Who considers it apocryphal, and by what authority?
Even if you accept Luther's canon, the passage in Maccabees reflects the ancient Jewish practice of praying for the dead, a practice that continues to this day.
Have mercy upon him; pardon all his transgressions . . . Shelter his soul in the shadow of Thy wings. Make known to him the path of life.And what about the words of Jesus that imply the possibility of the forgiveness of (at least some) sins after death?
“And I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”If no sins could be forgiven after death, why would Jesus make this statement?
The entirety of the Protestant faith. Here are a couple of reasons why the apocrypha are to be disregarded:
1.The Roman Catholic Church did not officially canonize the Apocrypha until the Council of Trent (1546 AD). This was in part because the Apocrypha contained material which supported certain Catholic doctrines, such as purgatory, praying for the dead, and the treasury of merit.
2.Not one of them is in the Hebrew language, which was alone used by the inspired historians and poets of the Old Testament.
3.Not one of the writers lays any claim to inspiration.
4.These books were never acknowledged as sacred Scriptures by the Jewish Church, and therefore were never sanctioned by our Lord.
5.They were not allowed a place among the sacred books, during the first four centuries of the Christian Church.
6.They contain fabulous statements, and statements which contradict not only the canonical Scriptures, but themselves; as when, in the two Books of Maccabees, Antiochus Epiphanes is made to die three different deaths in as many different places.
If no sins could be forgiven after death, why would Jesus make this statement?
The 'age' Christ is speaking of is the Millennial reign (Rev 20) where we shall dwell with Jesus for 1000 years on this Earth.
Ask yourself, why does the Catholic church insist on keeping man separate from Christ's grace? They bishopric has always heaped 'works' on the lay people and insisted on fiscal or laborious methods to obtain penitence. Why is that? Jesus never spoke of this and Paul considered it abhorrent.