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82-564: A letter of Polycrates of Ephesus to Pope Victor dated about 194 (Eusebius, Church History V.24) states that "Melito the eunuch [this is interpreted "the virgin" by Rufinus in his translation of Eusebius], whose whole walk was in the Holy Spirit", was buried at Sardis. His feast day is celebrated on April 1. Polycrates of Ephesus , a notable bishop of the time, was a contemporary of Melito, and in one of his letters preserved by Eusebius, Polycrates describes Melito as having lived fully in

164-680: A 14th-century Christian Humanist, had declared in his biblical translation that "whatever book is in the Old Testament besides these twenty-five shall be set among the apocrypha, that is, without authority or belief." Nevertheless, his translation of the Bible included the apocrypha and the Epistle of the Laodiceans . Martin Luther did not class apocryphal books as being scripture, but in

246-491: A Sunday. During the controversy in Laodicea over the observance of Easter, Melito presented an Apology for Christianity to Marcus Aurelius, according to Eusebius, in his Chronicon, during the years 169–170 AD. A Syriac translation of this apology was rediscovered and placed in a British museum where it was translated into English by Cureton. In this apology, Melito describes Christianity as a philosophy that had originated among

328-517: A Sunday. Uniformity in church practice was thus the primary drive behind this initiative. Known for following a Johannine chronology, and for believing in a paschal lamb typology, Quartodeciman thought is constituted as such. One of the issues raised is that Quartodeciman thought is the idea that Christian Passover would be celebrated at the same time as Jewish Passover. Ultimately the Council of Nicea decided otherwise and agreed that it would always be on

410-469: A sense of the esoteric, suspicious, or heretical, largely because of the Protestant interpretation of the usefulness of non-canonical texts. The word apocryphal ( ἀπόκρυφος ) was first applied to writings that were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered too profound or too sacred to be disclosed to anyone other than the initiated. For example, the disciples of

492-603: A separate section. Luther did not include the deuterocanonical books in his Old Testament, terming them "Apocrypha, that are books which are not considered equal to the Holy Scriptures, but are useful and good to read." The Eastern Orthodox Church accepts four other books into its canon than what are contained in the Catholic canon: Psalm 151 , the Prayer of Manasseh , 3 Maccabees , and 1 Esdras . The status of

574-639: A spread of canonical texts similar to the Ethiopian Orthodox Christians . During the Apostolic Age many Jewish texts of Hellenistic origin existed within Judaism and were frequently used by Christians. Patristic authorities frequently recognized these books as important to the emergence of Christianity, but the inspired authority and value of the apocrypha remained widely disputed. Christians included several of these books in

656-516: A synod in Ephesus to declare Quartodecimanism official, later the tradition died out, because Nicea declared Easter to be celebrated on a Sunday. Apocrypha Apocrypha are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture, some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. In Christianity , the word apocryphal (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings that were to be read privately rather than in

738-571: Is debate on whether he includes Wisdom. Around 170 after traveling to The Levant, and probably visiting the library at Caesarea Maritima , Melito compiled the earliest known Christian canon of the Old Testament , a term he coined. A passage cited by Eusebius contains Melito's famous canon of the Old Testament. In Eklogai , six books of extracts from the Law and the Prophets concerning Christ and

820-585: Is “the most important addition to Patristic literature in the present century”. Aside from the liturgical function of the Peri Pascha , this early Christian document has traditionally been perceived as a somewhat reliable indicator concerning how early Christians felt toward Judaism in general. The Peri Pascha provides an accurate description of Christian feelings towards Jews at the time and their opinion of Judaism. The Jewish people are explicitly blamed for killing Christ. Melito does not blame Pontius Pilate for

902-701: The Assumption of Moses and the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs , which are included in no biblical canon. The establishment of a largely settled uniform canon was a process of centuries, and what the term canon (as well as apocrypha ) precisely meant also saw development. The canonical process took place with believers recognizing writings as being inspired by God from known or accepted origins, subsequently being followed by official affirmation of what had become largely established through

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984-741: The Catholic Church , Orthodox Churches and the Church of the East , as deuterocanonical . Some Protestant traditions reject them outright; others regard the Apocrypha as non-canonical books that are useful for instruction. The word's origin is the Medieval Latin adjective apocryphus (secret, or non-canonical) from the Greek adjective ἀπόκρυφος , apokryphos , (private) from

1066-577: The Gnostic Prodicus boasted that they possessed the secret ( ἀπόκρυφα ) books of Zoroaster . The term in general enjoyed high consideration among the Gnostics (see Acts of Thomas , pp. 10, 27, 44). Sinologist Anna Seidel refers to texts and even items produced by ancient Chinese sages as apocryphal and studied their uses during Six Dynasties China (AD 220–589). These artifacts were used as symbols legitimizing and guaranteeing

1148-638: The Second Temple period , not accepted as sacred manuscripts when the Hebrew Bible was canonized . Some of these books are considered sacred by some Christians , and are included in their versions of the Old Testament . The Jewish apocrypha is distinctive from the New Testament apocrypha and biblical apocrypha as it is the only one of these collections that works within a Jewish theological framework. Although Orthodox Jews believe in

1230-534: The 19th century) are treated as a separate category of literature from the "official" Jataka stories that have been more-or-less formally canonized from at least the 5th century—as attested to in ample epigraphic and archaeological evidence, such as extant illustrations in bas relief from ancient temple walls. The Jewish apocrypha, known in Hebrew as הספרים החיצונים ( Sefarim Hachizonim: "the external books"), are books written in large part by Jews , especially during

1312-798: The Anglican Churches. Anabaptists use the Luther Bible , which contains the intertestamental books; Amish wedding ceremonies include "the retelling of the marriage of Tobias and Sarah in the Apocrypha". The Anglican Communion accepts the Protestant Apocrypha "for instruction in life and manners, but not for the establishment of doctrine (Article VI in the Thirty-Nine Articles )", and many "lectionary readings in The Book of Common Prayer are taken from

1394-454: The Apocrypha are regularly appointed to be read in the daily, Sunday, and special services of Morning and Evening Prayer. There are altogether 111 such lessons in the latest revised American Prayer Book Lectionary [The books used are: II Esdras, Tobit, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, Three Holy Children, and I Maccabees.] The position of the Church is best summarized in the words of Article Six of

1476-653: The Apocrypha", with these lessons being "read in the same ways as those from the Old Testament". The first Methodist liturgical book, The Sunday Service of the Methodists , employs verses from the Apocrypha, such as in the Eucharistic liturgy. The Protestant Apocrypha contains three books (1 Esdras, 2 Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh) that are accepted by many Eastern Orthodox Churches and Oriental Orthodox Churches as canonical, but are regarded as non-canonical by

1558-680: The Apocryphal books, the Book of Enoch was never referenced by Jesus. The genuineness and inspiration of Enoch were believed in by the writer of the Epistle of Barnabas , Irenaeus , Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria and many others of the early church . The Epistles of Paul and the Gospels also show influences from the Book of Jubilees , which is part of the Ethiopian canon, as well as

1640-466: The Baptist, Jesus felt the pangs of hunger just like everyone else. Writing against Marcion, Melito focused on Christ's divinity and humanity in order to counter the claim that Jesus was simply and uniquely divine; having no material counterpart. Melito does not anthropomorphize the divine nature of Christ and keeps the attributes of the divine nature and the human nature wholly separate. While he describes

1722-837: The Book of Tobit in services of Holy Matrimony. According to the Orthodox Anglican Church : On the other hand, the Anglican Communion emphatically maintains that the Apocrypha is part of the Bible and is to be read with respect by her members. Two of the hymns used in the American Prayer Book office of Morning Prayer, the Benedictus es and Benedicite, are taken from the Apocrypha. One of the offertory sentences in Holy Communion comes from an apocryphal book (Tob. 4: 8–9). Lessons from

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1804-597: The Catholic Council of Trent reconfirmed the canon of Augustine, dating to the second and third centuries, declaring "He is also to be anathema who does not receive these entire books, with all their parts, as they have been accustomed to be read in the Catholic Church, and are found in the ancient editions of the Latin Vulgate , as sacred and canonical." The whole of the books in question, with

1886-720: The Catholic Church and are therefore not included in modern Catholic Bibles. In the 1800s, the British and Foreign Bible Society did not regularly publish the intertestamental section in its Bibles, citing the cost of printing the Apocrypha in addition to the Old Testament and New Testament as a major factor; this legacy came to characterize English-language Bibles in Great Britain and the Americas, unlike in Europe where Protestant Bibles are printed with 80 books in three sections:

1968-551: The Catholic Church include Tobit, Judith, Baruch, Sirach, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Wisdom and additions to Esther, Daniel, and Baruch. The Book of Enoch is included in the biblical canon of the Oriental Orthodox churches of Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Epistle of Jude alludes to a story in the book of Enoch, and some believe the use of this book also appears in the four gospels and 1 Peter . While Jesus and his disciples sometimes used phrases also featured in some of

2050-669: The Catholic Church, affirmed by the Council of Rome (AD 382) and later reaffirmed by the Council of Trent (1545–63); all of the books of the Protestant Apocrypha are considered canonical by the Eastern Orthodox Church and are referred to as anagignoskomena per the Synod of Jerusalem (1672). To this date, scripture readings from the Apocrypha are included in the lectionaries of the Lutheran Churches and

2132-850: The Christian faith, Melito presented elaborate parallels between the Old Testament or Old Covenant , which he likened to the form or mold, and the New Testament or New Covenant , which he likened to the truth that broke the mold. It is thought by some that Melito, following the likes of Irenaeus, was a chiliast who expected a millennial reign of Christ on Earth. This impression is sometimes based upon information conveyed by Jerome and Gennadius. These ancient sources, however, are far from conclusive on Melito's position. Jerome nowhere mentions Melito in connection with millennialism, even if at Comm. on Ezek. 36 he does mention Tertullian, Lactantius, Victorinus of Petovium, Irenaeus, and Apollinaris of Laodicea as being chiliasts. Nor does Jerome suggest that Melito

2214-517: The Christian people and to change the Greek opinion of them. Demonstrating how Christian thought first flourished among the Gentiles, and how it has benefited the empire, Melito tried to convince the emperor to rethink his current policies since Christianity only brought greatness and success to Rome. Reminding the emperor of the virtuous conduct of Hadrian, Melito called for an end to all violence toward

2296-604: The Emperor's Heavenly Mandate . Examples of these include talismans, charts, writs, tallies, and registers. The first examples were stones, jade pieces, bronze vessels and weapons, but came to include talismans and magic diagrams. From their roots in Zhou era China (1066–256 BC), these items came to be surpassed in value by texts by the Han dynasty (206 BC – AD 220). Most of these texts have been destroyed as Emperors, particularly during

2378-719: The Exodus. Both his Jewish and his Stoic background affected his opinion that the Christian Passover , celebrated during Holy Week , should be celebrated at the same time as the Jewish Passover . His belief in the Old Covenant being fulfilled in Jesus Christ also led to his opinion regarding the date of Easter. Written during the second century AD, and only coming to light within the modern world due to

2460-734: The Fathers had appointed to be read to catechumens for edification and instruction; these are the Wisdom of Solomon, the Wisdom of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Esther, Judith, Tobias, the Didache, or Doctrine of the Apostles, and the Shepherd of Hermas. All others are apocrypha and the inventions of heretics (Festal Epistle for 367)". Nevertheless, none of these constituted indisputable definitions, and significant scholarly doubts and disagreements about

2542-616: The German Luther Bible (1534) the apocrypha are published in a separate section from the other books, although the Lutheran and Anglican lists are different. Anabaptists use the Luther Bible , which contains the intertestamental books; Amish wedding ceremonies include "the retelling of the marriage of Tobias and Sarah in the Apocrypha". The fathers of Anabaptism, such as Menno Simons , quoted "them [the Apocrypha] with

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2624-646: The Gospel of John as the chronological timeline of Jesus's life and death. This in turn led to Melito's standpoint on the proper date of Easter discussed in Peri Pascha . For him, the date was the 14th of Nisan . He is often described, based on a passage in Eusebius, as a Quartodecimanist . Formerly the capital of the Kingdom of Lydia , Sardis underwent a process of Hellenization due to the influence of Alexander

2706-654: The Great, and it had thus became a thoroughly Greek city long before Melito was born. Trained in the art of rhetorical argumentation, Melito is believed to have been greatly influenced by two Stoic philosophers in particular, namely, Cleanthes and Poseidonius . Melito was also proficient in the allegorical interpretation of Homer, a legacy of his being schooled by sophists. It is highly likely that his background in Stoicism fed into his writing and how he interpreted past events and figures of religious significance such as Moses and

2788-490: The Han dynasty, collected these legitimizing objects and proscribed, forbade and burnt nearly all of them to prevent them from falling into the hands of political rivals. Apocrypha was also applied to writings that were hidden not because of their divinity but because of their questionable value to the church. The early Christian theologian Origen , in his Commentaries on Matthew , distinguishes between writings that were read by

2870-562: The Hebrew canon (the protocanon ) excluded from the canon all of the Old Testament not found there. This view is reflected in the canon of Melito of Sardis , and in the prefaces and letters of Jerome. A third view was that the books were not as valuable as the canonical scriptures of the Hebrew collection, but were of value for moral uses, as introductory texts for new converts from paganism , and to be read in congregations. They were referred to as " ecclesiastical " works by Rufinus . In 1546,

2952-464: The Jews as part of the Hebrew Bible canon and the Apocrypha is not part of the historical Jewish canon . Early church fathers such as Athanasius , Melito , Origen , and Cyril of Jerusalem , spoke against the canonicity of much or all of the apocrypha, but the most weighty opposition was the fourth century Catholic scholar Jerome who preferred the Hebrew canon, whereas Augustine and others preferred

3034-446: The Old Testament, Apocrypha, and New Testament. In the present-day, "English Bibles with the Apocrypha are becoming more popular again", usually being printed as intertestamental books . The Revised Common Lectionary , in use by most mainline Protestants including Methodists and Moravians, lists readings from the Apocrypha in the liturgical calendar , although alternate Old Testament scripture lessons are provided. The status of

3116-649: The Old Testament, Apocrypha, and New Testament; examples include the " Matthew's Bible (1537), the Great Bible (1539), the Geneva Bible (1560), the Bishop's Bible (1568), and the King James Bible (1611)". Fourteen out of eighty biblical books comprise the Protestant Apocrypha, first published as such in Luther's Bible (1534). Many of these texts are considered canonical Old Testament books by

3198-534: The Old and New Testaments. They are also sometimes called "intertestamental" by religious groups who do not recognize Hellenistic Judaism as belonging with either Jewish or Christian testaments. Slightly varying collections of apocryphal, deuterocanonical or intertestamental books of the Bible form part of the Catholic , Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox canons. The deuterocanonical or intertestamental books of

3280-475: The Protestant canon (such as listed in the Westminster Confession of 1646), which has been well established for centuries, with many today supporting the use of the Apocrypha and others contending against the Apocrypha using various arguments. The adjective apocryphal is commonly used in modern English to refer to any text or story considered to be of dubious veracity or authority, although it may contain some moral truth. In this broader metaphorical sense,

3362-476: The Spirit. Jewish by birth, Melito lived in an atmosphere where Christianity bore a strong Jewish imprint. Though Melito's extant writings never quote directly from the New Testament corpus, it is thought that his orientation represents the Johannine tradition, and that his theological understanding of Christ often mirrored that of John. However, like most of his contemporaries, Melito was fully immersed in Greek culture. This Johannine tradition led Melito to consider

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3444-443: The Thirty-nine Articles: "In the name of Holy Scripture we do understand those canonical Books of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority there was never any doubt in the Church... And the other Books (as Hierome [St. Jerome] saith) the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners; but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrine. Though Protestant Bibles historically include 80 books , 66 of these form

3526-518: The apocryphal writings in dispute, with little distinction made between them and the rest of the Old Testament . Others argue that the Septuagint of the first century did not contain these books but they were added later by Christians. The earliest extant manuscripts of the Septuagint are from the fourth century, and suffer greatly from a lack of uniformity as regards containing apocryphal books, and some also contain books classed as pseudepigrapha , from which texts were cited by some early writers in

3608-400: The attributes of each nature separately, he also speaks of the two natures of Christ combined. The form of speech used is that of two natures in one Christ. According to Melito, Jesus Christ was both entirely human and entirely divine. Melito gave the first Christian list of the canon in the Old Testament. In his canon he excludes the book of Esther and possibly all the Apocrypha though there

3690-484: The barbarians, but had attained to a flourishing status under the Roman Empire. Melito asks the emperor to rethink the accusations against the Christians and to renounce the edict against them. Melito argues that Christianity had in no way weakened the empire which continued to grow despite the presence of Christianity. Complaining about how the godly are being persecuted and harassed by new decrees, Christians are openly robbed and plundered by those who are taking advantage of

3772-405: The books that the Catholic Church terms Deuterocanonicals (second canon) and Protestantism refers to as Apocrypha has been an issue of disagreement that preceded the Reformation. Many believe that the pre-Christian-era Jewish translation (into Greek) of holy scriptures known as the Septuagint , a Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures originally compiled around 280 BC, originally included

3854-486: The canon accepted by the author. A related term for non-canonical apocryphal texts whose authorship seems incorrect is pseudepigrapha , a term that means " false attribution ". In Christianity, the name " the Apocrypha " is applied to a particular set of books which, when they appear in a Bible, are sometimes placed between the Old and New Testaments in a section called "Apocrypha." The canonicity of such books took longer to determine. Various of these books are accepted by

3936-455: The canons of the Christian Bibles , calling them the "apocrypha" or the "hidden books". In the sixteenth century, during the Protestant Reformation , the canonical validity of the intertestamental books was challenged and fourteen books were classed in 80 book Protestant Bibles as an intertestamental section called the Apocrypha, which straddles the Old Testament and New Testament. Prior to 1629, all English-language Protestant Bibles included

4018-430: The churches and apocryphal writings: γραφὴ μὴ φερομένη μέν ἒν τοῖς κοινοῖς καὶ δεδημοσιευμένοις βιβλίοις εἰκὸς δ' ὅτι ἒν ἀποκρύφοις φερομένη ( writing not found in the common and published books on one hand [and] actually found in the secret ones on the other ). The meaning of αποκρυφος is here practically equivalent to "excluded from the public use of the church" and prepares the way for an even less favourable use of

4100-463: The crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The goal may not have been to incite anti-Semitic thoughts in Christians, and rather to bring light to what truly happened during the Passion of Jesus Christ, but it nonetheless helped to feed and establish the anti-Jewish tropes that persist to this day. Melito is widely remembered for his supersessionism, a belief that the Jewish people fail to fulfill the Old Covenant due to their lack of belief in Jesus Christ. However, he

4182-431: The date of this letter, Melito he had died at Sardis, the latter being the place of his interment. Melito's reputation as a writer remained strong into the Middle Ages: numerous works were pseudepigraphically ascribed to him. Melito was especially skilled in the literature of the Old Testament, and was one of the most prolific authors of his time. Eusebius furnished a list of Melito's works. While many of these works are lost,

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4264-419: The death of Melito, there is not much information preserved or recorded. Polycrates of Ephesus , in a letter addressed to Pope Victor (A.D. 196) preserved in Eusebius’ history, says, “What shall I say of Melito, whose actions' were all guided by the operations of the Holy Spirit? Who was interred at Sardis, where he waits the resurrection and the judgement?". From this it may be deduced that at some point prior to

4346-436: The deuterocanonicals remains unchanged in Catholic and Orthodox Christianity, though there is a difference in number of these books between these two branches of Christianity. Some authorities began using term deuterocanonical to refer to this traditional intertestamental collection as books of "the second canon". These books are often seen as helping to explain the theological and cultural transitions that took place between

4428-422: The duration of the period of fasting, and when it should end within the celebration of any Christian Passover. Another question which bothered many individuals was whether everyone ought to uniformly observe Easter on the same day. Melito thought that the Christian Passover should be on the 14th of Nisan, but the Council of Nicaea determined that Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead should always be celebrated on

4510-504: The ecumenical Council of Trent officially ("infallibly") declared these books (called "deuterocanonical" by Catholics) to be part of the canon in April, 1546 A.D. While the Protestant Reformers rejected the parts of the canon that were not part of the Hebrew Bible , they included the four New Testament books Luther considered of doubtful canonicity along with the Apocrypha in his non-binding Luther's canon (although most were separately included in his Bible, as they were in some editions of

4592-457: The efforts of Campbell Bonner in 1940, some have argued that Peri Pascha ( On the Passover ) is not a homily, but is based on the haggadah , which is a retelling of the works of God at Passover. The Quartodeciman celebration mainly being a commemoration of Christ's passion and death, Melito stood by the belief that Christ died on the evening of the 14th, when the Passover meal was being prepared. F. L. Cross states that Melito's treatise on Pascha

4674-463: The exception of 1 Esdras and 2 Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh , were declared canonical at Trent. The Protestants, in comparison, were diverse in their opinion of the deuterocanon early on. Some considered them divinely inspired, others rejected them. Lutherans and Anglicans retained the books as Christian intertestamental readings and a part of the Bible (in a section called "Apocrypha"), but no doctrine should be based on them. John Wycliffe ,

4756-439: The exclusive canonization of the current 24 books in the Hebrew Bible , they also consider the Oral Torah , which they believe was handed down from Moses , to be authoritative. Some argue that the Sadducees , unlike the Pharisees but like the Samaritans , seem to have maintained an earlier and smaller number of texts as canonical, preferring to hold to only what was written in the Law of Moses (the Torah ), making most of

4838-418: The fourteen books of the Apocrypha as being non-canonical, but useful for reading "for example of life and instruction of manners": a view that continues today throughout the Lutheran Church , the worldwide Anglican Communion , among many other denominations, such as the Methodist Churches and Quaker Yearly Meetings . Liturgically, the Catholic, Methodist and Anglican churches have a scripture reading from

4920-433: The growing Christian communities within the empire. Emphasizing, like John, the unity of Christ and the Father, Melito declared that Christ is at once God and a perfect man. Having two essences while being one and the same, his godhead was demonstrated by way of all of the signs and miracles he performed after being baptized. Successfully managing to hide his divinity from the world before that central event occurred with John

5002-452: The lack of recorded literature surrounding him. Polycrates of Ephesus Polycrates of Ephesus ( / p ə ˈ l ɪ k r ə ˌ t iː z / ; Greek : Πολυκράτης ; fl. c. 130 – 196) was an Early Christian bishop at Ephesus . Polycrates convened a synod to establish Quartodecimanism as the official position on Easter. His letter was written between 186-195 AD. When Pope Victor wanted to set an official practice of Easter on

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5084-410: The nature of the Apocrypha continued for centuries and even into Trent, which provided the first infallible definition of the Catholic canon in 1546. In the 16th century, the Protestant reformers challenged the canonicity of the books and partial-books found in the surviving Septuagint but not in the Masoretic Text . In response to this challenge, after the death of Martin Luther (February 8, 1546)

5166-447: The presently accepted canon, both Jewish and Christian, apocryphal in their eyes. Others believe that it is often mistakenly asserted that the Sadducees only accepted the Pentateuch (Torah). The Essenes in Judea and the Therapeutae in Egypt were said to have a secret literature (see Dead Sea scrolls ). Other traditions maintained different customs regarding canonicity. The Ethiopian Jews , for instance, seem to have retained

5248-447: The public context of church services. Apocrypha were edifying Christian works that were not always initially included as canonical scripture . The adjective "apocryphal", meaning of doubtful authenticity, mythical, fictional, is recorded from the late 16th century, then taking on the popular meaning of "false," "spurious," "bad," or "heretical." It may be used for any book which might have scriptural claims but which does not appear in

5330-428: The reason that many things are found in them corrupt and against the true faith handed down by the elders, it has pleased them that they not be given a place nor be admitted to authority." The Gelasian Decree (generally held now as being the work of an anonymous scholar between 519 and 553) refers to religious works by church fathers Eusebius , Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria as apocrypha. Augustine defined

5412-401: The said ordinances. The suffering of Christians at the time in regard to these decrees was mostly of property and taxations while not as much physical suffering. Certainly Christians were persecuted physically as well but in terms of the decrees they were openly robbed and considered to be incestuous and take part in ritualistic acts such as eating children. Melito aimed to dispel the suffering of

5494-445: The same authority and nearly the same frequency as books of the Hebrew Bible" and the texts regarding the martyrdoms under Antiochus IV in 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees are held in high esteem by the Anabaptists, who faced persecution in their history. In Reformed editions (like the Westminster), readers were warned that these books were not "to be any otherwise approved or made use of than other human writings". A milder distinction

5576-410: The second and later centuries as being scripture. While a few scholars conclude that the Jewish canon was the achievement of the Hasmonean dynasty, it is generally considered not to have been finalized until about 100 AD or somewhat later, at which time considerations of Greek language and beginnings of Christian acceptance of the Septuagint weighed against some of the texts. Some were not accepted by

5658-432: The study and debate of the writings. The first ecclesiastical decree on the Catholic Church's canonical books of the Sacred Scriptures is attributed to the Council of Rome (382), and is correspondent to that of Trent. Martin Luther , like Jerome , favored the Masoretic canon for the Old Testament, excluding apocryphal books in the Luther Bible as unworthy to be properly called scripture, but included most of them in

5740-493: The testimony of the fathers remains to inform us how highly they were viewed. Eusebius presents some fragments of Melito's works and some others are found in the works of different writers. Fragments' of his works found preserved in a Syriac translation are now stored in the library of the British Museum. Cureton has translated some and others have been published in Kitto's Journal of Sacred Literature, vol 15. Due to Melito's reputation, many works are falsely attributed to him due to

5822-413: The two are a number of writers whose veneration for these books is tempered by some perplexity as to their exact standing, and among those we note St. Thomas Aquinas. Few are found to unequivocally acknowledge their canonicity. The prevailing attitude of Western medieval authors is substantially that of the Greek Fathers. The wider Christian canon accepted by Augustine became the more established canon in

5904-429: The verb ἀποκρύπτειν , apokryptein (to hide away). It comes from Greek and is formed from the combination of apo (away) and kryptein (hide or conceal). The word apocrypha has undergone a major change in meaning throughout the centuries. The word apocrypha in its ancient Christian usage originally meant a text read in private, rather than in public church settings. In English, it later came to have

5986-617: The western Church after being promulgated for use in the Easter Letter of Athanasius (circa 372 A.D.), the Synod of Rome (382 A.D., but its Decretum Gelasianum is generally considered to be a much later addition ) and the local councils of Carthage and Hippo in north Africa (391 and 393 A.D). Athanasius called canonical all books of the Hebrew Bible including Baruch, while excluding Esther. He adds that "there are certain books which

6068-465: The whole Christian world, to celebrate Easter on Sunday, Polycrates writing in the name of the entire Asian church, argued that the apostles taught to celebrate the Passover (Holy Communion) on the 14th day of Nisan. In his letter, he appeals to the authority of Polycarp of Smyrna , Thraseas of Eumenia , Sagaris , Papirius and Melito , all of whom were Quartodecimans. Despite Polycrates convening

6150-624: The wider (Greek) canon, with both having followers in the generations that followed. The Catholic Encyclopedia states as regards the Middle Ages, In the Latin Church, all through the Middle Ages [5th century to the 15th century] we find evidence of hesitation about the character of the deuterocanonicals. There is a current friendly to them, another one distinctly unfavourable to their authority and sacredness, while wavering between

6232-566: The word as meaning simply "obscurity of origin", implying that any book of unknown authorship or questionable authenticity would be considered apocryphal. Jerome in Prologus Galeatus declared that all books outside the Hebrew canon were apocryphal. In practice, Jerome treated some books outside the Hebrew canon as if they were canonical, and the Western Church did not accept Jerome's definition of apocrypha, instead retaining

6314-673: The word suggests a claim that is in the nature of folklore , factoid or urban legend . Apocryphal Jatakas of the Pāli Canon , such as those belonging to the Paññāsajātaka collection, have been adapted to fit local culture in certain Southeast Asian countries and have been retold with amendments to the plots to better reflect Buddhist morals. Within the Pali tradition, the apocryphal Jatakas of later composition (some dated even to

6396-470: The word's prior meaning. As a result, various church authorities labeled different books as apocrypha, treating them with varying levels of regard. Origen stated that "the canonical books, as the Hebrews have handed them down, are twenty-two". Clement and others cited some apocryphal books as "scripture", "divine scripture", "inspired", and the like. Teachers connected with Palestine and familiar with

6478-648: The word. In general use, the word apocrypha came to mean "of doubtful authenticity". This meaning also appears in Origen 's prologue to his commentary on the Song of Songs , of which only the Latin translation survives: De scripturis his, quae appellantur apocriphae, pro eo quod multa in iis corrupta et contra fidem veram inveniuntur a maioribus tradita non placuit iis dari locum nec admitti ad auctoritatem. "Concerning these scriptures, which are called apocryphal, for

6560-576: Was a chiliast in his description of Melito's life and work in On Virtuous Men 24. The same is true for the source on which Jerome likely draws for his information on Melito: Eusebius of Caesarea's Church History 4.26.2–4. Gennadius ( De Dogm. Eccl., Ch. 52) likely does not refer to Melito of Sardis at all in his reference to the Meletians but rather to Meletius of Lycopolis, who together with his followers may have been chiliasts. In regard to

6642-684: Was expressed elsewhere, such as in the "argument" introducing them in the Geneva Bible , and in the Sixth Article of the Church of England , where it is said that "the other books the church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners," though not to establish doctrine. Among some Nonconformists , the term apocryphal began to take on extra or altered connotations: not just of dubious authenticity, but having spurious or false content, Protestants, being diverse in theological views, were not unanimous in adopting those meanings. Generally, Anabaptists and magisterial Protestants recognize

6724-557: Was not satisfied with dismissing Judaism as misguided, and compared Jewish practice to a first draft that, in the wake of Christianity, ought to be "destroyed" or "dissolved." He closes with the fervid accusation "you smashed the Lord to the ground, you were razed to the ground. And you lie dead, while he rose from the dead. Attracting the attention of persons such as Epiphanius, Chrysostom, and Pseudo-Hippolytus, Quartodeciman practices have encouraged many to deeply ponder questions pertaining to

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