historical context

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POLL: How should the Apocrypha be considered by Christians?

The Apocrypha or Deuterocanonical books are a number of books which do not appear in the modern Protestant Bible, although they were part of the King James Version at one time. These books still form an integral part of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church Bibles.

The Apocrypha were written primarily in the period between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The books are named: 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, the Letter of Jeremiah, Prayer of Manasseh, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees. The early Christian church debated the status of the Apocrypha and certain early church fathers held these writings in high esteem, while others rejected them as not being the inspired Word of God.

Tell us what you think:

Please take a few moments to vote in our poll below.

Your comments regarding why you think the Apocrypha should or should not be regarded as important would also be appreciated in the comment section below. They could be of assistance to other readers.

Many thanks

Grant Swart

  My apologies for the background picture (skulls!!!), I only noticed it after publishing!!
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Why would someone hate the word Exegesis? part 1

Someone said : I am really beginning to hate the word exegesis. What’s wrong with the word summary? It’s simple, easy to understand!

It made me think. Why would the word Exegesis be an issue for someone if they are christian? If one is a believer I believe it is important to understand the meaning of Exegesis before we study the Word of God. there is a big difference between the word summary and the word exegesis. Should Bible teachers now change using the word exegesis to summary?

Summary = Presenting the substance in a condensed form; concise: a summary review.

Exegesis = This is a Latin term relating to correct Biblical understanding. It means literally ‘to lead out’. In the context of studying the Bible it means to get out of the text what the text is saying. This may include a number of things to aid the process such as reading the context in the chapter, in the particular book as a whole eg. Jeremiah or Matthew and even where it fits within the whole Bible. It may also include cultural awareness, the timing of the writing, and identifying the author and even the target audience.

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