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Summary: Jesus at the feast of the dedication
Review: "And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch". This we read in John, 10:22-23. What is the feast of the dedication? When was it instituted? You can't find anything about it in the Protestant Bibles. To find what the feast was about you have to look at the books that the Protestants consider apocryphal and the Catholics (and Eastern Orthodox) consider deuterocanonical. The feast of the dedication was instituted by Judas Maccabeus, as we read in 1 Maccabees (4:59): "Moreover Judas and his brethren with the whole congregation of Israel ordained, that the days of the dedication of the altar should be kept in their season from year to year by the space of eight days, from the five and twentieth day of the month Casleu, with mirth and gladness." (Both quotations are from the KJV Bible.)If the "apocryphal" books are Alexandrine additions to the Bible, why was the feast celebrated in Jerusalem? Why did Jesus himself celebrate it? This example, if nothing else, shows the historical significance of the "Apocrypha" for understanding the New Testament. Having decided that the Apocrypha are important, at least as historical documents, which version should you use? The KJV Pitt Brevier Apocrypha, from Cambridge University Press (ISBN 0521506743) gives you the Apocrypha that were included in the original KJV Bible. It is a little book with no notes, concordances or any commentary. Still it is a well-bound little book that will complement any KJV Bible, giving you all the text that was included in the edition of 1611. Oxford University offers at least two versions of the Apocrypha, with notes and commentaries. One is "The New Oxford Annotated Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version" (ISBN: 0195288009). It is a new translation, but this is not a big loss: the KJV apocrypha were translated poorly. This edition has introductions to the various books and notes: it is the recommended stand-alone version of the Apocrypha in English. Also from Oxford is the "Parallel Apocrypha: Greek Text, King James Version, Douay Old Testament, the Holy Bible by Ronald Knox, Today's English Version, New Revised Standard Version" (ISBN: 0195284445). It gives the Greek text (from the Septuagint) plus several Catholic and Protestant English translations. This is all the Apocrypha anybody would ever want!
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Summary: Bottom of the line Apocrypha.
Review: The Bible I use-King James Version, by the way--doesn't have an Apocrypha in it, so I decided to pick up this copy, partly because this edition was the KJV version, and partly because it matched the size of my Bible. I'm in to the Bible so I am curious about anything and everything associated with the Book of Books. I find the canonization process to absolutely fascinating. Moreover, Thomas Aquinas, my favorite philosopher, frequently cites Apocryphal books in his writings, so it followed as a matter of course that I would want to get this book. This is a "bottom of the line" version of the Apocrypha. So it just has a table of contents, the text, and nothing else. There is no introductory essay or background material to help understand why the Apocrypha was left in or left out various editions of the Bible. There aren't any footnotes or an index, either. On the nicer side, the cover is a nice fire engine red, and the printing is wonderful-I haven't found any typos, or faded text. So this review isn't a complete slam. Moreover, since I relish Shakespeare, I also have an affinity for the King James Translation. It just seems authoritative, like when you read the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution! For more user-friendly version of the Apocrypha, I would recommend the Godspeed Translation, which has a modern English style, along the lines of the J. B. Phillips translation. The Cambridge NRSV Apocrypha has almost every conceivable Apocryphal book, such as Psalm 151, 3 and 4 Maccabees, and it is done in modern English style. The Apocrypha is a fun book. Yes, theology is fun, since it is a form of learning. You a given a better perspective on how things went between Malachi and Matthew, and are exposed to profound wisdom literature. If you like proverbs, read "The Wisdom of Solomon," or "Eccelsiasticus, or the Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach." My favorite book is Tobit, which has a wonderful Orphic love story.
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Summary: Clarification
Review: This is for those of you who may think that the Bible is complete, It is not, which is pointed out in the Bible in the Bible Dictionary under the topic of the Lost Books. "...The forgoing items attest to the fact that our present Bible does not contain all of the word of the Lord that he gave to his people in former times, and remind us that the Bible, in its present form is rather incomplete." As far as these books included in the Apocrypha are concerned, they are to be taken with a grain of salt so to speak. My reason for saying this is that as a Latter Day Saint (Mormon), I have revelation from a modern day prophet found in Doctrine and Covenants Section 91 that states the Apocrypha is mostly translated correctly, but contains many interpolations by the hands of men that are not true. However it benefits those enlightened by the Spirit. Yes the book is good and should be read by any who are curious and those who are ready to know.
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