Catholic Word of the Day: APOCRYPHA, 01-25-13

CatholicReference.net ^ | 01-25-13 | Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary

[Salvation]

Featured Term (selected at random):

APOCRYPHA

Originally writings that claimed a sacred origin and were supposed to have been hidden for generations; later, a well-define class of literature with scriptural or quasi-scriptural pretensions, but lacking genuineness and canonicity, composed during the two centuries before Christ and the early centuries of our era. Protestants apply the term improperly to denote also Old Testament books not contained in the Jewish canon but received by Catholics under the name of deuterocanonical. The following is a list of the Apocrypha:

Apocrypha of Jewish Origin: Jewish Apocalypses; Book of Henoch; Assumption of Moses: Fourth Book of Esdras; Apocalypse of Baruch; Apocalypse of Abraham. Legendary Apocrypha of Jewish Origin: Book of Jubilees, or Little Genesis; Third Book of Esdras; Third Book of Maccabees; History of Maxims of Ahikar the Assyrian. Apocryphal Psalms and Prayers: Psalms of Solomon; Prayer of Manasses. Jewish Philosophy: Fourth Book of Maccabees.

Apocrypha of Jewish Origin with Christian Accretions: Sibylline Oracles; Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs; Ascension of Isaias.

Apocrypha of Christian Origin: Apocryphal Gospels of Catholic Origin: Protoevangelium Jacobi, or Infancy Gospel of James, describing the birth, education, and marriage of the Blessed Virgin; Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew; Arabic Gospel of the Infancy; History of Joseph the Carpenter; Transitus Mariae, or Evangelium Joannis, describing the death and assumption of the Blessed Virgin. Judaistic and Heretical Gospels: Gospel according to the Egyptians; Gospel of Peter; Gospel of Philip; Gospel of Thomas; Gospel of Marcion; Gospel of Bartholomew; Gospel of Matthias; Gospel of Nicodemus; Gospel of the Twelve Apostles; Gospel of Andrew; Gospel of Barnabas; Gospel of Thaddeus; Gospel of Philip; Gospel of Eve; Gospel of Judas Iscariot. Pilate Literature and Other Apocrypha Concerning Christ: Report of Pilate to the Emperor; Narrative of Joseph of Arimathea; Pseudo-Correspondence of Jesus and Abgar, King of Edessa. Gnostic Acts of the Apostles: Acts of Peter; Acts of John; Acts of Andrew; Acts and Martyrdom of Matthew; Acts of Thomas; Acts of Bartholomew. Catholic Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles: Acts of Peter and Paul; Acts of Paul; Acts of Paul and Thecla; Acts of Philip; Acts of Matthew; Acts of Simon and Jude; Acts of Barnabas; Acts of James the Greater. Apocryphal Doctrinal Works: Testamentum Domini Nostri Jesu; Preaching of Peter, or Kerygma Petri. Apocryphal Epistles: Pseudo-Epistles of Paul; Pseudo-Epistles to the Laodiceans; Pseudo-Correspondence of Paul and Seneca. Christian Apocryphal Apocalypses: Apocalypse of Peter; Apocalypse of Paul. (Etym. Latin apocryphus, uncanonical, apocryphal; from Greek apokryphos, hidden.)

All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

[Salvation]

A lot more to learn about here -- but most of these books are not in the Bible.

[Salvation]

I guess I should have said that these “listed” books are not in the Bible.

[Salvation]

Catholic Word of the Day Ping!

 

Anselmian Argument	Kyrie Eleison	Transfiguration of the Lord
Ex Opere Operato	Shepherd if Hermas	Life
Polyandry	Dynamism	Prayers over the People
Postulant	Sharing in Guilt	Discrimination
Triclinium	Dies Irae	Necessary Faith
Preface	Inter Oecumenici	Alexians
Summa Theologica	Septuagint	Humanitarianism
Rubrics	Mysticism	Lex Fundamentalis
Wexford	Axiology	Leonine Sacramentary
Elohim	Definitive (Diffinitive) Presence	Apocrypha

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[GOP_Party_Animal]

Interesting. I wonder why Catholics call certain books “deuterocanonical” when they are part of canon literature. I thought the prefix “deuter” meant “lacking” or “comes up short”. If they’re lacking canon, why are they considered canonical?

[kosciusko51]

“Deuter” means “second”, so “Deuteronomy” is the “second law”, and “deuterocanonical” is the “second canon”.

[Fiji Hill]

In my copy of The Holy Bible, Containing the Old Testament and the New (London: Barker, 1611)--aka the King James Bible--the Apocrypha consists of the following books

• Esdras
• Tobit
• Judith
• The Rest of Esther
• Wisdom
• Ecclesiasticus
• Baruch, with the Epistle of Jeremiah
• The Song of the Three Children
• The Story of Susanna
• The Idol Bel and the Dragon
• The Prayer of Manasseh
• 1. Maccabees
• 2. Maccabees

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

In my copy of The Holy Bible, Containing the Old Testament and the New (London: Barker, 1611)--aka the King James Bible

How do you know that this collection of books is correct?

Catholics claim the authority of Christ's Church. Where does your authority come from?

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

"Deuter" means second.

As the Gospels, in a sense, are regarded more highly than the Epistles, so too is the deuterocanon secondary. Nevertheless, all of these books are included in the canon of Scripture.

Canon of the Old Testament

[Fiji Hill]

My authority comes from the triune God.

[Fiji Hill]

How do you know that this collection of books is correct?

I don't. This is the only Bible that I have that contains the Apocrypha.

For a time during the seventeenth century, it was illegal to print a Bible without the Apocrypha, but for centuries, Protestants have disagreed as to whether it belonged in the Bible. Today, most Protestant Bibles exclude these writings.