This morning a friend emailed me a thoughtful question in response to reading my post last night about the contest between King Darius’ three bodyguards.

I just read your post on 1 Esdras. Very enjoyable to read! I don’t think I have ever read much of the Apocrypha before, but this has piqued my curiosity. Are there any redeeming reasons for reading it? If there are, I would like to know them so I can be aware of them as I read.

Yes, I think that there are redeeming reasons for reading the Apocrypha. Even though Protestants reject its canonical status, the Apocrypha continued to be included between the covers of most English Bibles as late as the nineteenth century, and even the King James Version of 1611 included it. Although many English translations printed a small disclaimer that the Apocrypha was not on par with the Old and New Testaments, it was nonetheless between the same covers with sacred Scripture. The 1599 edition of the Geneva Bible was the first English Bible printed without the Apocrypha. So what was the Apocrypha doing in all those English Bible? Christians believed that it possesses spiritual value. How so? I’d suggest at least three ways that the Apocrypha is valuable: [Read more…] about The Value of the Apocrypha

Earlier this semester I read through the OT Apocrypha. I had read many parts of it before, but a good bit of it was fresh. One of my favorite stories that I had not heard before is the contest between King Darius’ three bodyguards. It’s witty and enjoyable. (And it would serve nicely as an illustration of “truth” in a sermon or lecture.)

Here’s the story from 1 Esdras 3:1–4:42 (NRSV). [Read more…] about What Is the Strongest? The Contest Between King Darius’ Three Bodyguards

Sirach 25:24 (part of the Apocrypha) is not exactly Pauline!

ἀπὸ γυναικὸς ἀρχὴ ἁμαρτίας καὶ δι᾽αὐτὴν ἀποθνῄσκομεν πάντες

“From a woman sin had its beginning, and because of her we all die” (RSV, NRSV).