Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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, [2] then taking on the popular meaning of "false," "spurious," "bad," or "heretical." It may be used for any book which ...
The Biblical apocrypha (from Ancient Greek ἀπόκρυφος (apókruphos) ' hidden ') denotes the collection of ancient books, some of which are believed by some to be apocryphal, thought to have been written some time between 200 BC and 100 AD.
The word apocrypha means 'things put away' or 'things hidden', originating from the Medieval Latin adjective apocryphus, 'secret' or 'non-canonical', which in turn originated from the Greek adjective ἀπόκρυφος (apokryphos), 'obscure', from the verb ἀποκρύπτειν (apokryptein), 'to hide away'. [4]
The non-canonical books referenced in the Bible includes non-Biblical cultures and lost works of known or unknown status. By the "Bible" is meant those books recognized by Christians and Jews as being part of Old Testament (or Tanakh) as well as those recognized by most Christians as being part of the Biblical apocrypha or of the Deuterocanon.
For example, it is speculated that this may have provided motivation for canon lists, and that Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus are examples of these Bibles. Those codices contain almost a full version of the Septuagint ; Vaticanus lacks only 1–3 Maccabees and Sinaiticus lacks 2–3 Maccabees, 1 Esdras , Baruch and Letter of Jeremiah . [ 40 ]
Gospels are a genre of ancient biography in early Christian literature. The New Testament includes four canonical gospels, (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) but there are many gospels not included in the biblical canon. [3] These additional gospels are referred to as either New Testament apocrypha or pseudepigrapha.
Apocryphon ("secret writing"), plural apocrypha, was a Greek term for a genre of Jewish and Early Christian writings that were meant to impart "secret teachings" or gnosis (knowledge) that could not be publicly taught. Jesus briefly withheld his messianic identity from the public. [1]
Pseudepigrapha are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past. [1] Some of these works may have originated among Jewish Hellenizers, others may have Christian authorship in character and origin.