Apocrypha

edited December 1969 in Coptic Orthodox Church
Ok guys, "el asfar el ma7zoofa", the book in the Bible that are not accepted by the Protestant church. Does anyone know reasons behind why they are not accepted? Was there a council or something? I think are church does canonize them (correct me if i'm wrong). But this opens up a huge debate: how can we as Coptic Christians be reading an incomplete Bible- are we not then receiving the full, complete word of God? I understand that due to lack of resources in our church that we cannot publish a complete set, but isn't it important that we get the full word of God?! I'm finding it hard to believe there have been no talks or explanations about this topic, by our Bishops etc.

or am I missing something?

joe

Comments

  • There is the New Orthodox Study Bible that just came out which is the Full Complete Bible with all of the books that were taken out by the protestants. I just recieved mine and am quite pleased with it, some things i don't like but overall i highly recomend it. As to what the origins are of to why they took them out i don't know. But if you want you can order them and have your church order them as well. Here was the topic started by Orthodox11 to announce to us the good news of this book. http://tasbeha.org/content/community/index.php?topic=5935.0
  • thanks jydeacon!

    anyone know any answers?
  • For Arabic speakers, H.E. Constantine, the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Baghdad and Kuwait, has recently completed a complete Orthodox translation of the entire Bible into Arabic, the OT being translated from the Septuagint and containing all of the deuterocanonical books.
  • the reason we dont have them is because protastents publish all the bibles they are not hard to get ur hands on u can get them in a Jerusalem Bible or the new Orthodox Study Bible
  • [quote author=His Servant link=topic=6258.msg82658#msg82658 date=1203632958]
    the reason we dont have them is because protastents publish all the bibles they are not hard to get ur hands on u can get them in a Jerusalem Bible or the new Orthodox Study Bible


    It should be noted that while the Deuterocanonical books are available in the original King James Version, the Revised Standard Version, NRSV, Jerusalem Bible, JB, etc. only the Deuterocanonical books are translated from the Greek, the rest of the OT books are translated from the Hebrew and therefore differ in places from the OT accepted by the Church.

    Only the Orthodox Study Bible OT is a complete translation of the Septuagint OT of the Orthodox Church.
  • ok thanks for your posts guys. but still there is my question - what is the churches view on these books (deutrocanonical)? how is the church addressing this problem? is there even a problem or am i exaggerating? it seems strange to me that we r not getting the complete word of God, and the church does not seem to even address the topic
  • [quote author=josephgabriel link=topic=6258.msg82701#msg82701 date=1203668099]
    what is the churches view on these books (deutrocanonical)?


    They are part of the Holy Scriptures.

    Here's a chart listing the books of the Orthodox canon, compared to that of the Catholic and Protestant/Jewish canons.


    how is the church addressing this problem? is there even a problem or am i exaggerating? it seems strange to me that we r not getting the complete word of God, and the church does not seem to even address the topic

    The problem is one of availability. The Orthodox Church has not, until recently, had any significant presence in the English speaking world, and there is therefore naturally a shortage of Orthodox works in the English language. Thankfully, this is changing, the OSB translation of the LXX being an example of this.

    And don't forget that the idea of private individuals owning the entire Bible in a single volume did not exist - indeed, it wasn't possible - until recent times, following the invention of the printing press.


  • Here are some articles and introductions about the whole issue, in both Arabic and English..  hope you find something in it that helps:

    http://st-takla.org/pub_Deuterocanon/Deuterocanon-Apocrypha_El-Asfar_El-Kanoneya_El-Tanya__0-index.html

Sign In or Register to comment.