How
to Study the Bible, Lesson 3
"Lost" Books of the Bible
Introduction
Certain groups believe that the Bible is a product of the church, which arbitrarily added books to it or took books from it. Of course Scriptures such as Deuteronomy 12:32, Proverbs 30:5,6, and Revelation 22:18,19 warn against that very sort of thing, but still even the word "canon:" ...call[s] up a picture of a number of men...probably bishops in mitres...seated around a table piled with books. One pile is labeled "Gospels" another "Epistles," and so on. The members of this committee examine each volume with more or less care: most of them are put aside with gestures of disapproval. Finally a small selection is made, and entrusted to the chairman, who draws up a careful list of its contents, and subsequently, hands it over to a publisher with a proper authorization. In due time the New Testament "collected into a volume" is disseminated through out the Christian world, but that isn't the case.
Montague R. James, The Apocryphal New Testament (Oxford, 1924), p. xvi. It cannot be denied however that humans did have an active role in the establishment of the canon and often times that role was guided by a creed.
A sampling of two early creeds.
Irenaeus/180 A.D.
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"believing in one God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and all things therein, by means of Christ Jesus, the Son of God; who, because of His surpassing love towards His creation, condescended to be born of the virgin, He Himself uniting man through Himself to God, and having suffered under Pontius Pilate, and rising again, and having been received up in splendour, shall come in glory, the Saviour of those who are saved, and the Judge of those who are judged, and sending into eternal fire those who transform the truth, and despise His Father and His advvent." (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, book 3, 4, 1-2) |
Tertullian/200 A.D.
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"there is one only God, and that He is none other than the Creator of the world, who produced all things out of nothing through His own Word, first of all sent forth; that this Word is called His Son, and, under the name of God, was seen "in diverse manners" by the patriarchs, heard at all times in the prophets, at last brought down by the Spirit and Power of the Father into the Virgin Mary, was made flesh in her womb, and, being born of her, went forth as Jesus Christ; thenceforth He preached the new law and the new promise of the kingdom of heaven, worked miracles; having been crucified, He rose again the third day; (then) having ascended into the heavens, He sat at the right hand of the Father; sent instead of Himself the Power of the Holy Ghost to lead such as believe; will come with glory to take the saints to the enjoyment of everlasting life and of the heavenly promises, and to condemn the wicked to everlasting fire, after the resurrection of both these classes shall have happened, together with the restoration of their flesh." (Tertullian, the Prescription Against Heretics, Chapter XIII) |
There are a few creeds earlier than this but the point is served by these. When a congregation or a person received a letter, the contents of that letter had to match a memorized creed. If for some reason, the letter did not match the memorized contents of the creeds the letter was rejected. These creeds are known as the "rules of faith."
The Apocrypha
Some Bibles, notably Roman Catholic versions, include several Old Testament books, not generally found in Protestant Bibles. These books are often referred to as the Apocrypha. The word means "hidden" and can connote that they are too holy for public circulation or books that should be hidden because they are false. These particular books were written between the close of the canonical Old Testament (Malachi, ca. 385 B.C.) and the time on the New Testament. They were never included in the Hebrew Bible but they were circulated in the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint Version). From there they were translated into the Latin Vulgate (the authoritative Catholic Bible) and hence into some English versions.
Some of these books are interesting from a historical point of view and others present lofty ideals but most Protestants reject their claim for inspiration because Jesus and the Apostles did not quote from them and because they were never a part of the Hebrew Bible.
There are many other books from the same period that claim inspiration but were never given any serious consideration. These works are also called apocrypha or pseudopigrapha ("false writings").
The predominant use for the Apocryphal books is historical. For instance, it is almost impossible to grasp the book of Daniel without a knowledge of the Maccabean letters.
Missing Books
The average reader is surprised to discover how many books are mentioned in the Old Testament that we do not have today. A quick glance will reveal many "missing books:" Wars of the Lord" (Nu. 31:14ff), "Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, "1"Chronicles of the Kings of Judah," (1Kings 14:19,29), " "Chronicles of King David" (1 Chronicles 27:27), "History of Samuel the Seer," "History of Nathan the Prophet," History of Gad the Seer" (1 Chr. 29:29) and so forth. But references to these books should not pose a problem for students of God's Word.
The author of 1 and 2 Kings writes with a religious purpose: he is not interested in matters of secular history as such, but when he ends his treatment of a king's reign, he says in effect: "If you want to know more about his reign than is necessary for the purpose of this work, you will find it in the ordinary records." F.F. Bruce
This is clearly shown by Luke's own account of how he searched the records to verify information for his gospel:
Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the Word have handed them down to us, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order most excellent Theophilus. ---Luke 1:1-3
No one would maintain that the ordinary records of the proceedings of the kingdom were inspired (even the casual reader of the Congressional Digest today would disclaim any attempt by anyone to claim inspiration for those proceedings!) but, that the Holy Spirit guided Luke and the prophets to select certain of those records, inasmuch as they are true, to be included argues very favorably for inspiration. (Even Paul quoted pagan authors, Acts 17:28 and Titus 1:12. No one will claim that the pagans were inspired but the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to quote them.)
Frauds and Forgeries
Many attempts have been made not only to "supplement" the Scriptures (such as The Book of James or Protevangelium, The Gospel of Thomas, The Acts of Pilate, The Acts of John, The Letters of Christ and Abgarus, The Apocalypse of Peter, The Nazarene Gospel, and so forth) but to supply the "lost" books. Many of these are harmless as J.B. Lightfoot said concerning a fraudulent Laodiceans:
It has no doctrinal peculiarities. This is quite harmless, so far as falsity and stupidity combined can ever be considered harmless.---J. B. Lightfoot, Colossians and Philemon, p. 274ff.
But others were written to lend credence either to what was considered "orthodox" or to support heretical beliefs. All of these works have been exposed from a critical standpoint in terms of manuscript evidence and ancient testimonies but the simplest way to expose them as false works is to casually read them. They didn't have the "ring" of the Word of God. They are often tasteless and even vulgar. They lack the ability to change men's souls, to bring men to their knees as if in the presence of God Himself.
What questions should we ask concerning a suspect manuscript?
1. What does it claim to be?
2. What evidence does it offer in support of that claim?
3. Is the book true?
4. Is the testimony to the book reliable?
5. What is the manuscript evidence?
1This could be the Books of Chronicles