[Boiler Plate]

David,
I have read Maccabbees as well as the other Apocrapha text, and it is easy to see why it is not part of the cannon. Judith's claim of God's helping her lie to the Assyrians is a good example.

However Christ describes paradise and hell in Luke 16:19-31. I do not see any reason to pray for Lazarus nor does Christ indicate that we should.

In regards to the resurrection have you forgotten when Abraham was called by God to sacrifice his son. Paul clearly points out the meaning of this in Hebrews 11.

Those who have died will be judged for their own deeds and not for anything that anyone else does for them. Any pray or candles you devote to the dead is a simply a matter of time wasted that could have been used to save the living with us now.

Regards,
Boiler Plate

[The_Reader_David]

I suppose for those who follow Luther's lead the balance of the Old Testament needed to be excluded because it doesn't fit with your pre-conceived theology. Luther did not have the authority to throw books out of the canon which had been included by the Fouth Ecumenical Council by reference to earlier local councils and explicitly by the Sixth Ecumenical Council.

Sorry but the 'apocrypha' was always part of the canon for all Christians both Orthodox and heretical, once the canon was fixed, until an Augustinian monk rebelling against the already heretical Patriarchate of Rome and carrying conceptual baggage he got from growing up among heretics decided to throw it out. The 'apocrypha' is still part of the canon for all Orthodox, Nestorian, monophysite and Latin Christians, the fact that a minority of the Roman Patriarchate decided to drop it is very underwhelming as an argument against practices Christians have engaged in since the days of the Apostles.

[malakhi]

Judith's claim of God's helping her lie to the Assyrians is a good example.

Just curious, what is your specific objection to this?