Books Outside the Bible

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Mayflower

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So I have heard about the Book of Enoch, the Book of Wisdom, and Book of Macabees. They are from the Apocrypha right?

Do those who read this see it as "God breathed?" Like the Bible. Or.does it just provide more wisdom and insight. Do these books add or take away anything from what is in the Bible or just considered different books?

I am leery to read anything apart from the Bible, because I don't want to be lead astray. But where do these books come from if not divinely inspired?

I have read and studied about Bible Canon. But those books that were not included in the Bible, I am just curious if they are worth reading and for what purpose. Is it just for history and inspiration? Or are there different theologies the Bible doesn't speak of that can confuse. If not for my church family, I probably would have completely dug further into the Book of Mormon. But this is why I am cautious to read anything that isn't God's Word now.

I am just curious of yalls thoughts.
 

Willie T

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The Apocalypse of Abraham opened my eyes to a lot of things about him, his life, and his family that most of us usually just hope that some wise Sunday School teacher or Group Leader will tell us. (And where do you think THEY learned about some of those things they know that we don't?)
 
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Enoch111

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So I have heard about the Book of Enoch, the Book of Wisdom, and Book of Macabees. They are from the Apocrypha right?

Do those who read this see it as "God breathed?" Like the Bible. Or.does it just provide more wisdom and insight. Do these books add or take away anything from what is in the Bible or just considered different books?
1. Only the 66 books of the non-Catholic Bibles are *canonical* meaning that they are regarded as Scripture -- "the Word of God", because they were divinely inspired -- "God-breathed". The Hebrew canon had only 24 books, but many were split up when they were translated, so now we have 39 books in the OT.

2. Both the Old and New Testaments have many non-canonical books (like the ones you haven mentioned). Some are historical, some are interesting, and some are totally misleading, including false Gospels.

3. Most Christians should avoid these books, and only those who are solidly grounded in Scripture should read them (if they have nothing better to do). The NT Apocrypha is full of Gnostic writings, and Gnosticism is not the same as Christianity.
 

Vexatious

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Ancient books can be interesting to read because they can shed a lot of light on ancient history.

Some books are fakes and were not written in the time they claim to have been written, and so give you false information because the author doesn't know what he's talking about, as background for whatever lies or myths he wants to spread.

Read away, just remember these books outside the 66 are not gospel and haven't been preserved as well as the Bible.
 
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Mayflower

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So I guess these ancient books should be read like history books and perhaps a bit of inspiration...

Id like to read how Hannakah came to be. I heard it was in the Book of Wisdom
 

Enoch111

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Id like to read how Hannakah came to be. I heard it was in the Book of Wisdom
That is incorrect, and the spelling is Hanukkah. It is found in 1 Maccabees 4:36-59 and 2 Maccabees 1:18-36. It is called the Feast of Dedication in the Gospel of John 10:22,23. It is also known as the Feast of Maccabees and the Feast of Lights.

For Christians, the feasts and festivals of the Jews are not to be observed, since they were fulfilled in Christ. The only "feast" is the Lord's Supper -- a weekly memorial feast, since Christ our Passover has been sacrificed once and for all time.

Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Cor 5:7,8)
 
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Mayflower

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That is incorrect, and the spelling is Hanukkah. It is found in 1 Maccabees 4:36-59 and 2 Maccabees 1:18-36. It is called the Feast of Dedication in the Gospel of John 10:22,23. It is also known as the Feast of Maccabees and the Feast of Lights.

For Christians, the feasts and festivals of the Jews are not to be observed, since they were fulfilled in Christ. The only "feast" is the Lord's Supper -- a weekly memorial feast, since Christ our Passover has been sacrificed once and for all time.

Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Cor 5:7,8)

My sister is Jewish, so I would like to understand it more for whenever I am down for the holidays.
 

Deborah_

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The Apocrypha is a collection of books that were widely read by Jews around the time of Christ. Just as we read lots of contemporary books as well as the Bible.

Because it's a collection, they are a very mixed bunch! The first two books of the Maccabees are historical records of the Jewish uprising against Antiochus Epiphanes, and they help to set Jesus' ministry in context. At the other end of the spectrum, the books of Tobit and Judith are probably what we would call "fiction".

From our point of view, the important point is that they aren't "inspired" in the same way as the books of the Old and New Testaments. They're very useful for understanding the culture of first-century Judaism, but we shouldn't use them as a basis for doctrine or behaviour.
 
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Vexatious

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Id like to read how Hannakah came to be.

Regardless of how Hanukkah started, that extra-stupid holiday only became big deal in recent decades because Jews wanted to take away from the Christian celebration of Christ's birth on December 25. (Extra-stupid: think about what it celebrates, when Jews should be mourning.)
 

Acolyte

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Christmas (dec.25) is not Yahushua's birthday. He was born sometime in Sept. This is where my studies have taken me.. the church used this to pull pagans in, and unfortunately we were led thru generations to believe it. The church has alot to answer for, and I Pray we all see through their deceptions.
 

Willie T

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Christmas (dec.25) is not Yahushua's birthday. He was born sometime in Sept. This is where my studies have taken me.. the church used this to pull pagans in, and unfortunately we were led thru generations to believe it. The church has alot to answer for, and I Pray we all see through their deceptions.
And if it did happen to be Sept. 11th, this changes anything... how?
 
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Acolyte

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I can't answer your question. I was trying to say the Jewish holiday was in that time way before the lie of Dec. 25th being (observed as His birthday). Maybe you could start a thread on that question Willie.
 
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Willie T

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I can't answer your question. I was trying to say the Jewish holiday was in that time way before the lie of Dec. 25th being (observed as His birthday). Maybe you could start a thread on that question Willie.
The more likely, reasonable, and common sense answers to the timing of festivals and celebrations is to look at how those dates related to the work schedule of agrarian societies. Would festivals be scheduled to coincide with planting or harvesting seasons when it was imperative that most of the men be out working in their fields every single day?
 
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Philip James

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This from the book of Wisdom is certainly inspired: 2: 10-20

Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, Reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training.

He professes to have knowledge of God and styles himself a child of the LORD.

To us he is the censure of our thoughts; merely to see him is a hardship for us,

Because his life is not like other men's, and different are his ways.

He judges us debased; he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure. He calls blest the destiny of the just and boasts that God is his Father.

Let us see whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him.

For if the just one be the son of God, he will defend him and deliver him from the hand of his foes.

With revilement and torture let us put him to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience.

Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him."



Pax!
 

Vexatious

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And if it did happen to be Sept. 11th, this changes anything... how?

Some crackpot dispy websites love to take a dump on Christmas. They mutilate Jesus' name, in an incompetent effort to judaize it, and they scream he wasn't born on Dec 25. I didn't say Jesus was born in Dec 25, I said Christians celebrate his birth on Dec 25. The day doesn't matter.

These crackpots love to point out that Dec 25 was chosen to fight paganism, as if that's a bad thing. I pointed out that Jews have turned Hanukkah, which shouldn't be a holiday at all, into a big holiday to fight Christianity at Christmas time, and that is a bad thing. But, dispies not only don't have a problem with the Jew's war on Christianity, they call those enemies of Christ "God's people."
 

Jane_Doe22

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So I have heard about the Book of Enoch, the Book of Wisdom, and Book of Macabees. They are from the Apocrypha right?

Do those who read this see it as "God breathed?" Like the Bible. Or.does it just provide more wisdom and insight. Do these books add or take away anything from what is in the Bible or just considered different books?

I am leery to read anything apart from the Bible, because I don't want to be lead astray. But where do these books come from if not divinely inspired?

I have read and studied about Bible Canon. But those books that were not included in the Bible, I am just curious if they are worth reading and for what purpose. Is it just for history and inspiration? Or are there different theologies the Bible doesn't speak of that can confuse. If not for my church family, I probably would have completely dug further into the Book of Mormon. But this is why I am cautious to read anything that isn't God's Word now.

I am just curious of yalls thoughts.
One of the reasons I disagree with sola scriptura is because after attended dozens of different churches, I've never actually met a Christian who actually just used the Bible. There's always the matter of interpretation, extended context, etc, whether or not the person realizes it.

For me, the simple solution is simply to always keep a prayer in your heart and verifying things with the source of all Truth: God.
 

Mayflower

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Some of these older sources may be just the commentaries that could be helpful. Thank you Jane. This is how I can distinguish them. As commentaries and nothing more.
 

Mayflower

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Same time I want to be careful not to be reading sources that can.confuse my understanding of God's Word. I will pray carefully of anything I decide to check out.

I wonder what guidelines I should make. It would all be to understand what is written in the Bible better.