What About the Apocrypha? (Part 3)

We are in the midst of a series of posts considering the Apocrypha, and whether they should be considered as part of the canon. In this post, we will look at the opinions of early church leaders that these books were NOT part of the canon.

The early leader known as Melito of Sardis gave a list of Old Testament books that should be read as Scripture. He included the whole Old Testament as we know it except for Esther (I wrote about this idea in an earlier post). He did not include any of the books of the Apocrypha. The important early thinker Origen listed all of the books we know as the Old Testament but interestingly added the Letter of Jeremiah. However, he did not accept the rest of the Apocrypha as canonical.

One of the most important of the early Church Fathers was Athanasius. He listed the Old Testament as being the books we accept, minus Esther, but added Baruch, and The Letter of Jeremiah. He then wrote about the rest of the Apocrypha and their place: “There are other books outside of these which are indeed not included in the canon, but have been appointed from the time of the fathers to be read to those who are recent converts to our company and wish to be instructed in the word of true religion. These are the Wisdom of Solomon, the Wisdom of Sirach, Esther, Judith and Tobit…” (Athanasius Paschal Letter, 367 AD). Thus, Athanasius said these books were good for reading and learning, but they were not part of Scripture.

Finally, we will look at Jerome, the great Bible translator. He accepted the exact same Old Testament books we do, and clearly stated that the Apocrypha were not part of the canon. He wrote “Whatever falls outside these must be set apart among the Apocrypha. Therefore Wisdom, which is commonly entitled Solomon’s, with the book of Jesus the son of Sirach, Judith, Tobias and the Shepherd are not in the canon…” (Jerome, quoted in Bruce, Canon of Scripture, 90.) Furthermore, Jerome stated how these books should be received, read, and considered: “– “Therefore as the church indeed reads Judith, Tobit and the books of Maccabees, but does not receive them among the canonical books, so let it also read these two volumes for the edification of the people but not for establishing the authority of ecclesiastical dogmas.” (Jerome, Quoted in Bruce, Canon of Scripture, 91-92.) Note that this is very similar to Athanasius – these books are important, and can help a Christian grow – but they are not Scripture.

It should also be noted that Jerome translated the Apocrypha and included them in the Vulgate – but they were not to be considered Scripture. In this, he seems to follow the same pattern and philosophy as the translators of the Septuagint and the Jews after the time of Christ.

Next time we will look at the reception of the Apocrypha from the time of the Reformation to the present.

In Christ,

Bret