Invitation to the Apocrypha

Rating:
Summary: Cliff's Notes For The Apocrypha
Review: The Apocrypha are 16 books (or parts of books) contained in and accepted as canonical in one or more Christian Bibles (Roman Catholic, Orthodox or Slavonic), but not contained in the Hebrew Bible. (The Roman Catholic apocryphal works are often printed in Protestant Bibles, but are identified as the Apocrypha and are not considered canonical.)

Harrington provides a concise introduction to each of the books in the Apocrypha. For each book, he provides a one or two page summary of scholarship on the historical origins and themes of the text. He then summarizes the text itself. Finally, he gives a *very* brief indication of the "significance" of the text -- what theological issues does it address, what concerns has it raised for commentators, what influence has it had (both for Christians and for Jews).

The summaries of the texts account for 80% or more of the book, and while the summaries help identify themes and structure, they add very little to the texts themselves. I found the book disappointing, because I was looking for more depth on the historical background and subsequent significance of the Apocrypha. If you are looking for a very basic, short introduction to these texts, however, this book fits the bill.

Rating:
Summary: Cliff's Notes For The Apocrypha
Review: The Apocrypha are 16 books (or parts of books) contained in and accepted as canonical in one or more Christian Bibles (Roman Catholic, Orthodox or Slavonic), but not contained in the Hebrew Bible. (The Roman Catholic apocryphal works are often printed in Protestant Bibles, but are identified as the Apocrypha and are not considered canonical.)

Harrington provides a concise introduction to each of the books in the Apocrypha. For each book, he provides a one or two page summary of scholarship on the historical origins and themes of the text. He then summarizes the text itself. Finally, he gives a *very* brief indication of the "significance" of the text -- what theological issues does it address, what concerns has it raised for commentators, what influence has it had (both for Christians and for Jews).

The summaries of the texts account for 80% or more of the book, and while the summaries help identify themes and structure, they add very little to the texts themselves. I found the book disappointing, because I was looking for more depth on the historical background and subsequent significance of the Apocrypha. If you are looking for a very basic, short introduction to these texts, however, this book fits the bill.

Rating:
Summary: A book that is long overdue
Review: This book represents the first survey of the Apocrypha since Bruce metzger's Introduction to the Apocrypha in 1957. This is also the only survey of the Apocrypha that includes 3 and 4 Maccabees and Psalm 151, which are included in the Bible of the Orthodox churches. Daniel Harrington only very briefly discusses the history of the canonical status of these books; one should look elsewhere for further information on this subject. The focus of the book is a summary of each of the 18 books of the Apocrypha. Here the author does an outstanding job; providing for each book background information, a well written and thorough summary of the contents, and the significance of that book. The author is clearly knowledgeable about and familiar with these books. The author's focus on the issue of suffering in the books of the Apocrypha further adds to the value of this book. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in finding out more about the contents of the books of the Apocrypha.