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Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Henri Blocher on the Apocrypha

The following article is now available in PDF:

Henri Blocher, "Helpful or Harmful? The 'Apocrypha' and Evangelical Theology," European Journal of Theology 13.2 (2004): 81-90.

Abstract:
The argument is that the issue of the OT Apocrypha is not an insignificant one. The author lists historical reasons for seeing the canon as fixed in Judaism by the time of Jesus, whatever the state of various and conflicting collections of Greek Old Testament writings. Theological reasons for acknowledging the Hebrew canon include the Church’s need to acknowledge what Israel has passed on to her as canonical under God’s providence. The content of much of the Apocrypha leaves much to be desired. For all there is continuity of God’s providence between the times of the testaments there was also a pause in revelation. The New Testament comes as something new indeed, even if works such as the apocrypha illustrate the context into which God’s word was spoken, and can be seen as wit­ness to God’s uninterrupted providence.

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