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APOCRYPHAL LITERATURE

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Originally appearing in Volume V02, Page 177 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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APOCRYPHAL LITERATURE . The See also:

history of the earlier usage of the See also:term "Apocrypha" (from aaroKpii rrew, to hide) is not See also:free from obscurity. We shall therefore enter at once on a See also:short See also:account of the origin of this literature in Judaism, of its See also:adoption by See also:early See also:Christianity, of the various meanings which the term " apocryphal " assumed in the course of its history, and having so done we shall proceed to classify and See also:deal with the books that belong to this literature. The word most generally denotes writings which claimed to be, or were by certain sects regarded as, sacred scriptures although excluded from the canonical: scriptures. Apocrypha in Judaism.—Certain circles in Judaism, as the See also:Essenes in See also:Palestine (See also:Josephus, B.J. ii. 8. 7) and the See also:Therapeutae (See also:Philo, De Vita Contempl. ii. 475, ed. Mangey) in See also:Egypt possessed a See also:secret literature. But such literature was not confined to the members of these communities, but had been. current among the Chasids and their' successors the See also:Pharisees.' To this literature belong essentially the apocalypses which were published in fast See also:succession from See also:Daniel onwards. These See also:works See also:bore, perforce, the names of See also:ancient See also:Hebrew` worthies in See also:order to procure them a See also:hearing among the writers' real contemporaries. To reconcile their See also:late See also:appearance with their claims to See also:primitive antiquity the alleged author is represented as " shutting up and sealing " (See also:Dan. xii.

4, 9) the See also:

book, until the See also:time of its fulfilment had arrived; for that it was not designed for his own See also:generation but for far-distant ages (1 See also:Enoch i. 2, cviii. 1.; See also:Ass. Mos. i. 16, 17). It is not improbable that with many Jewish enthusiasts this literature was more highly treasured than the canonical scriptures. Indeed, we have a categorical statement to this effect in 4 See also:Ezra xiv. 44 sqq., which tells how Ezra was inspired to dicta' e the sacred scriptures which had been destroyed in the overthrow of See also:Jerusalem: In See also:forty days they wrote ninety-four books: and it came to pass when the forty days were fulfilled that th e Highest spake, saying : the first that See also:thou hast written publish openly that the worthy and unworthy may read it; but keep the seventy last that thou mayst deliver them only to such as be See also:wise among the See also:people; for in them is the See also:spring of understanding, the: See also:fountain , of See also:wisdom and the stream of knowledge." Such See also:esoteric books are apocryphal in the See also:original conception of the term. In due course the Jewish authorities were forced to draw up. a See also:canon or book of sacred scriptures, and See also:mark them off from those which claimed to be such without See also:justification. 1 Judaism was See also:long accustomed to lav claim to an esoteric tradition. Thus though it insisted. on the exclusive canonicity of the 24 books, it claimed the See also:possession of an oral See also:law handed down from See also:Moses, and just as the apocryphal books overshadowed in certain instances the canonical scriptures, SO often the oral law displaced the written in the regard of Judaism. The true scriptures; according to the Jewish canon (Yad.

Toseph. Yad. ii. 3), were those which defiled the hands of such as touched them. But other scholars, such as Zahn, See also:

Schurer, See also:Porter, See also:state that the secret books with which we have been dealing formed a class by themselves and were called " Genuizim (wins), and that this name and See also:idea passed from Judaism over into the See also:Greek, and that See also:aar&pvdia f t(3hia is a See also:translation of sins, n'-taa. But the Hebrew verb does not mean " to hide " but " to See also:store away," and is only used. of things in them-selves See also:precious. Moreover, the phrase is unknown in Talmudic literature. The derivation of this idea from Judaism has there-fore not yet been established. Whether the See also:Jews had any distinct name for these esoteric works we do not know: For writings that stood wholly without the See also:pale of sacred books such as the books of heretics or See also:Samaritans they used the designation Hisonim, Sanh. x. r (n'iisn tenao and n'rni'i ). To this class in later times even Sirach was relegated, and indeed all books not included in the canon (Midr. r. Num. 14 and on Koheleth xii. 12; cf.

Jer. Sabb. 16).1 In Aqiba's time Sirach and other apocryphal books were not reckoned among the 1:14onirn; for Sirach was largely quoted by rabbis in Palestine till the 3rd See also:

century A.D. Apocrypha in Christianity.—Christianity as it springs from its Founder had no secret or esoteric teaching. It was essentially the See also:revelation or manifestation of the truth of See also:God. But as Christianity took its origin from Judaism, it is not unnatural that a large See also:body of Jewish ideas was ineOrpolatedi tt the:See also:system of See also:Christian thought. The bulk of these in due course underwent transformation either See also:complete or partial, but there was always a residuum of incongruous and inconsistent elements existingside by See also:side with the essential truths of Christianity. This was no isolated phenomenon; for in every progressive See also:period of the history of See also:religion we have on the one side the See also:doctrine of God advancing in See also:depth and fulness: on the other we have cosmo' logical, eschatological and other survivals, which, however justifiable in earlier stages, are in unmistakable antagonism with the theistic beliefs of the time. The See also:eschatology of anation-See also:rand the most influential portion of Jewish and Christian apocrypha are eschatological—is always the last See also:part of their religion to experience the transforming See also:power of new ideas and new facts. Now the current religious literature of Judaism outside the canon was composed of apocryphal books, the bulk of which-bore an apocalyptic See also:character, and dealt with the coming, of the Messianic See also:kingdom. These naturally became the popular religious books of the rising Jewish-Christian communities, and were held by them in still higher esteem, if possible, than by the Jews. Occasionally these Jewish writings were re-edited or adapted to their new readers by Christian additions, but on the whole it was found sufficient to submit them to a system of reinterpretation in order to make them testify to the truth of Christianity and foreshadow its ultimate destinies.

Christianity, moreover, moved by the same apocalyptic tendency as Judaism, gave See also:

birth to new Christian apocryphs, though, in the See also:case of most of them, the subject See also:matter was to a large extent traditional and derived from Jewish See also:sources. Another prolific source of apocryphal gospels', acts and apocalypses was See also:Gnosticism. While the characteristic features of apocalyptic literature were derived from Judaism, those of Gnosticism sprang partly from Greek See also:philosophy, partly from See also:oriental religions. They insisted on an allegorical See also:interpretation of the apostolic writings: they alleged themselves to be the guardians of a secret apostolic tradition and laid claim to prophetic See also:inspiration. With them, as with the bulk of the Christians of the 1st and 2nd centuries, apocryphal books as such were highly esteemed. They were so designated by those who valued them. It was not till later times that the term 'became one of reproach. We have remarked above that the Jewish apocrypha—especially the apocalyptic See also:section and the See also:host of Christian apocryphs—, became the See also:ordinary religious literature of the early Christians. And this is not See also:strange seeing that of the former such abundant 1 See Porter in See also:Hastings' See also:Bible See also:Diet. i. 113. use was made by the writers of the New Testament.2 Thus See also:Jude quotes the Book of Enoch by, name, while undoubted use of this book appears in the four gospels and i See also:Peter. The See also:influence of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs is still more apparent in the • Pauline: Epistles and the Gospels, and the same holds true of See also:Jubilees and the See also:Assumption of Moses, though in a very slight' degree.

The genuineness and inspiration of Enoch were believed in by the writer of the Ep. of See also:

Barnabas, See also:Irenaeus, See also:Tertullian and See also:Clement of See also:Alexandria. But the high position which apocryphal books occupied in the first two centuries was undermined by a variety of influences. All claims to the possession of a secret tradition were denied (Irenaeus ii. 27. 2, iii. 2. I, 3. 1; Tertullian, Praescript. 22-27) true inspiration was limited to the apostolic See also:age, and universal See also:acceptance by the See also:church was required as a See also:proof of apostolic authorship. Under the See also:action of such principles apocryphal books tended to pass into the class of See also:spurious and heretical writings. The -Term "Apocryphal."—Turning now to the See also:consideration of the word " apocryphal " itself, we find that in its earliest use it was applied in a laudatory sense to writings,r (1) which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge which was too profound or too sacred to be imparted to any See also:save the initiated. Thus it occurs in a magical book of Moses, which has been edited from a See also:Leiden See also:papyrus of the 3rd or 4th century by Dieterich (See also:Abraxas, 1o9).

This book, which may be as old as the 1st century, is entitled: " A See also:

holy and secret Book of Moses, called eighth, or holy " (See also:Alcove-ices legit (3i f3Aos d r6 pv¢os Elrtica ovp. ij 6-S004 ayfa). The disciples of the Gnostic Prodicus boasted (Clem. Alex. Strom i. 15. 69) that they possessed the secret (aaoap(lcaovs) books of Zoroaster. .4 Ezra is in its author's viewr a • secret See also:work whose value was greater than that of the canonical scriptures (xiv. 44. sqq.) because of its transcendent revelations of the future. It is in a like laudatory meaning that See also:Gregory reckons the New Testament See also:apocalypse as iv itroxpt4 ots (Oratio in suam ordinationem, iii. 549, ed. See also:Migne. cf. See also:Epiphanius, Hoer.

Ii. 3). The word enjoyed high consideration among the Gnostics (cf. Acts of See also:

Thomas, to, 27, 44). (2) But the word was applied to writings that were kept from public circulation not becathie of their transcendent, but of their secondary or question-able value. Thus See also:Origen distinguishes between writings which were read by the churches and apocryphal writings; ypacaj pi; di€pouivp ;u is iv rois aotvois gal Se S7tgoo'tevjs vots ,fls(Dtiots Ebcb& S' See also:list iv lerorcpb4ots' cbepouivp (Origen's See also:Comm. in Matt., x. 18, on Matt. xiii. s7, ed. Lommatzsch iii. 49 sqq,): Cf. Epist. ad See also:African, ix. (Lommatzsch xvii. 31): Eustis.

H.E. ii. 13, 25; 3, 6. See Zahn, Gesch. Kanons, i. 126 sqq. Thus the meaning of aabapv4 or is here practically See also:

equivalent to " excluded from the public use of the church," and prepares the way for the third and unfavourable sense of this word. (3)' The word came finally to mean what is false, spurious, See also:bad, heretical. If we may See also:trust the See also:text, this meaning appears in Origen (Prolog. in Cant. Cantle., Lommatzsch xiv. 325): "De script-this his, quae appellantur apocryphae, See also:pro eo quod multa in its corrupta et contra fidem veram inveniuntur a majoribus tradita non placuit its dari locum nec admitti ad auctoritatem." In addition to the above three meanings strange uses of the term appear in the western church. Thus the Gelasian See also:Decree includes the works of See also:Eusebius, Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria, under this designation. See also:Augustine ( De Cis.Dei, xv.

23) explains it as meaning obscurity of origin, while See also:

Jerome (Protogus Galeatus) declares that all books outside the Hebrew canon 'belong to this class of apocrypha. Jerome's practice, however; did not square with his theory. The western church did not accept Jerome's See also:definition of apocrypha, but retained the word in its original meaning, though See also:great confusion prevailed. Thus the degree of estimation in which the apocryphal books have been held in the church has varied much according to See also:place and -time. As they stood in the See also:Septuagint or Greek canon, along 2 The New Testament shows undoubtedly an acquaintance with several of the apocryphal books. Thus See also:James i. 19 shows dependence on Sirach v. 11, See also:Hebrews i. 3 on Wisdom vii. 26, See also:Romans ix. 21 on Wisdom xv. 7, 2 See also:Cor.

V. 1, 4 on Wisdom ix. 15, &c. with the other books, and with no marks of distinction, they were practically employed by the Greek Fathers in the same way as the other books; hence Origen, Clement and others often cite them as " scripture," " divine scripture," "inspired," and the like. On the other See also:

hand, teachers connected with Palestine, and See also:familiar with the Hebrew canon, rigidly exclude all but the books contained there. This view is reflected, for example, in the canon of See also:Melito of See also:Sardis, and in the prefaces and letters of Jerome. Augustine, however (De Doct. See also:Christ. ii: 8), attaches himself to the other side. Two well-defined views in this way prevailed, to which was added a third, according to which the books, though not to be put in the same See also:rank as the canonical scriptures of the Hebrew collection, yet were of value for moral uses and to be read in congregations,—and hence they were called ' ` ecclesiastical "—a designation first found in See also:Rufinus (ob. 410). Notwithstanding the decisions of some See also:councils held in See also:Africa, which were in favour of the view of Augustine, these diverse opinions regarding the apocryphal books continued to prevail in the church down through the ages till the great dogmatic era of the See also:Reformation. At that See also:epoch the same three opinions were taken up and congealed into dogmas, which may be considered characteristic of the churches adopting them.

In 1546 the See also:

council of See also:Trent adopted the canon of Augustine, declaring " He is also to be See also:anathema who does not receive these entire books, with all their parts, as they have been accustomed to be read in the See also:Catholic Church, and are found in the ancient See also:editions of the Latin See also:Vulgate, as sacred and canonical." The whole of the books in question, with the exception of 1st and 2nd Esdras, and the See also:Prayer of See also:Manasses, were declared canonical at Trent. On the other hand, the Protestants universally adhered to the See also:opinion that only the books in the Hebrew collection are canonical. Already Wycliffe had declared that " whatever book is in the Old Testament besides these twenty-five (Hebrew) shall be set among the apocrypha, that is, without authority or belief." Yet among the churches of the Reformation a milder and a severer view prevailed regarding the apocrypha. Both in the See also:German and See also:English See also:translations (See also:Luther's, 1539; See also:Coverdale's, 1535, &c.) these books are separated from the others and set by themselves; but while in some confessions, e.g. the See also:Westminster, a decided See also:judgment is passed on them, that they are not " to be any otherwise approved or made use of than other human writings," a milder See also:verdict is expressed regarding them in many other quarters, e.g. in the " See also:argument " prefixed to them in the See also:Geneva Bible; in the See also:Sixth See also:Article of the Church of See also:England, where it is said that " the other books the church doth read for example of See also:life and instruction of See also:manners," though not to establish doctrine; and elsewhere.

End of Article: APOCRYPHAL LITERATURE

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