Apocrypha

Dear Mike,
Why do you not have any series on the
Apocrypha/other books?

There is a simple response as to why I haven't devoted any time to these works. My goal has been to create a series of lessons for each book of the Bible. I've completed the New Testament portion of the Bible and am now working on the Old Testament books.

There are good reasons why these books never made it into the New Testament canon. None were written by Apostles or disciples of Apostles (like Mark and Luke who were closely associated with the Apostle Paul). In addition to this requirement most of these books were not recognized or circulated by the early church and were also found to have mistakes in doctrine as well as many deficiencies in writing style and structure.

There is, however, important historical information in some of these books about particular times not mentioned in the Bible (Ie. Books of the Maccabees which describe the Jewish rebellion against the Seleucid dynasty during the inter testament period). However, none of the books shed more light on the person of Christ, the gospel of salvation or the process of sanctification which are the key elements of the Christian faith.

Some Christian groups (Orthodox churches) refer to these sources as a basis for some of their practices but again, aside from academic interest there is very little reason that a Christian needs to know these books. Please know that in knowing the Scriptures you already have the knowledge that leads one to salvation and perfection in Christ (2 Timothy 3:15-16).