✝️ IF IT’S GOOD ENOUGH FOR JESUS ✝️

There is much uncertainty today in Protestant Christianity regarding whether or not the books commonly called the “apocryphal” or “deuterocanonical” writings should be included in the authoritative canon of the Old Testament scriptures. Most Protestant scholars however agree that even if not considered authoritative scripture, they are in fact of great value for understanding Judaism during the Hellenistic and Roman eras. In the early centuries of Christianity, the most notable Christian scholar to differentiate between the “deuterocanonical” and “canonical” Hebrew Bible was St. Jerome from whom we get the Latin Vulgate towards the end of the fourth century. The varying degrees of canonicity though begs the question: if these writings were not authoritative Jewish scriptures, where did the come from?

The fact of the matter is that these writings were truly authoritative Hebrew Scriptures up until the Jewish Council in the city of Javneh which was held in 90 AD, after the birth of Christianity. It was at that council that certain books were disregarded as Hebrew scripture though they had been recognized previously and included in the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures). However, since it would have been the Septuagint that Christ and the Apostles would have had ready access to, then it would stand to reason that this is what they regard as the Jewish Holy Scriptures of the time.

Further evidence for the authoritativeness of the books included in the Septuagint comes to us from the reading of the New Testament scriptures themselves. Throughout the Gospels, Acts, and Epistles we find that Christ Himself read and taught from these so called “apocryphal” or “deuterocanonical” writings, as well as did the Apostles. There are too many to go into a detailed list here, but consider, if you will, the words of our Savior in light of the following comparisons: Matthew 6:19-20 with Sirach 29:10-11; Matthew 7:12 with Tobit 4:15; Matthew 7:16 with Sirach 27:6; Mark 9:48 with Judith 16:17; Luke 1:42 with Sirach 10:14; John 10:22 with 1 Macc. 4:59…and the list goes on.

I would then like to borrow a statement myself, though from a universally accepted scripture, as Solomon state in Ecclesiastes 12:13 “let us consider the conclusion of the matter”. It does the Christian a huge disservice to disregard as Holy Scripture, what Christ Himself deemed to be so. Unfortunately, the Jewish Council which eliminated these books from the Jewish canon, came a few years to late. Christ is God, Christ approved, Christ taught us from these sacred writings. Now, the lowly preacher that I am, if it’s good enough for Christ, it’s probably too good for me. Yet, because of His grace, I am able to partake of that larger than Protestant tree of wisdom that Christ has placed His stamp of approval (His Holy Episcopal Signet, if you will) on. One will have a hard time coming into the fullness of the Christian faith without these deuterocanonical books. Let us no longer call them apocryphal, for they are not hidden and contain no secret knowledge. They are deuterocanonical (secondary canon) at the least, and even that is a compromise since the early church has already canonized them in three different holy synods.

May God’s Amazing Grace and His Ineffaceable Peace rest upon you