[paladinan]

Mr Rogers wrote:

In like manner, when I read the Apocrypha, it is empty of God’s Spirit.

But... surely you realize that this is a mere appeal to raw emotion and personal taste? That sort of thing simply won't hold; not only is it subject to personal bias and utterly detached from sane reason, but it fluctuates with the day, the hour, one's mood, and even what one had for breakfast!

Case in point: I know of few people who would "feel the Spirit tell them" that Philemon, or vast portions of Numbers, Chronicles, Leviticus, etc., were "true and inspired Scripture" (i.e. what you might call "not empty of God's Spirit"), absent any prior knowledge of their membership in the Bible. I know of few people who would be led to a "saving Faith on Jesus Christ" by reading them; do you?

[Mr Rogers]

“But... surely you realize that this is a mere appeal to raw emotion and personal taste?”

Actually, it is an appeal to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. “26But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

Neither Philemon nor Revelations is my favorite book of the Bible, but I’ve never felt the Holy Spirit telling me they were not God’s word.

Remember, the canon was settled, not by a bunch of theologians making a list, but by congregations agreeing that X was scripture, and Y was not.