Wordie: Apocryphal: Comments

Comment by frindley, 5 months ago

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 07:37:21 +0000

Within the Protestant church at least the Apocryphal books were/are considered edifying (i.e. "profitable and good to read") but not part of the canon for the establishment of church doctrine.

Luther, after all, considered the books worth the trouble of translating into German but, as I understand it, he rejected them as part of the canon because they contained useful defenses for such doctrines as purgatory and the saying of masses for the dead.

The quotation prefaces the Apocrypha in Luther's translation.

Comment by Prolagus, 5 months ago

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 04:38:47 +0000

Maybe this is an apocryphal quotation.

Comment by seanahan, 5 months ago

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 04:24:55 +0000

That's a pretty odd quote. Martin Luther was certainly quite radical, though by today's standards his stances were quite conservative. The Apocrypha are "not regarded as equal" for a number of reasons, not the least of which that they don't adhere to the strict message portrayed by the Catholic Church. I can imagine how Luther would support their reading.

Comment by frindley, 5 months ago

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 17:07:10 +0000

"Apocrypha — that is, books which are not regarded as equal to the holy Scriptures, and yet are profitable and good to read."
Martin Luther