What proof do you have that the Jewish people accepted the Apocryphal books as part of their Divinely inspired Scripture? None of those disputed books were written in Hebrew and they only show up in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the OT) but the earliest manuscripts only date from the fourth century A.D. No earlier manuscripts are available which would prove conclusively that these books existed prior to then. Though there are allusions to a few of the texts, not one was quoted directly by Jesus or the Apostles nor is any quote stated as "it is written" or "thus says the Lord".
The different "canons" that you mention were disputed and the Pharisee was quite different from the Sadducee, but no "official" canon was declared until the first century A.D. From the site http://bible.org/article/how-many-books-are-bible:
What is more, these books have historical errors. It is claimed that Tobit was alive when the Assyrians conquered Israel in 722 B.C. and also when Jeroboam revolted against Judah in 931 B.C., which would make him at least 209 years old; yet according to the account, he died when he was only 158 years. The Book of Judith speaks of Nebuchadnezzar reigning in Nineveh instead of Babylon.
These inaccuracies are inconsistent with the doctrine of inspiration which teaches that when God inspires a book it is free from all errors.
Finally, and most important, we must remember that the Apocrypha was never part of the Old Testament Hebrew canon. When Christ was on earth, he frequently quoted from the Old Testament but never from the Apocryphal books because they were never a part of the Hebrew canon.
In Christ’s time, there were twenty-two books in the Old Testament, but the content was identical to the thirty-nine books in our present Old Testament (several of the books in the Hebrew Bible were combined, which accounts for the different figure). Genesis was the first book in the Hebrew canon and 2 Chronicles was the last. On at least one occasion, Christ referred specifically to the content of the Hebrew canon when he said:
Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar (Matt. 23:34-35)
In the Hebrew canon, the first book of the Bible was Genesis, where the death of Abel is recorded, and the last book was 2 Chronicles where near the end of the book the murder of Zechariah is described (24:21). In between these two events lay the entire content of the Old Testament. He assumed it ended with the Hebrew Scriptures and not the Apocrypha.
The Apocryphal books were written in Greek after the close of the Old Testament canon. Jewish scholars agree that chronologically Malachi was the last book of the Old Testament canon. The books of the Apocrypha were evidently written about 200 B.C. and occur only in Greek manuscripts of the Old Testament. Since Christ accepted only the books we have in our Old Testament today, we have no reason to add to their number.
Nice work! Thank you for posting that.
Boatbums post 3356 has a link that has some interesting stuff at the bottom of the web page:
It looks like it’s part of the anti-Catholic industry, and lookie, you can buy the entire book! Check out the chapter titles:
Biblical Studies Foundation has received so many questions concerning the number of books in the Bible that we are delighted to have been given permission to use chapter 8 in Erwin Lutzer’s book, The Doctrines That Divide: A Fresh Look at the Historic Doctrines That Separate Christians (Kregel Publications: Grand Rapids, 1998).
Other chapters in this excellent book cover questions such as:
Is Christ Truly God?
Is Christ Truly Man?
Was Mary the Mother of God?
Was Peter the First Pope?
Justification: By Faith, Sacraments, or Both?
Why Can’t We Agree about the Lord’s Supper?
Why Can’t We Agree about Baptism?
Predestination or Free Will?
Can a Saved Person Ever Be Lost?
Doctrines That Divide may be purchased at any Christian bookstore, on-line bookseller, or from:
Kregel Publications
P.O. Box 2607
Grand Rapids, MI 49501
800-733-2607
www.kregel.com
I wonder how much money they make, teaching against the Catholic Church? Pretty soon they’ll be offering certificates in Catholic bashing. Maybe even a “doctorate.”
And while there does exist a few chapters of Deuteronomy written in Greek, there is no other evidence, anywhere as far as I know, that there actually was an Old Testament written in Greek before Jesus showed up...