Intro

Welcome to Rediscovering the Bible. We are humbled and honored to be here with you. The purpose of this show is to To channel the authority of scripture by presenting the Bible to modern man from it’s origins. The Bible was not written to us but it was written for us.

This is our 3rd episode - all about extra-biblical writings. Well, not all but alot…

What do we care about extra-Biblical writings?

In short: because the Biblical authors read and heard works that are not in the Bible!
The fact that these forebears were interested in other literature should be a signal. If we want to understand what they wrote, and think the way they thought, we should consider these other writings.

History, commentary, and various other insights.

What are some extra-Biblical writings that were/are important to believers?

• Book of Enoch ~ an ancient text, popular among Bible-nerds, that dates prior to 300BC (when the Septuagint was made.)
• Gospel of Thomas ~ doubtful it was written by Thomas - it dates from the 3rd century.
• Apocrypha ~ the Roman Catholic Bible has these writings between the Old & New Testaments. They are historically valid and, to a certain degree, theologically valid.
• Targum, Rambam, Mishnah ~ Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh written after Jesus’ time. These are revered for valuable insights but one could be forgiven for recognizing their weirdness.
• Catechisms ~ many confessional traditions have a litany of question & answer literatures meant to teach basic spiritual truths. Many modern catechisms are rooted in older traditional works.
• Lost Books ~ there are many books referenced [by name] in the Bible that we no longer have:
  • The Tablets (twice); Exodus 32:15, Deuteronomy 9:10
  • The Book of Life; Exodus 32:32, Daniel 12:1, Revelation 2
  • The Wars of the LORD; Numbers 21:14
  • The Book of Jashar; Joshua 10:13, 2 Samuel 1:18
  • The Acts of Solomon; 1 Kings 11:41
  • The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel; 1 Kings 14:19, 1 Kings 15:31, 1 Kings 16:5,14,20,27, 1 Kings 22:39, 2 Kings 1:18, 2 Kings 10:34, 2 Kings 13:8,12, 2 Kings 14:15,28, 2 Kings 15:11,15,21,26,31
  • The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah; 1 Kings 14:29, 1 Kings 15:23, 1 Kings 22:45, 2 Kings 8:23
  • Those Who Fear; Malachi 3:16, 2 Kings 12:19, 2 Kings 14:18, 2 Kings 15:6,36, 2 Kings 16:19,20, 2 Kings 21:17,25, 2 Kings 23:28, 2 Kings 24:5
  • Various; 2 Chronicles 9:29, 2 Chronicles 12:15
  • Abijah; 2 Chronicles 13:22
  • Jehu; 2 Chronicles 20:34
  • Chronicles of the Seers; 2 Chronicles 33:19
• Commentaries; the modern age bleeds literature - including Bibilical and spiritual Christian commentaries and studies.
• Songs; these may reinforce and espouse doctrine but do not establish doctrine.
• Biblical quotes of external writings
  • Paul refers to his other letters (which we don’t have)
    • Ephesians 3:3
    • 1 Corinthians 5:9
  • Several quotes of passages that may be extra-biblical, or may be paraphrases
    • Matthew 2:23
    • 1 Corinthians 15:45 ?~ Genesis 2:7
    • 1 Corinthians 2:9 ?~ Isaiah 64:4
    • Luke 24:46 ?~ Hosea 6:2
    • Mark 9:12 ?~ Isaiah 53

How should we rank these writings?

1. Works that the Bible quotes
2. Works that quote the Bible
3. Works that reference Biblical narrative or vice versa.
4. Works that have a common theme and theology
5. Works that are not detrimental
6. Works that are dubious or notorious

what about the others involved?

The Bible has dozens of original authors. Also, likely, hundreds of people compiled and edited the original source texts. What we have now is a divinely inspired canon.

. Editors . Copyists . scribes . canon (authorities, councils) . Councile of Jamnia . Council of Carthage

Egress

Thank you for joining us today for our dive into Rediscovering the Bible.

More information, including study notes, can be found at rtb.para.church; also, direct questions and content requests to rtb@cypressfellowship.org

You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.

Good day and God bless.