#12 The Place of the Apocrypha

The apocrypha seems to have little affect on our lives today. Although to some degree a lot of the apocrypha has been quite controversial at different points in history. Such as early Christians creating their canon and deciding what should be a part of that. Then with St. Jerome and his Latin Vulgate. Later on, this happened again when Martin Luther created the protestant Bible. Today the apocrypha seems to be making a comeback. This can be seen in the recent discoveries of apocryphal books found in the Qumran Caves with other biblical books. As well as other apocryphal books that have only recently been discovered such as the Gospel of Judas. The apocrypha challenges are long held beliefs about who biblical characters were, and how we are to understand the stories in the Bible. Furthermore, the apocrypha causes us to question what the nature of the Bible is. This seems to be especially true among Christians who take a more open stance before scripture and take the Bible errable rather than inerrable such as fundamentalist Christians in America. I think these two extremes are most probably unhealthy ways to consider the apocrypha. The fact is the apocrypha reflects defunct ways of thinking about the Bible in most cases, while in others it presents us with the opportunity to think about the Bible in new ways that may cause us to grow in our faith in the Bible, and in Christ.

With this in mind I want to look at a theme that seems to play through some of the apocryphal books. Many of the books of the apocrypha address the idea of right living. That is living in a way that is right before God’s eyes. These apocryphal books address how to be righteous in changing circumstances. This theme can be seen through Daniel and the exile in the Bible. Followed by Babylonian apocrypha such as the Prayer of Azariah, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon. This is followed by the biblical book of Ezra and Nehemiah, and finally Maccabees. I want to take a closer look at the circumstances behind these letters as the author intends, that is disregarding that they may have been written at a later date. 
 In Daniel we learn about Israel being conquered by the Babylonian empire. Daniel our main character in taken to Babylon to learn to serve the king. In this he is presented with the opportunity to live by different standards than what he was raised by. “But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way” (Daniel) instead he followed the standards set out in the Torah. Daniel continuing to follow the law of Moses shows us how we should follow God’s standard rather than the standard set out by the ruling authorities. This idea is reflected in the story of Azariah in the furnace. Azariah should was called Abednego along with Shadrach, and Meshach were thrown in a furnace for refusing to obey the law where they were to bow to the king and worship him.

The Prayer of Azariah follows this trend, by showing how Azariah feels while in the furnace. Azariah says “Blessed are you, O Lord, God of our ancestors” (Azariah) this confirms that he is okay with God letting him get to where he is. This prayer is continued by Azariah saying “may we be accepted as though it were with burnt offerings of rams and bulls.” (Azariah) God hears their prayer and sends an angel or Jesus to protect them. This shows us that those who do as God commands are righteous in his sight. After this Azariah says “we fear you and seek your presence.” (Azariah) Since God did join them, we know God can be with us in our trials. There are many other examples of Daniel trying to be righteous throughout the book of Daniel, Susana and the prayer of Azariah.

Consider Susana, Susana was a woman who was accused of adultery. Daniel saw that her accusers were not examined thoroughly enough so he shouted, “I want no part in shedding this woman’s blood!” (Unknown) Daniel proceeded to separate Susana’s two accusers and question them. He found that they were lying thus they were both put to death and Susana went home. The continuation of Justice even is exile, shows that righteousness is still a goal to be aimed for. For justice and righteousness are the same thing in Hebrew. The word is צַדִיק or tsaddiq meaning just or righteous.

Furthermore, in Bel and the Dragon we find Daniel continuing to pursue justice by exposing Bel to be a lie. Where Bel’s prophet pretended Bel existed and Daniel showed the king how that was wrong. Furthermore, Daniel killed a dragon which was a drain on resources. These stories besides showing us how justice may be carried out, shows us how pursuing justice and righteousness leads us to being in a place of authority where we may correct some of the wrongs in the world.

The concepts I want you to take away from this are that the apocrypha can offer more than just information about the Bible, it may even add to the Bible, or offer ways of understanding the Bible. Furthermore, I want you to notice how the idea of righteousness and justice are interconnected. Consider also how Justice and righteousness has changed though time. Finally consider that the only justice that is important for Christians is that of God. We may find God’s justice by determining what the Bible and tradition says, the apocrypha along with our own experience offers us different ways of interpreting what justice is. So what does the apocrypha teach us? I think it depends on where you are coming from. To biblical fundamentalists the apocrypha has been seen as something to fear. While for those who believe the Bible is errable it can prove that the Bible may not be true. But If we take the apocrypha as it is we may understand more about how followers of God should live outside of the Bible. From what I have pointed out in the Babylonian apocrypha we should have a better understanding of how our attitudes should be under occupation or illegitimate authority. When considering moves by the Lutheran Church and other Churches that are changing with regards to what they believe is just in our culture it may be interesting to compare our changing morals with those of Daniel and other followers of God from that time. The apocrypha is of value as it reminds us of tradition and the authority it possesses in our lives and the church.

Works Cited

Azariah. (n.d.). Prayer of Azariah.

Daniel. (n.d.). Bible, Daniel 1:8.

Unknown. (n.d.). Susana.