[drstevej]

Let assume for sake of discussion that Hebrews 11 does allude to 2 Maccabees. The author is citing examples of faith in to Hebrew Christian believers. Certainly they were familiar with Maccabees and an illustration from this part of their history does not in any way define the canon. No one claims that Maccabees has no valid historical accounts of the Jewish nation that serve as examples of faith.

Citation of an Apocryphal book is not a guarantee of inspiration. This citation doesn't even quote the passage. Hebrews doesn't call it Scripture.

JMJ, honestly this is very flimsy IMO. Even if the apostles or Jesus cite the Apocrypha often, is the citation an appeal to writing viewed as Scripture. Compare with the Mt. 24:15 citation of the abomination of desolation spoke of by the prophet Daniel, etc.

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Can I suggest we leave the discussion at this point or your reply to this post? Not sure I am up for more debate on this. However, I do appreciate our interchanges -- we disagree charitably and I appreciate that.

Blessings
Steve

[JMJ333]

Of course. I hope you don't mind me pinging you to my threads. I do so because I enjoy debating with you. I ask because I pinged someone to one of my threads and got a very ugly note telling me never to ping them again. However, I didn't do it as an "in your face" gesture, but because I thought they might want to join in, as they had good input on other threads. Anyway, I am glad that you participated. I enjoyed the debate.

Best regards,

michelle