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any failure in interpretation. In 1 Maccabees 4:26, 9:27 and 14:41 is an express
admission that there was no prophet among them.
The Apocrypha contains many fabulous statements, some unscriptural statements, and
some serious doctrinal inaccuracies. Josephus says:
"It is true, our history has been written since Artaxerxes, very particularly, but hath
not been esteemed of the like authority with the former by our forefathers, because there
hath not been a succession of prophets since that time" (Against Apion 1:8).
(3) There are evidences that a great literary activity sprang into being during the
Apostle's lifetime. (See Luke 1: 1 and II Thess. 2: 2). Some of these writings have
been collected under the title "The Apocryphal New Testament", and the best refutation
of them is found in comparing them with the writings of the N.T.
(4) Supposed quotations of Apocrypha in N.T. The Apostle Paul speaks of "Jannes
and Jambres" in II Tim. 3: 8, and it has been suggested that he quoted from the Targum
of Jonathan. There is however reason to believe that this Targum was not in existence in
the Apostle's day, and the fact that Numenius, Artapanus and Pliny mention these names,
makes it evident that it was a matter of common knowledge. Jude is supposed to have
quoted from the Apocryphal prophecy of Enoch (Jude 9 and 14), but once again the
passages are to be found loosely expressed in Rabbinical writings (see Surenhusius,
699-702). However, should Jude have actually quoted from an Apocryphal book, it
would no more place that book in the canon, than Paul's quotation from a heathen poet
(Acts 17: 28) would put Aratus among the prophets or Apostles.
(5) The value of the Apocrypha. The value of the Apocrypha is twofold. It supplies
a link that unites the days of Malachi with the dawn of the Christian era and it uses the
Koine Greek of the common people in which the N.T. was written. Unless therefore the
N.T. writers were going to invent a new language, it would be impossible for them to
avoid the phraseology of such popular religious writings.
(6) The Book of Wisdom and the Apostle Paul. To appreciate the extent of the
influence of this Apocryphal book upon the mind and language of the Apostle Paul, a
personal comparison of books and epistles is imperative, as in many instances the
influence though seen and felt defies quotation. The book of Wisdom is about the same
size as the Epistle to the Romans, and there are many parallels between these two
writings. For sake of space we will quote only from the book of Wisdom, leaving the
student to read the corresponding passages of the Epistle.
In Rom. 1: 19-23 the Apostle speaks of the heathen world and the evidences of the
being and nature of God, that are made clear from creation. The thirteenth chapter of
Wisdom contains the following:
"Surely vain are all men by nature, who are ignorant of God, and could not out of the
good things that are seen know Him that is; neither by considering the works did they
acknowledge the workmaster" (1,2). "For by the greatness and beauty of the creatures,
proportionally (analogus `by analogy') the Maker of them is seen" (5).