Apocrypha

“ APOCRYPHAL LITERATURE. The history of the earlier usage of the term “Apocrypha” (from ἀποκρύπτειν, to hide) is not free from obscurity. We shall therefore enter at once on a short account of the origin of this literature in Judaism, of its adoption by early Christianity, of the various meanings which the term “apocryphal” assumed in the course of its history, and having so done we shall proceed to classify and deal with the books that belong to this literature. ”

“ He was mainly responsible for the famous ‘Apocrypha controversy,’ which he originated in 1827 by surrendering his membership of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and assailing it in the pages of his ‘Christian Instructor’ for having bound up the Apocrypha with the Bible. ”

“ All the books of the Apocrypha are comparatively modern. There is none of them, on the most favourable computation, which can be supposed to be older than the latest years of the Persian empire. They belong, therefore, to the age when the last great relicrious movement of the Old Testament under Ezra had passed away when prophecy had died out, and the nation had settled down to live under the Law, looking for guidance in religion, not to a continuance of new revelation, but to the written Word, and to the interpretations of the Scribes. ”

“ As we have already remarked, the Council of Trent adopted the Canon of the Council of Hippo and of Augustine, declaring: 'If any one receive not, as sacred and canonical, the said books entire with all their parts, as they have been used to be read in the Catholic Church, and as they are contained in the old Latin Vulgate . . . let him be anathema.' [8] All the Apocrypha except 1 Esdras, 4 Ezra, and the Prayer of Manasses belonging to the Apocrypha Proper were declared Canonical. ”

“ It must not be supposed that the liberties taken by the authors of the Western readings, though far exceeding what we find appearing for the first time in other texts of the New Testament, are unknown in other literature transmitted under not unlike circumstances. Several books of the Apocrypha of the Old Testament exist in two forms of text, of which one is evidently an amplified and interpolated modification of the other. ”

“ The Church of the first three centuries made, on the whole, no essential difference between the books of the Hebrew canon and the Apocrypha. We find the Fathers, almost without exception, quoting from both indiscriminately. ”

“ All the Protestant churches in England and America, except the Church of England, reject their use in public worship. In French and English Bibles of the Sixteenth Century it was customary to bind up the Apocrypha between the authorized versions of the Old and New Testaments, but in the Seventeenth Century this ceased, and, as a consequence, this curious, interesting, and instructive part of Jewish literature acquired to a large extent merely scholarly interest. ”

“ We have less of miracle, more of elaborate discourse. The Apocryphal Gospels were suited to the vilis plebecula, from which, as Jerome said, the Church originated; the Apocryphal Acts appeal more to the Academia.
We have in ancient literature, especially Greek literature, a long series of fabulous histories attached to the names of men who made themselves famous either in arts or arms. ”

“ The matter is of some little importance, because, if my view is correct, it does away with the only formidable argument in favour of the dissection of 4 Esdras into a congeries of documents.
The first two and last two chapters of the Latin version of 4 Esdras as they stand in our Apocrypha are later accretions. Chapters i., ii. are an independent Christian Apocalypse, surviving only in Latin. Chapters xv., xvi. are prophecies of woes conceived in the spirit of the Old Testament prophets and the Sibylline Oracles. ”

“ Therefore also it says in the Scripture, 'No man hath seen his end, or his grave, unto this day.' This, it is said, is set forth in an apocryphal book which contains the more detailed account (λεπτοτέραν ἀφήγησιν) of the genesis or creation. ”

“ The Apocrypha is not published by the great Bible societies, but was revised by the Bible Revision Committee, and is separately published by the University Press. The Old Testament Apocrypha consists of fourteen books: (1) First Esdras (q.v.) ; (2) Second Esdras (q.v.) ; (3) Tobit (q.v.) ; (4) Judith (q.v.) ; (5) The parts of Esther not found in Hebrew or Aramaic; (6) The Wisdom of Solomon; (7) The Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus (q.v.) ; (8) Baruch (q.v.) ; (9) The Song of the Three Holy Children; (10) The History of Susanna ”

“ Resch divides his materials into Logia and Apocrypha, but there seems to me very little difference in the amount of evidence, in favor of the distinction, and I have used both indiscriminately. In the notes, however, which are now added, I give the number of Resch's Logia, adding a capital A. for the Apocrypha. ”

“ It will be noticed that no Apocryphal Epistles are included in the literature which follows. Such forgeries were less common, and the Apocryphal Acts furnished a more convenient channel for heretical opinions and argument. Of the few in existence, some appear, in connection with other works, in the Acts of Thaddæus, in the Pseudo-Ignatian Epistles, in the Clementine Homilies (Epistles of Peter to James) , and in Eusebius. ”

“ Later Greek Fathers [5] rejected in various ways this conception of the Canon, but it was accepted and maintained in the West by St. Augustine. Where the Greek differed from the Hebrew Augustine held that the difference was due to Divine inspiration, and that this difference was to be regarded as a sign that in the passage in question an allegorical—not a literal—interpretation was to be looked for. Since he habitually used a Latin Bible, which embraced the Apocrypha, he appealed to the authority of these books as of the rest of the Scriptures. ”

“ This necessity for definition led to the drawing-up of lists of the sacred books, and then, naturally, of longer lists, in which apocryphal books were included and expressly reprobated. Such lists form our second main source of knowledge about the lost writings. There are three Greek lists, one Latin, and some in other languages, especially Armenian, which will have to be noticed.
The Greek lists are known as the Stichometry of Nicephorus, the list of the Sixty Books, and that in the Pseudo-Athanasian Synopsis of Holy Scripture. ”

“ Many Biblical phrases are here, but the ensemble is not Biblical, and an Apocalypse of an Old Testament character does seem likely to be the source.
Protr. X. 98: "A certain prophecy says that things here (on earth) will be in an ill plight when they (men) put their faith in statues."
Pædagogus III. viii. 44. The expression "intelligent fire" (φρόνιμον πῦρ) is used. God "poured out a little of that intelligent fire" upon Sodom. It is a phrase which recurs in Clement and other writers, and which I believe we owe to some apocryphal book. ”

“ I may append to this the portions of the leading Greek lists of biblical books which mention New Testament Apocrypha.
a. The Text of the Sixty Books
It is as old as the seventh century. The Sixty Books are those of the Bible. Then follow lists of those 'outside the sixty' (nine) and of 'such as are Apocryphal'.
Nos. 1-14 of these are Old Testament.
15. History of James ( = Protevangelium) . ”

“ The former is a series of questions and answers—the Byzantines were fond of this form of writing—about the end of the world, which contain nothing very interesting. A description of antichrist is perhaps the most notable feature: on this have put together some matter in my Lost Apocrypha of the O. T., to which I may refer the reader. That of the Virgin follows Paul closely. ”

“ Subjects may stumble, when kings walk astray.
Thine Acts shall be a new Apocrypha. ”

“ It is apocryphal and of later date than the history of the martyrdom of the two Apostles, by some attributed to Marcellus, which is also apocryphal ("Acta Apostolorum apocrypha", ed. Lipsius and Bonnet, I, ed. Leipzig, 1891, XIV sqq., I sqq.) . ”

“ Like Pythagoras, he frequented the two mysterious schools on the Euphrates,—Neharda and Pombeditha; and he may have met there the Jewish doctors. He spelt the papyri of Sepphoris, which, at his time, was not yet transformed into Diocæsarea. He lived with the pearl-fishers of the isle of Tylos. We may find in the Apocrypha traces of an ancient strange itinerary recommended, according to some, to the philosophers by Empedocles, the magician, of Agrigentum, and, according to others, to the rabbis by the high-priest Eleazer who corresponded with Ptolemy Philadelphus. ”

“ The genesis of much of the literature resembles that of modern “Lives of Christ” written to present a view of the Person of our Lord which is not in accordance with the obvious sense of the New Testament. Probably some of the Apocryphal Gospels and Acts were not intended to be forgeries, but only novels with a purpose. [2]
4. But while the early Church exercised proper discernment, and the Canon of the New Testament was soon definitely recognised and universally accepted, the apocryphal writings were not without influence. ”

“ If the Canonical and Apocryphal Books are compared in reference to the question of inspiration, no unbiased scholar could have any hesitation in declaring that the inspiration of such a book as Wisdom or the Testaments of the XII Patriarchs is incomparably higher than that of Esther.
§ 5. Editions—partial or complete—of the Apocrypha.
Fritzsche und Grimm, Kurzgef. exeget. Handbuch zu den Apokryphen des A. T., 1851–60. Fritzsche, Lief. I, 3 Esra, Zusätze zu Esther und Daniel, Gebet Manasses, Baruch, Brief Jer.; II. Tobit und Judith; V. Sirach. Grimm, Lief. III, 1 Makk.; IV. 2–4 Makk. ”

“ The eschatology of a nation—and the most influential portion of Jewish and Christian apocrypha are eschatological—is always the last part of their religion to experience the transforming power of new ideas and new facts.
Now the current religious literature of Judaism outside the canon was composed of apocryphal books, the bulk of which bore an apocalyptic character, and dealt with the coming of the Messianic kingdom. These naturally became the popular religious books of the rising Jewish-Christian communities, and were held by them in still higher esteem, if possible, than by the Jews. ”

“ Of these three obviously Christian passages it is difficult to say whether all are taken from an apocryphal book or were Christian interpolations into the text of the LXX. To the Justin passage this last explanation probably does apply. ”

“ But, apart from possibilities of this kind, it does appear that the Epistle was on the whole too serious an effort for the forger, more liable to detection, perhaps, as a fraud, and not so likely to gain the desired popularity as a narrative or an Apocalypse. Certain it is that our apocryphal Epistles are few and not impressive. By far the most considerable is that Epistle of the Apostles which has only become known in recent years; and the greater part of this is not an Epistle but a dialogue. ”

“ Moreover, without much trouble it is possible for the less incurious to get hold of translations of a good many of these books. But I do not think I am speaking inaccurately when I say that there is at present no one book in existence which will supply the English reader—or for that matter any reader, of Latin, Greek, or Oriental languages—with a comprehensive view of all that is meant by the phrase, ‘the apocryphal literature of the New Testament’. ”

“ Just over a hundred years ago, in 1820, an Apocryphal New Testament was issued by William Hone, best remembered as the author of the Everyday Book, the Year Book, the Table Book, Ancient Mysteries Explained.
Hone’s book has long held the field: it is constantly being reprinted, and it has enjoyed a popularity which is in truth far beyond its deserts. ”

“ It is a matter of common knowledge that there exist such things as Apocryphal Gospels, Acts, Epistles, Revelations—in fact apocryphal representatives of every one of the classes of writings which form the New Testament. Bible dictionaries, encyclopaedias, manuals, and text-books have made the fact familiar. ”

“ In addition to the apocryphal books named, Origen also accepted as authoritative the Gospel of the Hebrews, Gospel of the Egyptians, Acts of Paul, and Preaching of Peter.
The Rev. Jeremiah Jones, a leading authority on the canon, says: “Justin Martyr, Clemens Alexandrinus, Tertullian, and the rest of the primitive writers were wont to approve and cite [35] books which now all men know to be apocryphal” (Canon, p. 4) . ”

“ Œcolampadius placed James, Jude, Second Peter, Second and Third John and the Apocalypse along with the Apocryphal books, on a lower level than the other New Testament Scriptures.
The great majority of the Reformers, however, speedily fixed upon that canon which we now receive, and their decision has not been seriously called in question since the sixteenth century. ”

“ Gnostics, makes (in § 5) this quotation: "Reading in apocryphal writings that 'I saw a tree bearing twelve fruits in the year, and he said to me, "This is the tree of life,"' the heretics interpret it" in a way which need not be remembered. ”

“ So I think the Testament represents an early book, and am sure that the Apocalypse is early. Which of them is the text meant in the lists I will not undertake to say. They do not differ in length so much that we can decide from the stichometry. ”

“ EPIPHANY, FEAST OF. The word epiphany, in Greek, signifies an apparition of a divine being. It was used as a singular or a plural, both in its Greek and Latin forms, according as one epiphany was contemplated or several united in a single commemoration. For in the East from an early time were associated with the feast of the Baptism of Christ commemorations of the physical birth, of the Star of the Magi, of the miracles of Cana, and of the feeding of the five thousand. ”