This year I resolved to finally read the Christian Apocrypha. Growing up in a protestant church I never had any exposure to these books. As a result they were somewhat mysterious. I recall eagerly flipping the intertestamental pages the first time I encountered a Catholic Bible. For some reason I got the impression that because they were non-canonical they were not to be read. How silly.
So in setting out to read the Apocrypha, I realized I had to answer the question, “which Apocrypha?” The Roman Catholics, the Greek Orthodox, and the Russian Orthodox churches have their own arrangements. I decided to choose the Greek version. So here are the exact books I’ll be reading:
- Tobit
- Judith
- Additions to Esther
- Wisdom of Solomon
- Sirach
- Baruch
- Epistle of Jeremiah
- Additions to Daniel
- 1 Maccabees
- 2 Maccabees
- 1 Esdras
- Prayer of Manasseh
- Psalm 151
- 3 Maccabees
As I make my way through, I will do occasional posts on what interests me in the reading.
Nathan
We EPISCOPALIANS use / recognize the aprocrypha! Several times a year we have readings from it. Do you have the Oxford version of the NRSV? It has the various parts of various apocryphas. I like “Bel and the Dragon” and “Susanna” (both additions to Daniel) particularly and “Judith” (not many novels beat her story for — well on many levels.)
I’m so glad you are taking this on.
Yes, we have the Oxford edition. I like its list and explanation of the various deuterocanons.