvious error, pictures the Messiah remaining on Earth for four
hundred years before dying.  Three other false visions stress God's
coming intervention and salvation of his people through the pre-
existent Messiah.  The final section states the end will be soon.

NEW TESTAMENT APOCYRPHICAL WORKS:
[Protoevangelium of James] seems to have been written to glorify
Mary.  It includes the miraculous birth of Mary, her presentation
in the Temple, her espousal to Joseph (an old man with children),
and the miraculous birth of Jesus.  This second-century work was
extremely popular, and undoubtedly had a very major influence on
the later views of Mary.

[Infancy Gospel of Thomas] depicts Jesus in a crude manner as a
wonder boy, using his miraculous powers as a matter of personal
convenience.

Many other infancy gospels were written as the legends expanded;
those are as follows:  Arabic Gospel of Infancy, Armenian Gospel of
the Infancy, Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, the Latin Infancy Gospel,
the Life of John According to Serapion, the Gospel of the Birth of
Mary, the Assumption of the Virgin, and the History of Joseph the
Carpenter.

Passion Gospels, another class of Apocryphal gospel, are concerned
with supplementing the canonical accounts by describing events
surrounding the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.  Those works
are as follows:  Gospel of Peter, Gospel of Nicodemus (sometimes
called 'Acts of Pilate'), and the Book of the Resurrection of
Christ by Bartholomew the Apostle.

Jewish-Christian Gospels are works that originated among Jewish-
Christian Groups.  They include the Gospel of the Ebionites, the
Gospel of Hebrews, and the Gospel of the Nazarenes.

Gnostic Apocryphal Gospels include the following books:  Gospel of
Truth (no reference to Jesus), Gospel of the Twelve Apostles,
Gospel of Philip, Gospel of Thomas (no relation to the infancy
Gospel of Thomas), Gospel of Matthew (no relation to the canonical
Gospel of Matthew), Gospel of Judas, and the Gospel of Barholomew.

Other gospels in this class include those under the names of Holy
Women (for example, the Questions of Mary and the Gospel According
to Mary), and those attributed to a chief heretic such as
Cerinthus, Basilides, and Marcion.

There are also he Apocryphal acts which constitute a large number
of legendary accounts of the journeys and heroics of the New
Testament apostles --- Leucian Acts, Acts of John, Acts of Andrew,
Acts of Paul, Acts of Peter (this apocryphal work teaches Peter was
crucified upside down), Acts of Thomas.

Other later apocryphal acts include:  the Apostolic History of
Abdias, the Fragmentary Story of Andrew, Acents of James, the
Martyrdom of Matthew, the Preaching of Peter, Salvonic Acts of
Peter, the Passion of Paul, Passion of Peter and Paul, Acts of
Andrew and Matthias, Acts of Andrew and Paul, Acts of Paul and
Thecla, Acts of Barnabas, Acts of James the Great, Acts of Peter
and Andrew, Acts of Peter and Paul, Acts of Philip, and Acts of
Thaddaeus.

We also have the apocryphal epistles (or letters) --- The Epistle
of the Apostles, Third Epistle of the Corinthians, the Latin
Epistle to the Laodiceans, Correspondence of Christ and Abgar, the
Epistle to the Alexandarians, the Epistle of Titus, the Epistle of
Peter to James, the Epistle of Peter to Philip, and the Epistle of
Mary to Ignatius.

There are also prophetic New Testament apocryphal works; those are
as follows:  Apocalypse of Peter (deals with terror suffered by
those in hell), the Apocalypse of Paul, the Apocalypse of James,
the Apocalypse of Stephen, the Apocalypse of Thomas, and the
Apocalypse of the Virgin Mary.

Other New Testament era apocryphal works include the Agrapha (a
collection of sayings attributed to Jesus), the Preaching of Peter,
the Clementine of Homilies and Recognitions, the Apocryphon of
John, the Apocryphon of James, and certain Gnostic writings such as
the Pistis Sophia, the Wisdom of Jesus, and the Books of Jeu.

           WHY IS THE APOCRYPHAL WORKS NOT CANONICAL?
           ==========================================
Unger's Bible Dictionary gives the reason for the exclusion of
these writings:  "They abound in historical and geographical
inaccuracies and anachronisms."  "They teach doctrines which are
false or foster practices which are at variance with inspired
Scripture."  "They resort to literary types and display an
artificiality of subject matter and styling out of keeping with
inspired Scripture."  "They lack the distinctive elements which
give genuine Scripture their divine character, such as prophetic
power and poetic and religious feeling."

Many of the apocryphal works contains historic inaccuracies as well
as contradicting scripture found in the canonical Old and New
Testament.

             HISTORICAL TESTIMONY OF THEIR EXCLUSION
            ========================================

Geisler and Nix give a succession of ten testimonies of antiquity
against accepting the Apocrypha:

1.   Philo, Alexandrian Jewish philosopher (20 B.C.- A.D. 40),
     quoted the Old Testament prolifically and even recognized the
     threefold division (the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings),
     but he never quoted from the Apocrypha as inspired.

2.   Josephus (A.D. 30 - 100), Jewish historian, explicitly
     excludes the Apocrypha, numbering the books of the Old
     Testament as 22.  Neither does he quote these books as
     Scripture.

3.   Jesus and the New Testament writers never once quote the
     Apocrypha although there are hundreds of quotes and references
     to almost all of the canonical books of the Old Testament.
     (Exception is Jude 1:14)

4.   The Jewish scholars of Jamnia (A.D. 90) did not recognize the
     Apocrypha.

5.   No canon or council of the Christian church for the first four
     centuries recognized the Apocrypha as inspired.

6.   Many of the great fathers of the early church spoke out
     against the Apocrypha, for example, Origen, Cyril of
     Jerusalem, and Athanasius.

7.   Jerome (340 - 420), the great scholar and translator of the
     Vulgate, rejected the Apocrypha as part of the canon.  He
     disputed across the Mediterranean with Augustine on this
     issue; he first refused to even translate the Apocryphal books
     into Latin, but later he made a hurried translation of a few
     of them.  Only after his death were the remaining Apocryphal
     books brought into the Latin Vulgate.

8.   Many Roman Catholic scholars through the reformation period
     rejected the Apocrypha.

9.   Luther and the Reformers rejected the canonicity of the
     Apocrypha.

10.  Not until A.D. 1546, in a polemical action at the Counter
     Reformation Council of Trent, did the Apocryphal books receive
     full canonical status by the Roman Catholic Church.


Sources:  Holman Bible Dictionary
          Unger's Bible Dictionary
          The Best of Josh McDowell: A Ready Defense
          The Bible (KJV & NIV)
