All Doves:

The Apostle Paul's words of 2nd Thessalonians 2:11 is so appropriate when considering the "Apocrypha Delusion" that exists on so many want-to-be Bible blog sites.  "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie."

The Apocrypha goes by so many different expressions:  "Banned books of the Bible" - "Lost books of the Bible" - "Books ripped form your Bible" - "Conspiracy against the Apocryphal Writings" - "Secret books of the Bible" - "Hidden books of the Bible" - "Concealed books of the Bible".  It all seems so devious and dishonest, doesn't it?

The subject was perhaps the most asked question by the laity of churches that I was either pastor of or preached at in my time in pastoral ministry.  But they were more common from about 1990 until my retirement.  I vividly recall a young man in his early 30's, he hounded me for information on these missing books.  He was legally blind as the result of an event in the Army that resulted in his loosing his sight.  I spent a lot of time with him and even ran a home Bible study at his home for the family and neighbors. 

This issue reminds me of the "trick" birthday candles, those that when you light them they can't be blown out by the youngsters.  They just keep relighting after their flame is extinguished. 

This entire issue is a result of the media network focus back in the late 1980's of the subject by the History Channel, Discovery Channel, and the National Geographic Society.  The television networks aired multiple segment series on Gnostic gospels, and other spurious ancient writings.

Their agenda was less about Biblical Truth or scholarship on Biblical studies; but rather it was about network ratings, money, and video sales; however, my opinion from viewing them and recording them led me to believe it was more about attacking and undermining the KJV Bible's validity or credibility.  My observation was that they were not really interested in genuine scholarship or to create an interest in the Bible, but to sew seeds of doubt in the viewers' minds. 

Nothing grabs a "tube" viewer's interest more than to mention the word "conspiracy" or "banned books" of the Bible.  To even infer or imply the public has been somehow deceived concerning the Bible that they probably never read.  Trust and credibility gets tossed in the trash, and to think this may have given them grounds for their biased view and predisposed anti-faith views.

There is a false assumption people make by thinking that if something is ancient it must be full of wisdom and truth.  Nothing could be further from the truth,  I'll illustrate that fact as I provide Truth that is lacking at those religious web sites and blogs that promote the ancient Middle Eastern magic, folklore, mysticism, and superstition.  Interestingly among the sites that hype the Apocrypha, the Gnostics, the Pseudepigrapha, and other so-called extra-Biblical writings, and, they even include those by the Mormons as well, i.e. "Book of Mormon" and the "Pearl of Great Price", not a one that I have taken a look at has any formal education, experience, or professional training on those subjects.  I don't take such sites serious other than to note the confusion and deception they bring to the table.  We need to use discernment when we read extra-Biblical ancient writings or new age philosophies.  We need to understand their motivation for hyping the esoteric writings, not to mention their fear-mongerings.  If you have noticed of late they are telling you now the church: "The Ecclesia Will Go Through Persecution", and "Will you graduate to the ELECT?", and "Your Church Will Go Through Persecution"  This isn't something new by any measuring stick or a fact in the Church's history.  We are witnesses to the fact of persecution of the Church, both by what has been happening to the Coptic Christians in Egypt or the sodomite trashing Christian Churches in North Carolina.  It's a reality that confirms the soon coming of the Lord Himself!

The reader needs to understand that the Early Church Father did a good job weeding out silly philosophies springing up like dandelions in the morning hours.  Those early years were rampant with people claiming to be the Messiah or a prophet of some sort or another.  Counterfeits abounded like bad weeds.  Ashland Seminary in Ashland, Ohio publishes a directory for the serious students of  literary analysis "Biographical Guide to the Apocrypha and Pseudopegriphal" that numbers 49 pages of listings of those published works/studies and their authors, so it would be a misnomer to say this subject has not been give a fair study.  One could easily spend at least two thousand dollars just on books published on the subject of this collective body of writings. 

The term "Apocrypha" was itself coined by the Christian monk Jerome when translating the Old Testament from Hebrew to Latin.  Jerome was plagued by the question he had to answer, "Should he include these books or not?"  Early in his life he thought all the Septuagint was inspired, but later came full circle to believe only the Hebrew originals were Scripture.  Jerome coined the word "Apocrypha" from the Greek word "kekrummenon", a word found in Luke 18:34.  The meaning of the word is "hidden, spurious, concealed, or esoteric".  The general view was that they were of questionable authenticity.

There is a lot the folks of the purveyors of "Apocrypha Delusion" fail to mention to their audience in their posts by pushing the bogus views that these spurious writings belong in the Bible.  From all that I can see they are not interested in objective truth but propagandizing their one-sided bias and delusion.  Those genuinely interested in serious Bible scholarship and the validating of truth will weigh all the evidence, allowing the evidence to inductively lead the viewer to the correct conclusion.

The Apocrypha isn't in the KJV Bible and most non-Catholic Bibles for the following reasons:

1.  Not one of the Apocryphal books is written in Hebrew.  The Old Testament is nearly all in Hebrew.  All Apocryphal books or writings are in Greek, except for one which exists only in Latin.  I'll deal with the issues about the Septuagint in a later post.

2.  None of the Apocryphal writers ever laid claim to their inspiration.

3.  None bear the term "Thus saith the Lord" or words to the effect they were from God.

4.  The Apocryphal books were never acknowledge as Sacred Scriptures by the Jews, custodians of the Hebrew Scriptures.  (The Apocrypha was written prior to the New Testament canon was fixed).  In fact, the Jewish people rejected and destroyed the Apocrypha after the over-throw of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

5.  The Apocryphal books were not recognized as God-inspired and not permitted among he Sacred books during the first four centuries of the early Christian Church.  Catholicism is by definition not even Christian.  Another subject for a future post.

6.  The Apocrypha contains fabulous statements which not only contradict the "Canonical" Scriptures but themselves as well.  For example, in the two books of Maccabees, Antiochus Epiphanes is made to die three different deaths in three different places. 

7.  The Apocrypha includes doctrines in variance with the Bible, such as prayers to the dead and sinless perfection.

8.  The Apocrypha teaches immoral practices, such as lying, suicide, assassination, and magical incantation.

9.  No Apocryphal book is referred to in the New Testament, whereas the Old Testament is referred to hundreds of times.  The book of Enoch is not part of the Apocrypha, rather it is part of the Pseudepigrapha writings.  I will deal with Enoch in another post since it also is a highly suspect book as to major discrepancies, errors, and absurdities.

10. Because of these and other reasons, the Apocryphal books are only valuable as ancient documents illustrative of the manners, language, opinions, and background history of the Middle East.

11. Last and perhaps the most accurate of all is one that I will share later because of its most unique and definitive means of measure for validating the Apocrypha to be nothing more than  "spurious" writings.

I have a CD document with all of these extra-Biblical writings being quoted by those promoting these scandalous writings.  It contains hundreds of articles, documents; I am familiar with about 60% of the various writings, including the Apocrypha, the Gnostics, the Pseudepigraphal writings, along with the Dead Sea Scrolls, and other religious letters and writings.  I purchased it nearly twenty years ago thinking I would have need of it in my doctoral studies but the clock was ticking on me.  As it turns out it was the biggest waste of a 'Benjamin' of my life.  I had reached a point where due to my age, and lack of funds, I was not able to complete my doctoral studies.  There was nothing more to gain or benefit by completing my doctoral work late in my ministry.  So from a cost/benefit analysis it was time to call it quits.

Here are a few examples to consider why the Apocrypha is not what many would have you believe.  2nd Maccabees 12:43-45 supports the Catholic doctrine of purgatory.  "2,000 pieces of silver were sent to Jerusalem for a sin-offering...  Whereas he made reconciliation for the dead, that they might be delivered from sin." 

In another example, in Ecclesiasticus 3:30 and Tobit 12:8-9, 17, the Catholic doctrine of works-salvation is supported:

++Ecclesiasticus 3:30 - "Water will quence a flaming fire, and alms maketh atonement for sin."

++Tobit 12:8-9, 17 - "It is better to give alms than to lay up gold; for alms doth deliver from death, and shall purge away all sins."

In another example we find magic is taught in Tobit 6:5-8 - "If the devil, or an evil spirit troubles anyone, they can be driven away by making a smoke of the heart, liver, and gall of a fish... And the devil will smell it, and flee away, and never come again."

In the book of Wisdom 8:19-20, we find another Catholic doctrine that teaches Mary was born sinless (the Immaculate Conception).  "And I was a witty child and had received a good soul, and whereas I was more good, I came to a body undefiled."

IT IS PRIMARILY THE ROMAN CATHOLIC INSTITUTION that champions the Apocrypha.  They included it, beginning with the Council of Trent in 1546.  They have a massive capital investment in seeing that the Apocrypha be put back into their planned Bible for the One-World-Church.  Much of their pagan doctrines depends on its inclusion in the Bible, be it their Douay-Rheims or its carbon copy the NIV!  The pagan facade that hides behind the Christian veneer is like an Alabama shack with brand spanking new aluminum siding.  The Roman Catholic Institution needs the Apocryphal writings to support their many unbiblical teachings, of which I pointed out a few.  

In one of my next posts I will identify and differentiate between the Apocrypha, the Gnostics, the Pseudepegrapha and other extra-Biblical writings.  Unfortunately, the ignorant [lack of knowledge] crowd often simply lump them altogether.  I've noticed that to be common practice on sites that focus on these books.  The book of Enoch is getting front page coverage with several web sites. 

Even though the Apocrypha was placed at the end of the O.T., in the middle or between the Old and New Testaments of the Authorized 1611 KJV Bible, it had nothing to do with the Apocrypha being considered "Canonical" by the KJV translators.  They were actually opposed to it being in the KJV Bible.  Its inclusion was more a matter of concession and that is why it was placed in the middle of the KJV Bible as an "appendix".  The KJV Bible translators DID NOT consider the Apocrypha being the Word of God!

This leads me to a point that the reader needs to know about the Authorized 1611 KJV Bible.  Those with deceitful minds will say the 1611 KJV Bible was revised several times since 1611, and that once in a while a revision is good, as to lend support to the idea of all the many modern counterfeit translations today.

The fact is there were only 4 editions of the KJV Bible produced after 1611:  1629, 1638, 1762, and 1769.  Those were not considered as new translations (Like the new version introduced by Westcott & Hort in 1881 and since.).
They can't be considered by publishing terms as "revisions".

+++The 1629 edition was simply an effort to correct printing errors, and two of the original KJV translators even assisted in the work.

+++The 1638 edition of the KJV also dealt with printing errors, especially words and clause overlooked by the printers.  About 70% of the textual corrections in the KJV were done by 1638, only 27 years after the first printing.  Keep in mind the fact that printing was a labor-demanding task prior to 1800.  Publishing a flawless work was almost impossible.  Even today with computers, word processors, spell-check software, and proofing tools, printing errors are still frequently made.  In today's print media, those tasked with "proofing" utilize many means to proof-check typesetters, including the use of inverting proof-reading, along with other techniques to assure accuracy.  Just imagine what it was like in the 1600's with lead type and slugs.

+++Then, in 1762 and 1769, two final editions  of the KJV Bible were published.  Both of these involved spelling changes, which became necessary as the English language underwent refinement and spelling rules were established. 

Those who try to equate these editions with the modern translations are just being deceitful or stupid - or both.  The many other so-called "revisions" of the KJV Bible that occurred in 1613, 1616, 1617, and 1743 are nothing more than running changes and touch-up work at the printers.  The REAL revisions and translations do not start appearing until 1881 with Westcott & Hort's "critical" New Greek Testament Text.  1881 saw the Revised Version and 1901 the American Standard Version.

The Apocrypha began to be omitted form the Authorized KJV in 1629, just 18 years after it first was included in the original Authorized 1611 KJV Bible.  The Puritans and Presbyterians lobbied for the complete removal of the Apocrypha from the Bible and in 1825 the British and Foreign Bible Societies agreed.  From 1825 the Apocrypha had been totally eliminated from nearly every English Bible.

The low information crowd of web sites that dare to recommend the Apocrypha be read or considered "Canon" are either being deceived themselves by Satan or complicit with Satan's plan to deceive you.  Their inability to evaluate such incredulous nonsense speaks negatively of their understanding of God's Word and their inability to differentiate between the distinct message of "deliverance" before "judgment" and the Gospel message.  They do have an advantage of their daily "drum beat" of lies, sensational headlines but void of substance content.  The presence of the Hitler-style of propaganda is revealed in the claims without evidence.  As this series will demonstrate, the Apocrypha is nothing more than Satanic Delusion.  In my posts I will lay out evidence that not only claims it is a delusion but will show how and why scholars have exposed the naked truth about the Apocrypha, the Gnostics, the Pseudepegripha, and other absurd writings. 

Within the theological community, there are men who have made it their life's work to bring clarity and understanding to this entire element of writings; they continue hundreds of years invested going back to the early church leadership, where they brought to bear infinite study and analysis with the wisdom of God guiding their actions.  To allow one's self to be distracted from the True God-inspired, inerrant, infallible, and irrevocable Word of God is to be distracted by retrogression of the worst kind.

In coming posts I will clarify and present the many reasons why the Apocrypha does not deserve be even considered "Canon" or how it fails to be even considered worthy of such dignity and honor.  Great scholars have been demeaned and slandered by the pseudo-advocates and bloggers inferring the public has been somehow cheated or short-changed by those determined to sell a counterfeit bill of goods, determined to mislead the public that the Apocrypha was the Word of God rather than the fact it is an imposter and certainly lacks the Seal of God!

Maranatha, Lord Jesus Come Quickly,

Pastor Bob