MissEllis wrote:I suppose if one does not care for the apocrypha then on e would also not care what it has to say. I can't dismiss it and from what I've been able to find ,the same story with only minor variations has been found in different parts of the world and seem to agree. Of course I domt have the unlimited time to research these things that I wish I had.
But not all "apocrypha" is equal. There are good books that should have made it into the Bible, such as the Wisdom of Solomon. There are pious books that give us the perspectives of pious Christians at an early time, but which are not an integral part of Scripture, such as the Wisdom of Sirach, and 3 & 4 Maccabees.
Then there are books of lore, which have good and bad elements, and which we should be careful with. These are books pretending to belong to a particular time, but which were actually written much later. I classify the Books of Adam and Eve in this category, and not even all of them should be considered together, because they apparently had different authors at different times who had varying perspectives. The Testaments of the Patriarchs are also in this category.
In addition to these, there are books that are fairy tales, such as Judith, and books written maliciously, for example the gnostic literature produced by the Jews of Alexandria, to corrupt early Christianity, such as the Gospel of Judas Iscariot or the Gospel of Thomas. Also among these are books written for nefarious and subversive reasons, passed off as legitimate because they promote an agenda that someone wanted to introduce into early Christianity, such as the
Acts of Paul and Thecla which promotes feminism.
There are actually certain New Testament manuscripts which have interpolated certain text from the
Acts of Paul and Thecla, which I believe was done because someone wanted to give that spurious work legitimacy, as late as the 9th century!
Assessing any of these books, it is important that one know the Scriptures well, especially the law, the prophets and the Gospel, so that one may consistently compare the material. When conflict is found, an assessment must be made as to why the conflict is apparent, and the literature which offends the faith must be set aside as spurious.