In our Midweek Meeting on Wednesday we continued our study of the Belgic
Confession looking at Article 6 on “The Difference Between the Canonical and
Apocryphal Books.” We noted that the Roman Church, as well as the Eastern Orthodox
Church, accept several books in their Old Testament that are rejected by Bible-believing
Protestants.
We gave a brief survey of these books, which include 1-2 Esdras,
Tobit, Judith, the so-called Wisdom of Solomon, Jesus (Joshua) ben Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus),
Baruch, the additions to Esther, the additions to Daniel (Song of the Three
Hebrews, Susannah, Bel and the Dragon), 1-2 Maccabees.
I offered five
reasons we reject these books, and classify them as non-canonical:
1. They were not accepted by ancient Jews
(Rom 3:2);
2. They were not originally written in
Hebrew, the language of the OT, but Greek, showing they were written late.
3. They have errors (e.g., Judith 1:1 which
says Nebuchadnezzar ruled in Ninevah and not Babylon).
4. These books were never explicitly cited
as Scripture in the NT by the Lord Jesus and the Apostles and their associates.
5. They were used by the Roman Church to
support unbiblical doctrines and practices, like prayers for the dead (2 Macc
12:44); expiatory sacrifices (as in the mass) (2 Macc 12:39-46); expiatory alms
(precursor to indulgences) (Tobit 12:9; 4:10); the invocation and intercession
of saints (2 Macc. 15:14); Bar 3:4); the worship of angels (Tobit 12:12);
purgatory and salvation after death (2 Macc 12:42).
We were reminded that the Reformation is
not over. We have many differences with Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox,
even the books of the Bible.
I closed Wednesday by reading this
statement from a French-Swiss evangelical theologian named René Pache (1904-1979). He wrote:
“Except
for certain interesting historical information (especially in 1 Maccabees) and
a few beautiful moral thoughts (e.g., Wisdom of Solomon), these books contain
absurd legends and platitudes, and historical, geographical, and chronological
errors, as well as manifestly heretical doctrines; they even recommend immoral
acts (Judith 9:10, 13)” (The Inspiration and Authority of Scripture, Trans.
Helen I. Needham [Moody Press, 1969], 172).
Let us
continue to hold fast to and in defense of God’s holy, inspired, preserved, and
true Word.
Grace and
peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
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