The usage of I'rotestantism is prepared by Carlstadt in his Pe canoniris scnpfuns, 1.V20. He reviews the opinions of Augustine and .lerorne. and sides with the bitter in respect both to the intiT- jtretation of the word and its api)lication to our A. Not uncertainty of authorsbij*, but simply noD-canonicity, is the meaning of the word apocry-
ne
APOCRYPHA
APOCRYPHA
ohcU. He applies the word to the books of our A. as an adjective, not as a title. Throui^h Protestant edd. of tne Bible, beginning with Luther, the word came, by a natural misunderstanding, to be re- garded aa the title of this particular collection, and the word ' pseudepigraplia' was used of the A. proper, which neither Jerome, Carlstadt, nor Luther thought of depriving of their old name.
On the other hand, the name ' Apocrypha,' to which a bad sense adhered, contributed to a gradu- ally diminishing regard for the books now so called.
Conclusions. — (1) The word apocryphal was used before the Eeformation quite consistently of a certain class of books, namely, the Jewish and Jewish - Christian Apocalypses, which we call Pseudepigrapha, and the Apocrypha of the NT, still 80 called, made up largely of the books of Gnostic and other sects. These are properly secret or hidden books in their formal claim and in their contents, if not originally in their actual use.
(2) Jewish Rabbis applied a synonymous word, genuzim, to books ' hidden,' i.e. withdrawn and withheld from public (synagogue) use by the Jewish authorities, and so made nncanonical. This 'hiding' (the verb is used more often than the adjective) might happen to books in no sense of hidden origin or meaning. Through Origen and Jerome, the Jewish word seems to have had some influence upon the Christian.
(3) The Catholic Church, however, did not first make books a"^ by excluding them from the Canon (the verb is not used), but it decided that the A. already existing under that name were not to be regarded as sacred scriptures, since publicity and universality were marks of genuineness and truth. The secret books of sects were, as such, spurious and false.
(4) It was therefore easy to forget that A. was the original name of these books, and to regard it as expressing the judgment of the Church concern- ing them. Those books were hidden which belonged to sects, which lacked common, open usage by the Church. A'^ meant, not received by the Church. But since books which the Church received were thereby proved apostolic, a non- apostolic and obscure origin was a mark of A.
(5) Protestantism went over to the Jewish usage, applying the word to the books withdrawn by it from the commonly accepted Canon, though this no longer meant withdrawn from public reading and common use, but only from full authority for doctrine. Protestants thus came to apply the word to books used with the canon in church service, not disapproved but recommended as good and useful, not secret or hidden in origin, meaning, or use. The evil name, however, helped to lower the first estimate of the books.
u. THE APOCRYPHA IN JUDAISM. — 1. Origin of the Collection. — In order to under- stand the origin and historical significance of the collection of Dooks which we call the A., it is necessary to survey the work of the Jewish scribe, for in the scribe the literary history of Judaism centres.
{a) The Work of the Jercish Scribes. — This can, in a general way, be divided into (A) the collecting and editing of the sacred books, (B) the production of new books. The transition between the two was made by the tr. or paraphrasing, and the interpretation of the sacred books. More particu- larly, (A) the scribes collected and edited (1) the Law ; (2) the Prophets, 'former' and 'latter' ; (,3) the re.st of the religious literature of the nation, the so- called Hagiographa. (B 1) In connexion with this 3rd Canon, which contains some independent work of the scribes, the production of other books of similar character was encouraged {e.ff. the A.); ;2) with the Maccalwean crisis came a revival of
pro]ihecy, and the production of books interpreting and imitating those of the 2nd Canon (apociilypses, or apocrypha proper) ; (3) the interpretation ot the 1st Canon, the Law, always a chief task of the scribes, was especially stimulated after the de- struction of Jerus., and resulted in the Mishna and Talmud.
The synagogue was the centre of the scribe's literary activity ; and the centre of the synagogue service was the Law. The religious instruction of the people in the religion of the law was his aim. His collection of other sacred books was for the sake of their public reading in the sj-nagogue service, in exposition and enforcement of the Law. Such public reading was the mark and meaning of canonicity. The translations (Targumim) and commentaries (Midrashim) that accompanied the reading were for the same end, the religious teach- ing of the community, and were free and oral before they were fixed in writing.
The order of the independent work of the scribes sketched above (B) reverses the order of their work as editors (A). This sequence is not to be over- pressed. The editing of the scribes involved, especi- ally at first, independent work, in the way of com- ment as well as selection and arrangement j on the other hand, their independent writing was always based on tradition. Perhaps in the case of none of the books of the scribes have we original works in the proper sense. The stories of hag^adists and the visions of seers are re\Tsion8 and elaborations of traditional material. Further, the three lines of independent work outlined existed side by side, and the order given is only that of the first preval- ence of each kind of work. Gr. influence favoured the first, the Maccab.tan reaction the second, and the fall of the nation the third. Of the products of the first kind, some gained admission into the 3rd Canon (Hagiographa), and so became the com mon property of Pal. and Alex. Judai-sm and Chris- tianity. But as they were especially congenial to Jews who fell most under Gr. influence, some of them were preserved, others contributed, by Alex. Jews. So far as they gained a place in the Gr. Bible, these, too, passed over to Christianity (the A.). Products of the 2nd class we have con- sidered under i. 1. Writings of the first and second kinds are called by Jews Haggada, while the third, the elaboration and definition of tlie Law, is called Halacha. The A., then, are to Vie viewed in close connexion, on the one side, with the Hagiographa, and, on the other, with later developments of the Je>vish Haggada.