“For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”
2 Pet. 1:16
“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness;”
2 Cor. 11:13-15
“The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write.”
2 Thess. 3:17
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Subsections
Commentaries on Apocrypha
Dead Sea Scrolls
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Order of Contents
Intro
Critiques of 24+
. Latin 12+
Read them
Intros & Background 55+
. Latin 1
History of Use 5+
Biblios 10+
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Intro
Why Should I Read a Significant Portion
of the Apocryphal Literature?
Because falsehood and deception breeds on ignorance. When someone asks, “But what about the Gospel of Thomas, and other books that never made it into the Bible?”, the only reason this objection may seem to have some plausibility to it, is if one has never read the Gospel of Thomas (50-140 A.D.).
If one has read this brief work and is familiar with it, they will know that the Gospel of Thomas, from the very first sentence, has gnostic characteristics which are contrary to the other gospels (for instance, Mt. 10:27) and the rest of Scripture, many of its teachings (in the mouth of Jesus) are capricious (the last verse, #114, is choice) and it is not grounded in the previously confirmed revelation of God, the Old Testament.
The ‘Gospel of Thomas’ does not contain substantial historical context which can be verified, nor does it have compelling evidence for it being based off of a first-hand witness (as the other gospels do). The work does not portray a messianic understanding of Jesus (further displacing it from the stream of the previous revelation of God, the O.T.), or an understanding of salvation by redemptive sacrifice; nor does it mention Jesus’s crucifixion or resurrection, or the Final Judgment.
The ‘Gospel of Thomas’ was written in the Egyptian, Coptic language (rather far removed from Jesus’s Israeli context) and was never understood to have a legitimate claim to apostolic sanction. So far from it ever receiving widespread reception by the early Church, the early Church historian Eusebius (d. 340 A.D.) included it among a catalogue of books that were ‘believed by most ecclesiastical writers’ not to be among ‘those works, which according to ecclesiastical tradition, are true and genuine and commonly accepted’. Rather it was held to be amongst those works which were:
“…cited by the heretics under the name of the apostles, including, for instance, such books as the Gospels of Peter, of Thomas, of Matthias, or of any others besides them, and the Acts of Andrew and John and the other apostles, which no one belonging to the succession of ecclesiastical writers has deemed worthy of mention in his writings.” (Church History, Book 3, ch. 25, section 6)
Hippolytus’s Refutation of All Heresies, 5.7.20 (A.D. c. 222-235) and Origen’s Homilies in Luke 1 (A.D. c. 233) reflect similarly on the Gospel of Thomas. Forgeries and false prophets have abounded in every age.
The ‘Gospel of Thomas’ was not discovered by moderns until it was dug up in 1945 in Egypt, in a collection of other gnostic writings. The earliest fragments of the work only date from A.D. 130-250. If God teaches in Scripture that his Word will be, “by his singular care and providence kept pure in all ages” (WCF 1.8; Mt. 5:18), then the Church being without the Gospel of Thomas for so many ages demonstrates that it is not the Word of God.
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How to Tell if a Work is Apocryphal:
Extrinsic & Natural Markers
Not every apocryphal work is quite so easy to recognize as the Gospel of Thomas. How can one know if a work is apocryphal or whether it is inspired of God? There are both extrinsic and natural markers, and internal and spiritual markers.
One important extrinsic marker, as highlighted by Westminster Confession of Faith, 1.5 is that “[w]e may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church to a high and reverend esteem of the holy scripture (1 Tim. 3:15, ‘…the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.’)”.
Consequently if a work has not been recognized as inspired by the chosen and spiritual people of God (1 Cor. 2:15; 1 Cor. 4:37), who are inwardly illuminated and taught of God (1 Jn. 2:27) and for whom the God-inspired writings were given and designed (Rom. 3:2; 15:4; 1 Cor. 10:11), this gives a strong presumption that the work is not Scripture.
This principle rules out the whole Old Testament Apocrypha. John Gill wrote:
“It is frequently said by the Jews,¹ that after the death of the latter prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, the Holy Ghost departed from Israel, or prophecy ceased; and that this is one of the five things wanting [lacking] in the second temple, the Holy Ghost, that is prophecy;² and that there was no prophet under that temple;³ meaning, after the building of it was finished, for they suppose it continued whilst the three above prophets lived; and they all agree that Malachi was the last of the prophets; and whom Aben Ezraª calls sof n’vieem, the end of the prophets, at whose death prophecy ceased:
and if there were no spirit of prophecy, nor any prophet after those times, until prophecy began to dawn in John the Baptist, Malachi prophesies of, then there could be no books written by the inspiration of the Spirit of God within that period.
¹ T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 11. i.
² Baal Aruch in voce cheved. fol. 75. 3.
³ Vid. Nizzachon Vet p. 52. Ed. Wagenseil.
ª Comment. in Mal. i. l.”
– ‘A Dissertation on the Apocryphal Writings’ in An Exposition of the Old Testament… vol. 4 (London, 1852-4), p. 896
When Jesus demarcated in his day what the Scriptures were, He spoke only of “the law of Moses’, ‘the prophets’ (which included the historical books) and ‘the psalms’ (Lk. 24:44; see also Lk. 16:29; 24:27; Jn. 1:45; Acts 28:23). These categories of the Hebrew canon did not include the Old Testament apocryphal books.
But what about the claimed-books surrounding the canon of the New Testament? For the sake of the certainty of your faith for the rest of your life, take 10 minutes and look over this chapter of Archibald Alexander in which he gives 10 safe and commonsense, natural rules for how to tell if a work is apocryphal or not:
Section 15, ”Rules for Determining what Books are Apocryphal…” in The Canon of the Old & New Testaments Ascertained: or the Bible Complete Without the Apocrypha & Unwritten Tradition new ed., rev. (1833; Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board, 1851), pp. 270-80
Every apocryphal work that exists fails under these natural rules, and every book inspired of God in the Canon passes these rules.
For a further enumeration of the disqualifying problems of the apocryphal books, see these succinct and helpful articles (in order of length):
Jackson, Wayne – ‘Is the Apocrypha Inspired of God?’ ChristianCourier.com
Stewart, Don – ‘Why Were the Books of the Old Testament Apocrypha Rejected as Holy Scripture by the Protestants?’ at BlueLetterBible.org Gives 27 reasons with quotes from the Apocrypha.
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Internal & Spiritual Markers
If a work came from the breath of God through holy men of old (2 Pet. 1:20-21), one would expect that it would have the marks of coming from the mind of God. What are the marks that we would expect would characterize God’s own words?
Westminster Confession 1.5 enumerates the traditional marks that have been recognized through Church history as manifesting the imprint of God’s Spirit:
1. ‘the heavenliness of the matter’
2. ‘the efficacy of the doctrine’
3. ‘the majesty of the style’
4. ‘the consent of all the parts’
5. ‘the scope of the whole (which is, to give all glory to God)’
6. ‘the full discovery it makes of the only way of man’s salvation’
7. ‘the many other incomparable excellencies’
8. ‘and the entire perfection thereof’
These marks of inspiration have sometimes been characterized as merely subjective, and therefore relative to the eye of the beholder and thus uncertain. However, take a careful look at these marks again: near all of them are objective and may be objectively discerned as being present, or not, in a given document. Not surprisingly, the Gospel of Thomas is objectively devoid of near-all of these markers.
While “we may be moved and induced… to a high and reverend esteem of the holy Scripture” through the foregoing marks, ‘yet, notwithstanding,’ says W.C.F. 1.5 rightly, “our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth, and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness by and with the word in our hearts. (1 Jn. 2:20,27; Jn. 16:13,14; 1 Cor. 2:10-12; Isa. 59:21)”
This is true because, as God promises in his Word, the Holy Spirit reveals and confirms his Word to us. As this is subjectively experienced on the one hand, it is a real experience that individuals may keenly know, experience and be assured of for themselves. On the other hand, this action worked upon us is objectively and actually done by the Holy Spirit, from an external source, and that in accordance with only the writings that the Holy Spirit actually inspired, as He does not confirm forgeries.
While it is true that individual persons may, and do, err in their assessment of their own subjective impressions (though there remains a large difference between the genuine internal confirmation of the Holy Spirit and a fleshly persuasion devoid of the Spirit), yet as the Holy Spirit objectively confirms Christians in all ages of these things, it is thus that much more unlikely that the whole Church (‘the pillar and ground of the truth’) has erred on this point.
In accordance with a fundamental principle of God’s existence, his Word and of Protestantism, we deal not with men, but directly with God Himself. Thus, when, by the inward working of the Holy Spirit, we find the marks of God’s inspiration laced through the Scriptures, it is upon God’s authority itself that we receive them as given from Him as the highest authority in heaven and on earth. W.C.F. 1.4:
“The authority of the holy scripture, for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God, (who is truth itself,) the author thereof; and therefore it is to be received, because it is the word of God.†
† 2 Pet. 1:19,21; 2 Tim. 3:16; 1 John 5:9; 1 Thess. 2:13“
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But What about Some of the More Controversial Canonical Books
through Church History?
John Owen answers well how it is conceptually possible that some parts of the early Church did not initially receive some of the divinely inspired books as canonical (such as Hebrews, 2 Peter, 2 & 3 John & Revelation); and how some of the Church throughout history has sometimes received some books of the apocrypha as canonical:
Objection 3, pp. 635-638 of ‘The Testimony of the Church is not the Only, nor the Chief Reason of our Believing the Scripture to be the Word of God’ in Puritan Sermons, 5.606-648 & in Works, 8.495-543
See also the details of many of the resources below in order to further establish your confidence in the divine inspiration (or lack thereof) in some of these more controversial books.
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The Lord our Shield & Light
(Gen. 15:1; Ps. 27:1)
The Truth does not fear the unknown, or anything at all; rather, it exposes darkness for what it is. Do not found your faith on ignorance. Have you found God’s Word to be true in view of every other option? When every other alternative is surveyed and found out, it is seen that there are no competitors to God’s Word, no part of God’s Word has been lost, and necessarily no other book will ever be added to the Canon of the inspired Word of God.
In reading a substantial portion of the apocryphal works, not only will it be greatly confirmed to you that the 66 books of the protestant Bible are in fact the Word of God and that the Church through history has rightly recognized this, but you will find the revelation of God in Scripture to be all the more glorious set against the dark backdrop of the fallible productions of mere men.
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The Historical Value of some of the
Apocryphal Books
The Jewish Apocrypha consists of 14-15 books which were included in the Septuagint (the ancient Greek, Jewish translation of the Old Testament), though were not included in the Hebrew canon. While not being inspired of God, they do give some very helpful light upon the history and thought of the Inter-testamental period, as most of the works were written during the first few centuries B.C. and give some context to the background of the New Testament.
For instance, the books of Maccabees are our main primary source for much of the Jewish history during the second century B.C. Scripture says in the prophecies of Daniel that during the Maccabean time, “the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.” (Dan. 12:32) Read about them!
‘Pseudepigrapha’ means writings written under a false name, which are not a part of the O.T. Apocrypha. These religious writings, written during the first few centuries B.C. through the first few centuries A.D. do give some light on the genres of literature current to the writing of the New Testament.
The New Testament apocryphal works (including the Gospel of Thomas) are not generally useful to understanding the background of the New Testament, as they post-date it, though they do have a very limited use in giving more light to the context of post-Biblical, early Church history in exemplifying its erroneous strands and dangers (which Paul warned against in Galatians, Colossians, etc.).
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The Spiritual Value of Some of the
Apocryphal Books
While the apocryphal books have some errors in them, many of them were also devout and pious writings of the ancient era. This is why the apocrypha has been esteemed through much of Church history as useful for edification, and why many reformed theologians of the puritan era wrote commentaries on the apocrypha, as may be found here:
For an intriguing Introduction to the place of the Apocrypha as held and developed through the Reformation and puritan eras, see Wes Bredenhof, ‘Guy de Bres and the Apocrypha’ (Westminster Theological Journal, 74:2, Fall, 2012).
For a brief introduction into the spiritual value of the Apocrypha, see David Briones, ‘Should Protestants Read the Apocrypha?’ (at Table Talk Magazine).
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Where to Start?
Don’t let the number of resources on this webpage intimidate you. They are designed to let you explore as far into this subject as you desire.
Where should you begin?
– In order to understand the Scriptural view better, what God says about this subject, read a few orthodox articles on the Biblical canon regarding that there is a canon, why there is a canon, and how the canon has formed and been recognized through Biblical and post-Biblical history.
– Read a few articles from the section immediately below on this webpage explaining why the apocryphal books are rightly not in the canon.
– Read Edgar Goodspeed’s, The Story of the Apocrypha (1939) along with the Apocrypha itself.
– Read a handful of the O.T. pseudepigrapha with the introductions to them at The Wesley Center.
– Read a handful or two of the Christian apocryphal works at Early Christian Writings.
To progress after this, if you desire, read the scholarly introductions to these apocryphal and pseudepigraphic works as referenced below. Most of all though, don’t let scholars fool you: their claims about these works are only as good as the evidence it is based on (and even the proposed evidence is often founded on a significant amount of interpretation). Most of these scholars do not know God in Christ, and a babe in Christ may be able to better spiritually (and sometimes even naturally) evaluate these writings than they:
“For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.’ Where is the wise? where is the scribe?… hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?”
May a further exploration and knowledge of these writings confirm you in the truth of God and make his sacred, canonical Word glorious in your eyes above the pitiful darkness and corruption of men. May Christ be your Teacher:
“Lead me in thy truth, and teach me:
for Thou art the God of my salvation;
on Thee do I wait all the day.”
Ps. 25:5
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Critiques of Apocryphal Works in regard to the Biblical Canon: Articles
Early Church
Eusebius – Ch. 25, ‘The Divine Scriptures that are accepted and those that are not’ Book 3 of Ecclesiastical History
Eusebius (A.D. 260/265 – 339/340) was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and a Christian polemicist.
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1300’s
Wyclif, John – pt. 2, ch. 11, ‘Apocryphal Books & Corrected Manuscripts’ in On the Truth of Holy Scripture tr. Ian C. Levy in TEAMS Commentary Series (1377-1378; Medieval Institute Publications, 2001), pp. 155-70
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1500’s
Whitaker, William – First Question of the First Controversy, ‘Of the Number of the Canonical Books of Scripture’ in A Disputation on Holy Scripture against the Papists, especially Bellarmine and Stapleton (1588; Cambridge, 1849), pp. 25-109
Whitaker (1548-1595) was a reformed, Anglican puritan.
Rollock, Robert – 17. ‘What are the Books of Scripture’ in A Treatise of Effectual Calling (1603) in Select Works of Robert Rollock… (d. 1599; Edinburgh, 1849), vol. 1, pp. 99-110
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1600’s
Broughton, Hugh – Principal Positions for Grounds of the Holy Bible; a Short Oration of the Bible’s Translation; Positions Historique: and of the Apocrypha; Tobit Particularly Handled; Judith Severally Handled (1609) 31 pp.
Broughton (1549-1612) was a reformed Anglican and scholar.
Thysius, Anthony – 3. ‘Concerning the Canonical & Apocryphal Books’ in Synopsis of a Purer Theology: Latin Text & English Translation Buy (1625; Brill, 2016), vol. 1, pp. 74-106
Leigh, Edward – ch. 5. Of the Books called Apocrypha in A System or Body of Divinity… (London, A.M., 1654), bk. 1, pp. 54-58
Dickson, David – Ch. 1, Question 6 in Truth’s Victory Over Error: or the True Principles of the Christian Religion Buy (1662)
Owen, John – Objection 3, pp. 635-638 of ‘The Testimony of the Church is not the Only, nor the Chief Reason of our Believing the Scripture to be the Word of God’ in Puritan Sermons, 5.606-648 & in Works, 8.495-543
Owen answers well how it is conceptually possible that some of the Church had not initially received some of the canonical books as canonical, such as Hebrews, 2 Peter, 2 & 3 John & Revelation; and how it sometimes received some of the books of the apocrypha as canonical.
Turretin, Francis – Institutes of Elenctic Theology, tr. George M. Giger, ed. James Dennison Jr. (1679–1685; P&R, 1992), vol. 1, 2nd Topic
7. ‘Has any canonical book perished? We deny.’ 95-98
9. ‘Ought Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, the two first books of the Maccabees, Baruch, the additions to Esther and Daniel to be numbered among the canonical books? We deny against the Papists.’ 102-6
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1700’s
Burnet, Gilbert – ‘Of the Apocrypha’ in Exposition of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England (d. 1715; London, 1833), pp. 104-106
John Gill – ‘A Dissertation on the Apocryphal Writings’ in An Exposition of the Old Testament… vol. 4 (d. 1771; London, 1852-4), pp. 896-903
Gill (1697-1771), besides being a particular baptist theologian, was also a scholar in Hebrew and Jewish writings.
De Moor, Bernard – Continuous Commentary on Johannes Marckius’ Didactico-Elenctic Compendium of Christian Theology Buy (Central, SC: From Reformation to Reformation Translations, 2018), ch. 2, Concerning the Principium of Theology, or Holy Scripture
15-16. Canonical Books Imperishable, pt. 1, 2
17-18. Abiding Canonicity of the Old Testament, pt. 1, 2
19-20. Apocrypha, pt. 1, 2
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1800’s
Haldane, Robert – Ch. 2, ‘Apocrypha’ in The Books of the Old and New Testaments, Canonical & Inspired; with Remarks on the Apocrypha 1st American ed. (Boston, 1840)
Wordsworth, Christopher – Lecture 4, ‘On the True Character and Position of the Apocrypha’ in On the Canon of the Scriptures of the Old & New Testament, and on the Apocrypha: Eleven Discourses… being the Hulsean Lectures for the year 1847 (London, 1848), pp. 91-117 Other parts of the book are relevant as well.
Wordsworth (1807–1885) was an English bishop in the Anglican Church and a man of letters. He was the nephew of the poet William Wordsworth.
Wordsworth, in this section and in Appendix E (Thomas Hooker, Ecclesiastical Polity) & Appendix G (‘On the Consequences which would follow from the Total Rejection of the Apocrypha’), argues the Church of England position, that, while the Apocrypha is not inspired, yet it is useful for religious instruction and should be kept printed in Bibles and publicly read and taught from in divine service.
Ellicott, Charles J. – ‘Apocryphal Gospels’ in Cambridge Essays, contributed by members of the University, 1856 (London: John W. Parker & Son), pp. 154-208
Ellicott (1819–1905) was an Anglican scholar, theologian, and churchman, known for his fine commentaries on the epistles of Paul.
Cunningham, William – ‘The Apocrypha and the Canon of the New Testament’ (1878) 34 pp. from his Theological Lectures, p. 412 ff.
Gaussen, Louis – ‘On the Apocrypha’ 1863 32 p. from his The Canon of the Holy Scriptures from the Double Point of View of Science and of Faith Buy 629 pp.
Stowe, Calvin E.
Origin & History of the Books of the Bible, both the Canonical and the Apocryphal, Designed to Show What the Bible is Not, What it is and How to Use It (Hartford, CT: Hartford Publishing, 1868)
Ch. 7, ‘The Apocryphal Gospels and Fragments of Gospels Supposed to be Lost’, pp. 203-252
Ch. 9, ‘The Acts of the Apostles & the Apocryphal Acts’, pp. 313-334
Ch. 11, ‘The Catholic Epistles and the Apocryphal Epistles’, pp. 391-467
Ch. 12, ‘The Revelation of St. John & the Apocryphal Revelations’, pp. 469-508
Ch. 14, ‘The Apocryphal Books of the Old Testament, and the Reasons for their Exclusion from the Sacred Canon’, pp. 541-583
Stowe (1802–1886) was an American Bible Scholar and a professor at Andover Theological Seminary, and the husband of Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Hodge, A.A. – ‘Canon & Apocrypha’ in The Westminster Confession of Faith: a Commentary
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1900’s
Green, William – Ch. 11, ‘The Apocrypha Condemned by Internal Evidence’ in General Introduction to the Old Testament: vol. 1: the Canon (1911-13), pp. 195-200
Green (1825–1900) was an imminent Princeton, Hebrew scholar.
Young, G. Douglas – ‘The Apocrypha’ 1959 13 pp. in Revelation and the Bible. Contemporary Evangelical Thought, ed. Carl Henry, pp. 171-185
Bahnsen, Greg – ‘Application of Canonicity’ being the last subsection in The Concept and Importance of Canonicity 12 paragraphs
Beckwith, Roger – ‘Introduction’, ‘The Fact of the Canon’ (b), (c), (d), (e) & (f) of ‘The Identity of the Canonical Books: The Books Excluded As Uncanonical’ in The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church Buy (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), pp. 1-15, 63-104, 366-408, 419-33
“Beckwith’s book is the most significant contribution on canon in a century. His purpose is to describe the canon as it existed in the first century A.D., particularly the canon of Jesus’ day. He marshals strong evidence that Jesus’ canon was the same as that in contemporary Protestantism.” – Tremper Longman III, 5 out of 5 stars
McMahon, C. Matthew – ‘The Apocrypha is Not Scripture — Main Introduction, pt. 1, ‘It is Not Scripture’, pt. 2, ‘Not Written by Prophets’, pt. 3, ‘Church Fathers & Councils Reject it’, pt. 4, ‘Select Contradictions in the Apocrypha’, pt. 5, ‘A Closing Remark’
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2000’s
Kruger, Michael J.
‘Apocryphal Books in Early Christian Codices: Evidence for their Canonical Status?’
‘Apocryphal Gospels, Conspiracy Theories, and the Mainstream Media’
Kruger has been a professor of New Testament & early Christianity at Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte, and a minister in the PCA.
Stewart, Don – ‘Why Were the Books of the Old Testament Apocrypha Rejected as Holy Scripture by the Protestants?’ at BlueLetterBible.org Gives 27 reasons with quotes from the Apocrypha. Substantial & helpful.
Jackson, Wayne – ‘Is the Apocrypha Inspired of God?’ ChristianCourier.com Succinct & helpful.
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Critiques of Apocryphal Works in relation to the Canon: Books
1600’s
Heidegger, Johann H. – New Testament Apocrypha in Bible Handbook (d. 1698) The latin volume below contains the OT Apocrypha as well, but it was not translated by the English translator.
Heidegger (1633–1698) was a Swiss reformed theologian.
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1700’s
A Love of Truth – An Essay Concerning the Books Commonly Called Apocrypha, & the Public Reading of Them in the Church (London, 1740)
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1800’s
Alexander, Archibald – The Canon of the Old & New Testaments Ascertained: or the Bible Complete Without the Apocrypha & Unwritten Tradition new ed., rev. (1833; Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board, 1851) 374 pp.
Alexander was the first professor of Old Princeton Seminary.
Thornwell, James, H. – ‘Romanist Arguments for the Apocrypha Discussed’ in Part 2, Papal Controversy’ in Collected Writings, vol. 3, Theological & Controversial (1871), pp. 413-805
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Latin (including critiques of Pseudepigrapha)
For more: Works Against Bellarmine: Scripture.
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1600’s
Tilen, Daniel – 4. Of the Number of the Canonical Books & Marks of Apocryphal Works in An Ordered Arrangement of Theological Disputations held in the Academy of Sedan, vol. 1 (1607, 1611), pp. 28-38
Tilen (1563-1633)
Rainolds, John – A Censure of the Apocryphal Books of the Old Testament, Against the Papists, especially Robert Bellarmine, whereby the divine and canonical authority of Sacred Scripture is most solidly asserted, and in which is especially accurately explained the Duration of the Persian Monarchy and the 70 Weeks of Daniel, in 50 lectures in the Academy of Oxford drawn into a tract posthumously, vols. 1, 2 (Oppenheim, Germany, 1611)
Rainolds (1549-1607) was an reformed English academic and churchman, of Puritan views. He is remembered for his role in the Authorized Version of the Bible, a project of which he was initiator.
On Rainolds, see T.H. Horne, Manual, p. 154.
Pareus, David – Collection 5, Disputations, 2. Of the Canonical & Apocryphal Books in Theological Collections of Universal Orthodox Theology, where also All of the Present Theological Controversies are Clearly and Variously Explained, vol. 1 (1611/20), pp. 538-542
Pareus (1548-1622)
Chamier, Daniel
8. Of the Authority of Revelation, & of the Canonical & Apocryphal Books & 17. Of the Apocryphal Books in A Body of Theology, or Theological Common Places (Geneva, 1653), pp. 8-9 & 30-35
Chamier (1564–1621)
Locus 1, Inquiry 2, Book 4, Of the Apocryphal Books: Papal Arguments & Book 5, Catholic Arguments in Panstratiae Catholicae, or a Body of the Controversies of Religion Against the Papists, vols. 1 (Canon) (Frankfurt, 1627-1629), pp. 45-71
Daille, Jean – Of the Apostolic Pseudepigrapha, or 8 Apocryphal Books of the Apostolic Constitutions, in 3 Books (Hardervic, 1653) Table of contents
Hottinger, Johann Heinrich – A Theological Dissertation on the Prophecy of Enoch, and other Pseudepigraphic Books of the Old Testament (Heidelberg, 1660)
Voet, Gisbert – 3. The Canonical & Apocryphal Books in Syllabus of Theological Problems (Utrecht, 1643), pt. 1, section 1, tract 1 Abbr.
Burman, Francis – Bk. 1, Locus 1, ch. 6, ‘Of the Canonical, Apocryphal & Supposed Books’ in A Synopsis of Theology, and especially of the Economy of the Covenant of God, from the beginning of ages to the consummation of all things, vol. 1 (Utrecht, 1671), pp. 34-41
Burman (1628-79)
Braun, Johannes – Part 1, ch. 3, ‘Of the Canon, the Apocryphal Books, Traditions & of an Enthusiastic Spirit’ in The Doctrine of the Covenants, or A System of Didactic & Elenctic Theology (Amsterdam, 1691), pp. 19-23
Braun (1628-1708)
Heidegger, Johann H. – A Biblical, Hermeneutic Enchiridion 2nd ed. (Amsterdam: Haring, 1688)
Bk. 2, Of the Apocryphal Books of the Old Testament
1. Of the apocryphal books of the OT in general 422
2. Book of Wisdom 446
3. Ecclesiasticus 457
4. Tobias 470
5. Baruch 480
6. Epistle of Jeremiah 485
7. Judith 488
8. 3rd Esdras 499
9. 4th Esdras 505
10. Additions to Esther 512
11. History of Susanna 518
12. History of Bel 523
13. The Babylonian Dragon 527
14. Hymn of Azariah 531
15. Song of the Three Boys 534
16. Prayer of Manassah 536
17. 1 Maccabees 539
18. 2 Maccabees 554
19. 3 Maccabees 564
20. Of the apocryphal books of the Old Testament removed from the reading of the Church 572
Bk. 3, On the New Testament Books
30. Apocryphal Books of the NT 903-11
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1700’s
Heidegger, Johann Heinrich
2. Of Sacred Scrpture, 19. Of the Apocryphal Books in The Marrow of Christian Theology: an Introductory Epitome of the Body of Theology (Zurich, 1713), pp. 24-25
Heidegger (1633-1698)
Locus 2, 7. Of the Apocryphal Books, theses 53-55 in A Body of Christian Theology, Exhibiting True Doctrine, which is according to godliness, vol. 1 (Zurich, 1700), pp. 37-38
Mosheim, Johann Lorenz – Ch. 2, ‘A Defense for the Canon of the New Testament’ in Old Vindications of the Instruction [Disciplinae] of Christians, contra the Celebrated Johann Toland… (Hamburg, 1722), pp. 342-371
Mosheim (1693-1755) was a Luthern ecclesiastical historian, and is often regarded as the father of modern, critical Church history.
Benzel, Henry
A System of Dissertations in the Academy of Lund… (Frankfort & Leipzig, 1745)
‘Dissertation on the Apocryphal Books of the Old Testament in General’, pp. 297-316
‘Of the Apocryphal Books of the Old Testament in Specific’, pp. 316-339
Benzel (1689-1758) a prominent Swedish theologian and archbishop.
Stosch, Ferdinand
A Theological Tract on the Epistles of the Apostles being their own, in that the apostles wrote their letters not by amanuensis, but by their own hand, lucidly demonstrated (Guelpherbyti, 1751) Table of contents
Stosch (1717-1780) was a German reformed theologian.
Apostolikon Olokleron Hoc Est Tractatvs Theologicvs De Epistolis Apostolorum Non Deperditis: Quo Nullam Ex Epistolis Ab Apostolis Jesu Christi Exaratis Periisse Luculenter Demonstratur… Ref (Groningen, 1753) [A Theological Tract, that the Epistles of the Apostles have not Perished, and that No Lost Epistles of the Apostles of Jesus Christ have been dug up, Lucidly Demonstrated]
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Read the O.T. Apocrypha
Website
The Wesley Center Online
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Books
ed. Charles, R.H. – The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament in English, with Introductions and Critical and Explanatory Notes, vol. 1 (Apocrypha), 2 (Pseudepigrapha) (1913; rep. 1976)
This is the standard, older, scholarly edition of these books, though it has been surpassed by the Charlesworth edition below.
Goodspeed, Edgar – The Apocrypha: an American Translation (1938/89)
Goodspeed, a significant early scholar on the Apocrypha, also wrote an Introduction to the Apocrypha (below).
Metzger, Bruce & Herbert Gordon May – The Oxford Annotated Bible, with the Apocrypha (New York: Oxford, 1965)
ed. Metzger, Bruce – The Oxford Annotated Apocrypha: the Apocrypha of the Old Testament, Revised Standard Version, expanded edition… (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1977)
ed. H.F.D. Sparks – The Apocryphal Old Testament Buy (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984/5)
“Presents new translations of the more important noncanonical books, the selection being smaller than Charlesworth’s and less heavily annotated. A companion volume, The Apocyphal New Testament edited by J.K. Elliott, was published in 1993.” – Bible Researcher
ed. Ridling, Zaine – ‘The Apocrypha, with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books’ in NRSV: The Bible with the Apocrypha (National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, 1989)
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Read Them in their Original Greek
ed. Brenton, Lancelot Charles Lee – The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament & Apocrypha: with an English Translation & Various Readings & Critical Notes (London, New York: Bagster, 1900) 1980 reprinting
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Read the O.T. Pseudepigrapha
Website
The Wesley Center Online
‘Old Testament Pseudepigrapha’
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Books
1900’s
ed. Charles, R.H. – The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament in English, with Introductions and Critical and Explanatory Notes, vol. 1 (Apocrypha), 2 (Pseudepigrapha)
This is the standard, older, scholarly edition of these books, though it has been surpassed by the Charlesworth edition below.
ed. Charlesworth, James – The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1, 2 Buy (Doubleday / Anchor, 1983; Hendrickson, 2009) ToC 1, 2
The is the most exhaustive, scholarly and standard edition of the O.T. Pseudepigrapha, including 65 works, many more than what is in R.H. Charles’ older edition above.
“The brief introductions and notes are much inferior to those in the edition of R.H. Charles.” – Bible Researcher
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2000’s
ed. Lumpkin, Joseph B. – The Encyclopedia Of Lost & Rejected Scriptures; The Pseudepigrapha & Apocrypha (Fifth Estate Publishers, 2010)
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Greek & Latin
Fabricius, Johann Albert – Codex Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, vol. 1, 2 (Hamburg & Leipzig, 1713)
Fabricius (1668-1736) was a German classical scholar and bibliographer from the Lutheran tradition.
“This collection contains every fragment of such productions; with important remarks on their character, evidence, etc., from which Lardner, Jones and others have drawn largely.” – Howard Malcom
See the comments of Horne, Manual, p. 148. See also the article ‘The Modern Invention of ‘Old Testament Pseudepigrapha’ Ref in The Journal of Theological Studies 60(2), Oct., 2009. See the abstract.
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The Original Languages
Website
The Online Critical Pseudepigrapha
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Read the New Testament Apocryphal Books
Websites
Early Christian Writings
‘Apocrypha’ 27 writings
‘Gnostics, Gnostic Gospels & Gnosticism’ 16 writings
‘Early Christian Writings: Index’ 225+ writings, most of which are apocryphal and before the mid-300’s
The Wesley Center Online
These indexes contain numerous works not above.
The Gnostic Society Library
This collection of over 50 gnostic writings was found in Egypt in 1945. See the Alphabetical Index for the writings themselves.
North American Society for the Study of Christian Apocryphal Literature
‘Manuscripta apocryphorum’ (Apocryphal Manuscripts)
A collection of online manuscripts by geographical region.
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Books
NT Apocrypha & Pseudepigapha
1800’s
Walker, Alexander – Apocryphal Gospels, Acts & Revelations in Ante-Nicene Christian Library… vol. 16, ed. Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson (Edinburgh, 1870)
Hone, William – The Apocryphal New Testament, being all the Gospels, Epistles and other Pieces Now Extent, Attributed in the First Four Centuries to Jesus Christ, his Apostles & their Companions; and not included, by its compilers, in the Authorized New Testament (Philadelphia, 1880)
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1900’s
ed. Wake, William & Nathaniel Lardner – The Apocryphal New Testament, comprising the Gospels & Epistles now Extant, that in the First Four Centuries were more or less accredited to the Apostles & their Coadjutors, but were finally excluded from the New Testament Canon New Edition (London, 1901)
James, Montague Rhodes – The Apocryphal New Testament: Being the Apocryphal Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Apocalypses, with Other Narratives and Fragments Newly Translated (Oxford: Clarendon, 1924) reprinted many times
The main, handy scholarly collection before Elliott below. James deliberately imitated the language of the KJV.
Hennecke, Edgar, Wilhelm Schneemelcher, R.M. Wilson – New Testament Apocrypha, vol. 1 & vol. 2 (Relating to the Apostles, Apocalypses, Related Subjects) Buy (Westminster Press, 1963-1965/1990)
“Scholarly introductory articles on the canon of the New Testament, the origin of the Apocrypha, non-Biblical material about Jesus, the Gnostic writings, studies of work and sufferings of Jesus, a scholarly series of articles on the apostles and apostolic pseudepigrapha, etc. A work for the scholar.” – Cyril J. Barber
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2000’s
ed. Elliott, J.K.
The Apocryphal New Testament: A Collection of Apocryphal Christian Literature in an English Translation Buy (1993; Oxford, 2005) 747 pp. ToC
An update from the collection of M.R. James in 1924. “The collection is designed to give readers the most important or famous of the Christian apocrypha and a small sample of gnostic texts.”
The Apocryphal Jesus: Legends of the Early Church Buy (Oxford, 1996) ToC
“This handy book collects the apocryphal legends of Jesus, Mary, the Apostles, Pontius Pilate, Veronica, and the ‘harrowing of Hell.'” – Bible Researcher
ed. Lumpkin, Joseph B. – The Encyclopedia of Lost & Rejected Scriptures; The Pseudepigrapha & Apocrypha (Fifth Estate Publishers, 2010)
ed. Ehrman, Bart D. & Plese Zlatko – The Apocryphal Gospels: Texts & Translations (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2011)
Burke, Tony & Brent Landau – New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures Buy (Eerdmans, 2016) 635 pp.
“Compilation of little-known and never-before-published apocryphal Christian texts in English translation.” Another volume is being planned.
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Latin & Greek
1700’s
Fabricius, Johann Albert – An Apocryphal Codex of the New Testament, Collected & Corrected, & by Testimonies, Criticisms & Animadversions Illustrated, vol. 1, 2, 3 (Hamburg, 1703)
Fabricius (1668-1736) was a German classical scholar and bibliographer from the Lutheran tradition.
“A curious collection of apocryphal pieces, which is not very often to be met with complete. The learned Mr. Jones made great use of it, and, in fact, translated the greater part of it in his elaborate work on the Canon of the New Testament…” – Horne
“This collection contains every fragment of such productions; with important remarks on their character, evidence, etc., from which Lardner, Jones and others have drawn largely.” -Howard Malcom
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Gnostic Writings
Grant, Robert M. – Gnosticism: A Source Book of Heretical Writings from the Early Christian Period Buy (New York: AMS Press, 1961) 340 pp. ToC
ed. Robinson, James M. – The Nag Hammadi Library in English (New York: Harper & Row, 1977; Brill, 1996) 560 pp. ToC
“In this volume, 47 short Gnostic tractates in the Coptic language that were discovered at Nag Hammadi in Egypt are translated into English by 38 members of the ‘Coptic Gnostic Library Project of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, Claremont, California’. Most of the texts are quite obscure in many places, so that the reader can scarcely make sense of them. Some help is given in the brief introductions to each tractate, but unfortunately the edition provides no annotations whatsoever. Probably the translators themselves were at a loss to explain much of it. The reader may however get from this volume a good idea of how utterly strange and perverse the Gnostic literature was.” – Bible Researcher
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Introductions & Background
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Introductions & Background to the O.T. Apocrypha
The critical works above also include introductions and background to these works.
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Articles
1700’s
Lewis, Thomas
Book 8 of Origines Hebraeae: The Antiquities of the Hebrew Republic, vol. 4 (London, 1725)
Ch. 4, ‘Of the Apocryphal Books’, pp. 208-212
Ch. 6, ‘Books Cited in the Old Testament that are Lost’, pp. 215-221
Ch. 7, ‘Books not Inserted into the Canon of the Old Testament, but forged either by Jews or by Heretics among the Christians’, pp. 222-227
Chs. 46-54, ‘The Apocryphal Books’, pp. 310-324
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1800’s
Gray, Robert – ‘Key to the Apocryphal Books’ in A Key to the Old Testament & the Apocrypha, or an Account of their Several Books, their Contents & Authors, and of the Times in which they were Respectively Written… to which is added A Key to the New Testament by Thomas Percy (London, 1842), pp. 272-345
Horne, Thomas Hartwell
An Introduction to the Critical Study & Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures (different editions)
vol. 1, Appendix, ‘On the Books Commonly Termed the Apocrypha’, pp. 469-527
vol. 4, Part 1, Ch. 5, ‘On the Apocrypha’, pp. 242-52
Horne (1780–1862) was a Church of England minister, a bibliographer and on staff at the British museum. This evangelical and orthodox Introduction was used at Old Princeton for a time.
“Of great value to the Bible expositor. Provides a comprehensive compendium of Biblical knowledge covering hermeneutics, history and geography, and apologetics.” – Cyril J. Barber
ed. Kitto, John – ‘Apocrypha’ in Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature, vol. 1 (A-H) (1880), pp. 176-179
ed. McClintock & Strong – ‘Apocrypha’ in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (1867-1887) Conservative
ed. Schaff, Philip – ‘Apocrypha of the Old Testament’ in A Religious Encyclopaedia, or Dictionary of Biblical, Historical, Doctrinal and Practical Theology, vol. 1 (A-D) (1891), pp. 99-107
ed. Smith, William & J.M. Fuller – ‘Apocrypha’ in A Dictionary of the Bible, Comprising its Antiquities, Biography, Geography and Natural History, vol. 1.1 (A-Ely) (1893), pp. 161-197
This was the most standard and scholarly of the older Bible dictionaries.
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1900’s
ed. Cheyne, T.K. & J. Sutherland Black – ‘Apocrypha’ in Encyclopedia Biblica, vol. 1 (A-D) (1899-1903), cols. 249-261 Liberal
‘Apocrypha’ in The Jewish Encyclopedia (1901-1906)
‘Apocrypha’ in The Catholic Encyclopedia (1907-1912)
The 1914 Catholic Encyclopedia was the most comprehensive resource on Catholic teaching, history, and information ever gathered in all of human history.
ed. Hastings, Selbie, Davidson, Driver, Swete – ‘Apocrypha’ in A Dictionary of the Bible Dealing with its Language, Literature and Contents, including the Biblical Theology, vol. 1 (A-Fea) (1908), pp. 110-123 Liberal
‘Apocryphal Literature’ in Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. 2 11th ed. (1911)
This was the best, longest and most in-depth Encyclopedia Britannica ever printed. When published in 1911, this encyclopedia contained over 40 million words in nearly 40,000 articles written by 1,500 authors respected in their fields. For this reason it represented the sum of human knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century.
ed. Orr, James, et al. – ‘Apocrypha’ in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915/1939) Conservative/Evangelical
Bruce, F.F. – ‘The Apocrypha, Revised & Introduced’ Eternity Magazine (Nov., 1957), pp. 18-19, 42
Bruce was an evangelical and a professor of biblical criticism and exegesis at the University of Manchester, England.
Buttrick, George – ‘Apocrypha’ in The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible: an Illustrated Encyclopedia, vol. 1 (A-D) (1962), pp. 161-66 Abingdon is liberal.
Webster, William – ‘The Old Testament Canon & the Apocrypha: A Survey of the History of the Apocrypha from the Jewish Age to the Reformation’ Webster specializes as an evangelical Christian apologist against Romanism.
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Books
1800’s
Wilson, Charles – The Books of the Apocrypha, with Critical & Historical Observations prefixed to each book; also Two Introductory Discourses (Edinburgh, 1801)
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1900’s
Ferrar, William John – The Uncanonical Jewish Books: a Short Introduction to the Apocrypha & Other Jewish Writings, 200 B.C.-100 A.D. (Society for Promoting Christian, 1918)
Goodspeed, Edgar J. – The Story of the Apocrypha (Univ. of Chicago Press, 1939) 145 pp.
“Where should you begin? Read the Apocrypha and E.J. Goodspeed, The Story of the Apocrypha…” – Joel Beeke, Reader’s Guide
Oesterley, William O.E. – An Introduction to the Books of the Apocrypha (New York: MacMillan, 1935) 350 pp.
“…has been superseded by Bruce M. Metzger, An Introduction to the Apocrypha…” – Joel Beeke, Reader’s Guide
Pfeiffer, Robert H. – Part 2: ‘The Books of the Apocrypha’ in History of New Testament Times, with an Introduction to the Apocrypha (1949)
Metzger, Bruce M. – An Introduction to the Apocrypha Buy (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1957 / 1963 / 1977)
“A comprehensive examination of the books of the Apocrypha together with an evaluation of their history and significance.” – Cyril J. Barber
“Many readers who could not bring themselves to read the more technical Introductions to the Apocrypha that are used in the study and classroom will find Professor Metzger’s book the very thing they want as a companion to the R.S.V. Apocrypha.” – F.F. Bruce
Andrews, Herbert Tom – An Introduction to the Apocryphal Books of the Old & New Testament Buy rev. Charles F. Pfeiffer (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1964)
“Concentrates on the historic value and literary importance of these noncanonical books.” – Cyril J. Barber, also recommended by Joel Beeke
Eissfeldt, Otto – II. ‘Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha’ in Part 4, ‘The Canon’ in The Old Testament: an Introduction, including the Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha, & also the works of similar type from Qumran; the History of the Formation of the Old Testament (Harper & Row, 1965/6) Liberal
This work of Eisfeldt (1887-1973) has been a standard amongst liberals, giving a detailed literary-critical assessment of the history of the formation of each part of the Old Testament on the basis of the documentary hypothesis.
This work is not for the beginner, but for scholars. Its bibliographies at the beginning of each section make it particularly valuable.
Harrison, R.K. – Pt. 15, ‘The Apocrypha’ ToC in Introduction to the Old Testament, with a Comprehensive Review of Old Testament Studies & a Special Supplement on the Apocrypha Buy (Eerdmans, 1969), pp. 1173-1278
This is perhaps the most scholarly, generally conservative, modern work in the field of Old Testament introduction. Tremper Longman described him as “one of the most competent Old Testament evangelical scholars today.”
Harrison (1920-1993) was a professor of Old Testament at the Univ. of Toronto.
“Where should you begin? Read the Apocrypha and E.J. Goodspeed… followed by Harrison and Metzger’s Introduction.” – Joel Beeke, Reaer’s Guide
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2000’s
eds. Evans, Craig A. & Stanley E. Porter – Dictionary of New Testament Background Buy (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2000)
Evans is an evangelical. “Contains entries on each book of the Apocrypha and the major Pseudepigrapha by a variety of scholars, giving overviews of contents, historical setting, major themes, and importance for the study of early Judaism and Christianity. Of value to the beginning student and as a starting point for further research.” – Oxford Bibliographies
Helyer, Larry R. – Exploring Jewish Literature of the Second Temple Period: A Guide for New Testament Students Buy (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2002) Evangelical publisher
“An accessible guide to many of the books of the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha (and other Second Temple Jewish literature) with particular attention to historical context, theological ideas, and influence upon early Christian literature.” – Oxford Bibliographies
DeSilva, David – Introducing the Apocrypha: Message, Context, and Significance (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002) ToC
“A thorough and readable introduction from a conservative Protestant point of view.” – Bible Researcher
Evans, Craig A. – Ancient Texts for New Testament Studies: A Guide to the Background Literature (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2005) ToC
Evans is an evangelical. “Evans provides brief introductions and valuable bibliographical guides for each text. The Apocrypha are treated on pages 9–25, the Pseudepigrapha on pages 26–75.” – Oxford Bibliographies
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Latin
Heidegger, Johann H. – A Biblical, Hermeneutic Enchiridion 2nd ed. (Amsterdam: Haring, 1688), Bk. 2, Of the Apocryphal Books of the Old Testament
1. Of the apocryphal books of the OT in general 422
2. Book of Wisdom 446
3. Ecclesiasticus 457
4. Tobias 470
5. Baruch 480
6. Epistle of Jeremiah 485
7. Judith 488
8. 3rd Esdras 499
9. 4th Esdras 505
10. Additions to Esther 512
11. History of Susanna 518
12. History of Bel 523
13. The Babylonian Dragon 527
14. Hymn of Azariah 531
15. Song of the Three Boys 534
16. Prayer of Manassah 536
17. 1 Maccabees 539
18. 2 Maccabees 554
19. 3 Maccabees 564
20. Of the apocryphal books of the Old Testament removed from the reading of the Church 572
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Introductions & Background to the O.T. Pseudepigrapha
The critical works above also include introductions and background to these works.
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Articles
1800’s
Edersheim, Alfred
Life & Times of Jesus the Messiah, vol. 2 (d. 1889; New York & London: Longmans, Green, 1912)
Appendix 1, ‘Pseudepigraphic Writings’, pp. 655-658
Appendix 5, ‘Rabbinic Theology & Literature’, pp. 683-700
Edersheim (1825-1889) was raised an orthodox Jew, became converted to Christ partially through the influence of John ‘Rabbi’ Duncan and entered into the ministry of the Free Church of Scotland. Later he would join the Church of England, becoming one of the premier scholars of his time on 1st century studies.
ed. McClintock & Strong – ‘Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament’ in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (1867-1887)
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1900’s
Pfeiffer, Robert H.
History of New Testament Times, with an Introduction to the Apocrypha (1949), Part 1, ‘Judaism from 200 B.C. to A.D. 200’
(A) Palestinian Judaism
III. Literary History, pp. 60-92
(B) Hellenistic Judaism
IV. Hellenism
Section 3. Hellenistic Literature, pp. 101-110
VI. Alexandrian-Jewish Literature, pp. 197-232
Eissfeldt, Otto – (b) ‘Pseudepigrapha’ in II. ‘Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha’ in Part 4, ‘The Canon’ in The Old Testament: an Introduction, including the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, and also the works of similar type from Qumran; the History of the Formation of the Old Testament (Harper & Row, 1965/6), pp. 603-637 Liberal
This work of Eisfeldt (1887-1973) has been a standard amongst liberals, giving a detailed literary-critical assessment of the history of the formation of each part of the Old Testament on the basis of the documentary hypothesis.
This work is not for the beginner, but for scholars. Its bibliographies at the beginning of each section make it particularly valuable.
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Books
1800’s
Deane, William J. – Pseudepigrapha: An Account of Certain Apocryphal Sacred Writings of the Jews & Early Christians (Edinburgh, 1891) A collection of journal articles
Deane (1823-1895) was an English scholar.
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1900’s
Ferrar, William John – The Uncanonical Jewish Books: a Short Introduction to the Apocrypha and Other Jewish Writings, 200 B.C.-100 A.D. (Society for Promoting Christian, 1918)
Russell, David Syme
Between the Testaments (London, SCM Press, 1960)
“Adequate sections on ‘The Cultural and Literary Background,’ and ‘The Apocalyptists’. Contains a treatment of the Messiah as the Son of Man. An excellent synthesis.” – Cyril J. Barber, also recommended by Joel Beeke
The Method & Message of Jewish Apocalyptic: 200 BC-AD 100 (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1964) 460 pp. ToC Liberal publisher
Surburg, Raymond F. – Introduction to the Intertestamental Period Buy (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1975) Conservative publisher, associated with the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church
Rost, Leonhard – Judaism Outside the Hebrew Canon: An Introduction to the Documents Buy (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1976) ToC Liberal publisher
Nickelsburg, George W.E. – Jewish Literature Between the Bible & the Mishnah: an Historical & Literary Introduction (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1981/2005) Liberal publisher
“A general survey of Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, and other Jewish literature carefully set in historical context (and presented in chronological order). A revision and expansion of the 1981 edition.” – Oxford Bibliographies
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2000’s
eds. Evans, Craig A. & Stanley E. Porter – Dictionary of New Testament Background (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2000)
Evans is an evangelical. “Contains entries on each book of the Apocrypha and the major Pseudepigrapha by a variety of scholars, giving overviews of contents, historical setting, major themes, and importance for the study of early Judaism and Christianity. Of value to the beginning student and as a starting point for further research.” – Oxford Bibliographies
Helyer, Larry R. – Exploring Jewish Literature of the Second Temple Period: A Guide for New Testament Students Buy (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2002) Evangelical publisher
“An accessible guide to many of the books of the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha (and other Second Temple Jewish literature) with particular attention to historical context, theological ideas, and influence upon early Christian literature.” – Oxford Bibliographies
Evans, Craig A. – Ancient Texts for New Testament Studies: A Guide to the Background Literature (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2005) ToC
Evans is an evangelical. “Evans provides brief introductions and valuable bibliographical guides for each text. The Apocrypha are treated on pages 9–25, the Pseudepigrapha on pages 26–75.” – Oxford Bibliographies
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Introductions & Background to Christian Apocryphal Works
Articles
1800’s
ed. McClintock & Strong – ‘Apocrypha’ & ‘Acts, Spurious, or Apocryphal’ in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological & Ecclesiastical Literature (1867-1887) Conservative
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1900’s
ed. Orr, James, et al. – International Standard Bible Encyclopedia 1915/1939 Conservative/Evangelical
‘Apocryphal Acts, the Separate Acts’
Buttrick, George – ‘Apocrypha, N.T.’ in The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible: an Illustrated Encyclopedia, vol. 1 (A-D) (1962), pp. 166-169 Abingdon is liberal
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Books
1600’s
Heidegger, Johann H. – New Testament Apocrypha in Bible Handbook (d. 1698) The latin volume below contains the OT Apocrypha as well, but it was not translated by the English translator.
Heidegger (1633–1698) was a Swiss reformed theologian.
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1900’s
Andrews, Herbert Tom – An Introduction to the Apocryphal Books of the Old & New Testament Buy rev. Charles F. Pfeiffer (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1964)
“Concentrates on the historic value and literary importance of these noncanonical books.” – Cyril J. Barber, also recommended by Joel Beeke
Bruce, F.F. – Jesus & Christian Origins Outside the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974)
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2000’s
ed. Nicklas, Verheyden, Gregory, Tuckett – The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Apocrypha Buy (Oxford, 2015)
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Latin
Heidegger, Johann H. – 30. Apocryphal Books of the NT in A Biblical, Hermeneutic Enchiridion 2nd ed. (Amsterdam: Haring, 1688), bk. 3, On the New Testament Books, pp. 903-11
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Introductions & Background to the Gnostic Writings & Gnosticism
Articles
1800’s
McClintock & Strong – ‘Gnosticism’ in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (1867-1887) Conservative
ed. Schaff, Philip – ‘Gnosticism’ in A Religious Encyclopaedia, or Dictionary of Biblical, Historical, Doctrinal and Practical Theology, vol. 2 (E-L) (1891), pp. 877-881
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1900’s
‘Gnosticism’ in The Catholic Encyclopedia (1907-1912)
ed. Hastings, James – ‘Gnosticism’ in Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, vol. 6 (Fiction-Hyksos) (1908-1927), pp. 231-242 Liberal
ed. Orr, James – ‘Gnosticism’ in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia 1915/1939 Conservative/Evangelical
Buttrick, George – ‘Gnosticism’ in The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible: an Illustrated Encyclopedia, vol. 2 (E-J) (1962), pp. 404-406 Abingdon is liberal
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Books
von Harnack, Adolph – Marcion: The Gospel of the Alien God (1924; Durham, NC: Labyrinth Press, 1990)
“An English translation of a work first published in German in 1924. This is the classic study of Marcion. Harnack [a liberal] was the first to demonstrate Marcion’s significance for the development of the orthodox church.” – Bible Researcher
Grant, Robert M. – Gnosticism & Early Christianity (London, 1959) 255 pp. ToC
Grant, Robert Mcueen & David Noel Freedman – The Secret Sayings of Jesus: A Modern Translation of the Gospel of Thomas with Commentary (Garden City: Doubleday and Co., 1960 / 1993) ToC
“Provides an authoritative interpretation of the manuscripts.” – Cyril J. Barber
Summers, Ray – The Secret Sayings of the Living Jesus: Studies in the Coptic Gospel according to Thomas Buy (Waco: Word Books, 1968)
“A concise evaluation of the fourth-century library discovered at Nag Hammadi, Egypt.” – Cyril J. Barber
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On the Use & Abuse of the Apocrypha
Latin
1600’s
Voet, Gisbert – On the Use & Abuse of the Apocryphal Books in Syllabus of Theological Problems (Utrecht, 1643), pt. 1, section 1, tract 1 Abbr.
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History of the Use of the Apocrypha
Through the Whole of Church History
Books
Daubney, William Heaford – The Use of the Apocrypha in the Christian Church (London, 1900)
Webster, William – The Old Testament Canon & the Apocrypha: A Survey of the History of the Apocrypha from The Jewish Age to the Reformation Webster specializes as a Christian apologist against Romanism.
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Early Church
Quote
The Muratorian Fragment (AD 170)
“Hermas wrote the Shepherd very recently, in our times, in the city of Rome, while his brother, bishop Pius, sat in the chair of the Church of Rome. Therefore it also ought to be read, but it cannot be read publicly in the church to the people, nor placed among the prophets–as their number is complete—nor among the apostles, for it is after [their] time.”
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During the Reformation Era
Bredenhof, Wes – ‘Guy de Bres and the Apocrypha’ Westminster Theological Journal, 74:2, Fall, 2012. de Bres was an author of the Belgic Confession.
“Did you know that the first editions of the Belgic Confession included two proof-texts from the apocrypha? Did you know that our contemporary editions continue to include one small quote from the apocrypha?
Elsewhere in his writings, Guido de Brès referred more often to these non-canonical writings. Moreover, de Brès was not exceptional in doing this. Other Reformers did likewise, and so did other Reformed confessions. In this paper, I outline de Brès’ use of the apocrypha, put it in the historical context of the Reformation, and attempt to explain it.”
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A British Controversy about a Bible Society Circulating the Apocrypha, 1825-6
Statement of the Committee of the Edinburgh Bible Society Relative to the Circulation of the Apocrypha by the British & Foreign Bible Society (London, 1825) 8 pp. with a 5 page Appendix, ‘Corruptions of the Apocryphal Books…’, being a categorized list of quotes from the Apocrypha illustrating its corruptions
‘Controversy Respecting the Apocrypha: Review of Books’ in Christian Guardian (Aug., 1825)
These first three pieces contain bibliographies on the subject. The legitimate ethical issues involved are more than at what may first appear.
Orme, William – ‘Controversy in the Bible Society Respecting the Apocrypha, Reprinted from the Congregational Magazine for April, 1826’ (London)
Orme (1787–1830) was a Scottish Congregational minister, known as a biographer of Richard Baxter and other nonconformist figures.
Conder, Josiah – ‘Remarks on the Controversy Respecting the Apocrypha, Reprinted from the Eclectic Review’ (Jan. 1825)
Conder (1789–1855) was the editor of the British literary magazine, The Eclectic Review, the Nonconformist and abolitionist newspaper, The Patriot, and was an author of romantic verses, poetry, and many popular hymns that survive to this day.
Gorham, G.C. – ‘Gorham’s Reply to Van Ess’ 2 pp.
This short piece is valuable mainly for the extracts it contains of the two letters of professor, Leander Von Ess to Gorham, entitled Two Letters Addressed to the Rev. G.C. Gorham on Some Points of his Statement on the Apocryphal Books… (which does not appear to be online).
Von Ess’s Two Letters establish through a survey of over 200 editions of the Apocrypha through Church history, that initially the apocryphal books, though interspersed among canonical, were distinguished with headers as not being canonical. It was not till the Council of Trent and after that Rome changed this publication format and sought to make the Apocryphal books appear to be more canonical. See T.H. Horne, Manual, p. 155 for a further description of the important ‘Two Letters’.
The British & Foreign Bible Society ended up, in 1826, making a law for itself excluding the society from distributing the Apocrypha, per this notice.
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Bibliographies
Of Older Printed Editions of the Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha
Horne, T.H. – A Manual of Biblical Bibliography... (London, 1839)
Ch. 3, Section 1, ‘Apocryphal Books of the Old Testament’, pp. 141-150
Ch. 3, Section 2, ‘Apocryphal Books of the New Testament’, pp. 150-151
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Of Literature on the Apocrypha
Darling, James – ‘Commentaries, etc. on the Books Called Apocrypha’ in Cyclopaedia Bibliographica: a Library Manual of Theological and General Literature... (London, 1859)
Malcolm, Howard – ‘Apocrypha’ in Theological Index, References to the Principal Works in every Department of Religious Literature… (Boston, 1868)
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Of Literature on the O.T. Pseudepigrapha
Charlesworth, James H. – The Pseudepigrapha & Modern Research, with a Supplement (Chico: Scholars Press, 1981) 335 pp. ToC
“A bibliographical report on the current state of study of the pseudepigrapha. Excludes pre-1960 materials, material on Qumran, and material on the N.T. apocrypha… A 1,618-item list covers 1960-1976 and a 750-item supplement brings it up to 1979. Arranged topically…” – Kepple & Muether
Bible-Researcher – ‘Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha’
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Of Christian Apocryphal Writings
North American Society for the Study of Christian Apocryphal Literature
‘e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha’
This is a scholarly online bibliography of known Christian apocryphal works. The links take one to further references and aids for the work, though the works themselves are not provided online here.
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Of Literature on the N.T. Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha
Charlesworth, James H. & James R. Mueller – The New Testament Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha: a Guide to Publications, with Excurses on Apocalypses Buy (Metuchen, NJ: American Theological Library Association, 1987) 465 pp. ToC
“A companion to the above [work of Charlesworth on the OT Pseudepigrapha], listing 5,000 citations to primary and secondary literature on NT apocrypha and pseudepigrapha.” – Kepple & Muether
Bible-Researcher – ‘Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha’
Oxford Bibliographies
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On Gnostic Writings
Scholer, David M. – Nag Hammadi Bibliography, 1948-1969 (Leiden: Brill, 1971) ToC
“Includes all types of published materials, listing 2,425 items; intends to be exhaustive. This bibliography is continued by the annual Nag Hammadi bibliography in Novum Testamentum.” – Kepple & Muether
Scholer, David M. – Nag Hammadi Bibliography, 1970-1994 Buy (Brill, 1997) 478 pp.
Scholer, David M. – Nag Hammadi Bibliography, 1995-2006 Buy (Brill)
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“And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
2 Tim. 4:4
“O Lord God, thou art that God, and thy words be true…”
2 Sam. 7:28
“Then the Lord said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.”
Jer. 14:14
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”
1 Jn. 4:1
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Related Pages
New Testament Background, Survey, Authenticity & Introduction