Read what the early Christians said about the books we now call “Apocrypha”...
You may read about canonical lists of the books of the Bible from various Church “councils” or “synods” which made pronouncements on this question. However, the practical truth is not everyone got that memo, and churches worldwide did not all get on the same page on this issue. (So much for councils and synods having the final word!) There are now in the world no less that 5 or 6 different canons of the books of the Old Testament in use!
A better measure of the “canon” of the Bible is not by looking at what was later decreed by some council, but rather what was being used by the churches from the earliest times. If we look at what was accepted by these churches whose faith was Apostolic and whose doctrine was orthodox, we can uncover what the believers were using for the edification of the Church. We’re not doing this to reject the Biblical canon and to open it up for anything our-little-hearts-desire. No. Instead we defer to the corporate wisdom of the body of Christ. What were Christians using from the earliest days of the Church?
Below is a collection of quotes from early Christian writers who used the disputed books of the Old Testament, as authoritative Scripture. These are the books which are sometimes called Apocrypha, Deuterocanon, Anagignoskomena, and Paralipomena.
Stay tuned! More memes coming from Cyprian, Athanasius, Chrysostom, Ambrose, Basil, Dionysius I, Cyril, Cyrus, Hippolytus, Gregory of Nyssa, Theodoret, and Augustine!
{Memes thanks to James Heinz!}
The Book of Judith
The Book of Tobit
The Book of Jubilees
The Book of Enoch
The Rest of Daniel
