And further, by these,
my son, be admonished:
of making many books
there is not end;
and much study is a
weariness of the flesh.
Ecclesiastes 12:12
There it is, in plain writing, in the Scriptures: we have no real need to spend time studying and writing books. This may be a proof Scripture for person who is lazy, desires to just have a good time, and call himself a "Christian." Besides, what should we do about those writings, those books that were at one time read in the early Churches. Such books as, Clement of Rome, Ignatious' letters, The Shepherd of Herme, etc.? Does not the Roman Catholic Church include the Apocryphal books in the Bible? Yes!
The Apocrypha were formally canonized by the Roman Catholic 'Church' on April 8, 1546 A.D. at the Council of Trent. In fact the Kings James Bible until 1885 included those books, but there were not considered Scripture, that is, they were not considered to be inspired of God. The writer of Ecclesiastes was not telling us not to study, not to make books, in fact if the above Scripture is your proof Scripture then all you have done is to allow your presuppositions to rule your understanding for you have not taken time to read the Bible and come to know what the writer's position and theme of this book, and why it was necessary for it to be written. It is when we allow other writings, other books to become a source for our faith, all we have done is devalue the Bible, it is no longer the only truth, it is no longer the only means by which we can come to know the revelation of God. In fact many do diminish the Bible by having some "vision" or some "revelation" given to them as though God needed to reveal His will outside of Scripture. The term "apocrypha" comes from the Greek word meaning "hidden"
or "secret" and in general use, the word "apocrypha" came to mean "false, spurious, bad, or heretical. Early in Church history these books were not considered, although some almost were, to be inspired of God; they were denied by the influential theologians, like Irenaeus and Tertullian. Here is the list of those books:
Wisdom of Solomon 30 B.C. Didactic
Ecclesiasticus 32 B.C. Didactic
Tobit c. 200 B.C. Religious Novel
I Esdras c. 150 B.C. Historic & Legendary
I Maccabees c. 110 B.C. Historic
II Maccabees c. 100 B.C. Historic & Legendary
Judith c. 150 A.D. Romantic Novel
Baruch c. 100 A.D. Prophetic
Letter of Jeremiah c. 200 B.C. Prophetic
II Esdras c. 100 A.D. Prophetic
Additions to Esther c. 130 B.C. Legendary
Prayer of Azariah* c. 100. B.C. Legendary
Suzanna (Daniel 13) c. 100 B.C. Legendary
Bel & the Dragon (Daniel 14) c. 100 B.C. Legendary
Prayer of Manasseh c. 150 B.C. Legendary
Probably the most important, that is a book(s) that can give some valuable information in regards to early historicity of the Church is the Maccabees. I have given not only the names of the books, their dates, but as to their content. Reading them is useful for information but unless, and this is true for any books we read, we read those books with a lens, that lens is the Bible. To read otherwise is to allow non-Scripture renderings to mislead us.
The Wisdom of God is Jesus Christ, personified in the flesh, the Incarnation, and Jesus made is extremely clear, He is the truth, His words are truth, and those words from Wisdom is the wisdom that we obtain from Scripture. It is that wisdom, Scripture, that we desire to lead and guide our lives: "Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that see the sun. For wisdom is a defense, and money is a defense: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it" (Ecclesiastes 7:11-12). Our search for God, our understanding of God, begins and ends with Scripture. Other information is helpful, and needed for complete understanding of history, and the events that led up to the Reformation that reformed the Church by returning to Scripture. The Reformation can be stated as a return to the Doctrines of the Bible. That the Bible is the infallible word of God. To clear this manner up: The Reformation when mentions causes some to cavil, to object to the term, this term to them is pejorative and to be avoided, this we find to be true in some Churches, especially those that are liberal in their theology. It was not the Apocryphal books that cause the Reformation, it was the Bible: read Luther, Calvin, and Wesel, and others, the Reformation began earlier that Luther, Calvin, and others; it became alive when men read the Word of God, and saw that the Roman Catholic Church had abused the Word of God, that the ills forced upon people were not Scripture and that salvation did not come because you belong to a Church, that salvation was a gift of God, it was salvation due to the Grace of God. We became known as Protestants because we opposed the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. It is when men who loved God and desired to know Him, and live by His Word that the Bible, not the Apocrypha, led them to know about the Grace of God. Furthermore: "All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me. That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it our? I applied mine heart to know, and to search and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness" (Ecclesiastes 7:23-25).
"That is all nice and interesting," you say; but how did the Bible, those collection of letters and writings become the Bible I hold in my hand. And how can I know, by what reason did the Bible come to be understood to be inspired and is the actual Word of God? Good questions, and this I will address in the next blogs. Until then, read the Bible, yes, read the Apocrypha, but read them through the microscopic lens of the Bible.
But in vain they do
worship me, teaching
for doctrines the
commandments of men.
Matthew 15:9
May God Say; "Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant
Richard L. Crumb
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