‘Hidden things’ may expand perspective

The Rev. Josh Longbottom, associate pastor, Plymouth Congregational Church, 925 Vt.:

Christians, and everyone else who is interested, can use the apocryphal literature to expand their view of the history and diversity of the early Christian church.

A lot of people want to act like the Bible is a clear-cut document handwritten by God, packaged by an angel and delivered straight to us, in English. Fortunate or unfortunate as it may be, I can’t imagine that idea being anywhere near what really happened. It is hard to say where the Bible begins and where it ends, and from the very beginning to this day, there is no consensus.

The word apocrypha is Greek and it means “hidden works.” It refers to the gospels, acts, letters and apocalypses written by early Christians that didn’t make the cut into the final form of the Bible. That maybe a surprise to some people, but there is a lot of literature from early Christians that didn’t make the cut.

There are two main reasons an early Christian writing might not have made it into the final form of the Bible. First, and most simply, some of these writings were not circulated widely and so only a few people ever knew about them. The other main reason some writing are not included is because as history rolled on, the powers-that-be disagreed with them for one reason or another.

Some of the apocryphal writings can be found in Bibles in between the Old and the New Testaments. But there is much more out there available at libraries and book stores. I recommend “The Lost Gospel of Q” or “The Gospel of Thomas” to expand your views of what early Christians said about Jesus.

– Send e-mail to Josh Longbottom at joshlongbottom@sunflower.com.

Historical accuracy largely established

The Rev. Barry Watts, associate pastor, Lawrence Heights Christian Church, 2321 Peterson Road:

We can be confident of the books that have been declared Scripture today. Scholars throughout the years have selected these books through close examination of historical accuracy, known authorship, universal acceptance and theological agreement. Of the 66 books in the Bible, very few have ever been questioned by theological academia. The books that have been excluded are referred to as the “apocrypha.”

The word “apocrypha” does not mean “false” or “wrong,” but simply “writings of unknown origin.” This does not mean that these books should be cast out as being heretical, but we should read them as supplements to the Holy Scriptures. Through meticulous examination, scholars have concluded that these writings were not inspired by God, but simply the ideas and thoughts of man.

Many are obviously contrary to the theological ideas of Jesus Christ and should be read with caution, but they contain information that can be insightful. We can learn how others have interpreted Scripture at different times throughout history and derive pockets of truth from their apocryphal pages.

I read many modern-day authors on spiritual issues, such as Max Lucado, Rick Warren, Joel Osteen and Hank Hanegraaff. I do not agree with everything they write. In fact, some authors I disagree with wholeheartedly. This does not preclude me from reading their writings and learning from their theological ideas. In these books, as with the apocrypha, we can obtain some useful insight, but we must know that these are not inspired Scripture.

My opinion is this: The apocrypha should not be considered Scripture and they should be read with caution. But Christians should read them as “interpretations” of the word of God.

– Send an e-mail to Barry Watts at barry@lawrence-heights.org.