Introduction to the Ecclesiastical Books

The Apocrypha, or Deuterocanon, also known as the Ecclesiastical Books, is a selection of books that are omitted from modern Protestant Bibles, and the source of a great deal of confusion and contention when Christians of different stripes compare notes.

I’ve written on these books of the Bible a few times before.  Most notably is my most recent summary, though there’s also a brief treatment of them in my commentary of Article 6 (from the Anglican 39 Articles) and an older post that dealt with some of the details in Reformation history.

But now that I’m experimenting with the making of videos, I’ve chosen this subject as one to re-visit.  If you’ve already read the blog posts I just linked to, then you’re probably familiar with most of the content of this video, all that’s really new is a brief summary of each book.

Index:

0:00 – Debate: Deuterocanon versus Apocrypha

3:13 – Balance: The Ecclesiastical Books

6:10 – How do we refer to them?

9:40 – What are the actual writings?

• (11:09) 1 & 2 Esdras
• (14:04) Tobit & Judith
• (15:11) Additions to Esther
• (16:30) Wisdom & Sirach
• (17:27) Baruch & Epistle of Jeremiah
• (18:26) Additions to Daniel
• (20:24) Prayer of Manasseh
• (21:05) 1 & 2 Maccabees

23:00 – When & How we use them

31:00 – On Establishing Doctrine & final word: Fear Not!