Hi sis While I will not argue with any one's decision not to accept this as scripture there are some points I would like to addressin your post. The fact this book repeats draws from other books .. Is very typical of God he often tells the same stories in other books One need only look to Mathew, Mark and Luke to see that they often told the same story from slightly different perspectives. This is not a sound reason to reject the book but in fact very familiar way in which God works.
Thanks Christina, we children of God need to always be kind to one another and I appreciate that from you. I honor your stand when we disagree. What I am referring to is an event that had taken place of one of God's prophets, say the lion eating him for disobedience in the holy bible. That same event but different person was told it happened to them. The Apocrypha book was Tobiath, (if I spelled it right) The Gospels are different accounts of the same Jesus, not making it another human that it happened too. Judith, used the story of Sisera in Judges of a woman named Jael whose tent he came into and she drove a nail through his temple. Judith also takes this event out of the bible and has built her own story similar in the same kind of event. There are other disturbing ares that all of these books have in them. Esdras is one
that is very subtle in bringing in things that twist the truth of God's true words. If one is not fully familiar with the writings of God, these books are easily accepted and sway the mind in another way, weakening the words,and causing God to appear in a different light to us if taking in what is written and it is very subtle.
Esdras is also translated as Ezra. The book is still a part of certain Bibles ..It was often quoted by other prophets. And was a part of the 1611 King James Bible ... So even as late as 1611 it was widely accepted as scripture ... unlike many other Apocryphal Books that never were in the Bible... I think this book holds unique place ... The fact that it clarifies and confirms much that is already written just gives it more weight IMHO....
I can appreciate you're opinion. After all what I write is my opinion also from what I have gathered. I know your sincere and very much a woman who desire to serve the Lord. We do have Ezra, in the O.T. But it is not the same Esdras that is part of the Apocrypha, the characteristics of the writers are very different and how they are moved to write the words and acts of God on Israel.
Further Explanation of the BookIt is similar to the Book of Ezra, but under a different arrangement and with 99 additional verses, which include a polished conclusion that the much shorter Ezra lacks. Modern texts begin with the last two short chapters of the preceding Biblical work — II Chronicles (Paralipomenon) — and the work properly begins in Chapter 2.Josephus and the Church Fathers quoted 1 Esdras extensively; it was considered part of the Canon of the Old Testament,[citation needed] and indeed it is found in Origen's Hexapla.[/quote] I am sure Josephus did quote Esdras extensively. The entire Christian community has taken a man word, as a great historian, who, saw Jesus, wrote of him in his books of Antiquity and refused to acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, and all time exposed to all Jesus did, and denied The Christ in his writings. A Jew whose whom Jesus called all of them in Josephus's time, a brood of vipers, and serpents, and their father was not Abraham, but Satan, the father of LIES. I prefer to believe what Jesus said of them at that era Josephus was in, and not trust a single word Josephus wrote, because his father was satan as Jesus said. The bible is the only history book of writers I will study and take to heart every word for it is God breathe. All our encyclophedias have based all their biblical history on the books of Josephus instead of the truth of God written at the same time. When the Lord showed me this I was amazed at what had taken place by this deception.
In the Slavonic editions of the Bible this book is called 2 Esdras; in the Vulgate it is called 3 Esdras, and in the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible it is called Ezra Kali which means 2 Ezra. For information about the book called 1 Esdras in the Vulgate and Slavonic editions, see the article on Book of Ezra.The book now called 1 Esdras presents various problems of naming it. In most editions of the Septuagint, the book is titled in Greek: Εσδρας Α′ and is placed before the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, which are together titled in Greek: Εσδρας Β′.However, the Vulgate titled the books of Ezra and Nehemiah as 1 and 2 Esdras, giving the current book the title 3 Esdras.Since most modern translations use the more Hebraic transliteration of "Ezra" for the Hebrew book, the Vulgate's 3 Esdras is styled 1 Esdras in most English Bibles. The Vulgate's 4 Esdras becomes 2 Esdras.The Russian Orthodox Church, considers this book canonical but has Latin Ezra in an Appendix to the Slavonic Bible. It calls the Hebrew book of Ezra "1 Esdras", with Nehemiah listed separately, and it calls Greek Ezra 2 Esdras and it calls Latin Esdras "3 EsdrasThe majority of the content of 1 Esdras completely parallels Ezra, Nehemiah, and II Chronicles. In particularAuthor and criticismThe purpose of the book seems to be the presentation of the dispute among the courtiers, to which details from the other books are added to complete the story. Since there are various discrepancies in the account, most scholars hold that the work was written by more than one author. However, some scholars believe that this work may have been the original, or at least the more authoritative; the variances that are contained in this work are so striking that more research is being conducted. Because of similarities to the vocabulary in the Book of Daniel, it is presumed by some that the authors came from Lower Egypt and some or all may have even had a hand in the translation of Daniel. Assuming this theory is correct, many scholars consider the possibility that one "chronicler" wrote this book.
Thanks for sharing this information with me. I see there is many debates concerning Esdra and I myself read and made my own decision. No one else has to accept what I have determined with the books of the Apocrypha, I read what I needed to solely make my own decision, not needing anyone to validate what God has shown me. Very thankful I have read some of the books. It helps me know what others are speaking about when they speak of these books.
Josephus makes use of the book and some scholars believe that the composition is likely to have taken place in the first century BC or the first century AD. Many Protestant and Catholic scholars assign no historical value to the "original" sections of the book. The citations of the other books of the Bible, however, provide a pre-Septuagint translation of those texts, which increases its value to scholars.In the current Greek texts, the book breaks off in the middle of a sentence; that particular verse thus had to be reconstructed from an early Latin translation. However, it is generally presumed that the original work extended to the Feast of Tabernacles, as described in Nehemiah 8:13-18. The book was widely quoted by early Christian authors and it found a place in Origen's Hexapla. It was not included in canons of the Western Church, Clement VIII relegated it to an appendix following the New Testament in the Vulgate "lest [it] perish entirely" [1]. However, the use of the book continued in the Eastern Church, and it remains a part of the Eastern Orthodox canon.
IMHO the first thing all Christians have done wrong is to believe anything that Josephus has written, for it was put out to deceive and water down Christ, his resurrection, the power and the Jews losing their rights to the Son of God whom was sent. Very vindictive and destructive to destroy as many Christians a possible with their lies as Jesus points this out over and over in warnings to us as well as the rest of the N.T writers point it out the high government officials killed the prophets sent to them, every time, and killed the Christ. Thanks again for you brought a lot of information explaining your stand and I do appreciate it very much. Vickie