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Originally Posted by VirginiaHuguenot  And all the more is this so if it be true, as Metzger and many other scholars have contended, that Paul was familiar with Wisdom, James with Ecclesiasticus, John with Tobit, and the author of Hebrews (who may have been Paul) with 2 Maccabees.[11] For if these Apostles knew these apocryphal books this well and still refrained from quoting or mentioning them as Scripture, then it is doubly certain that they did not accord these books a place in the Old Testament canon. According to C. C. Torrey (AD 1945), however, only in the Epistle to the Hebrews is there clear evidence of a literary allusion to the Apocrypha.[12] |
Just in case anyone was interested in some of the passages from the Apocrypha which are spoken about in the quote above, I have copied and pasted some below that I found awhile back while reading through it. And I'd suggest that everyone reads through the Apocrypha if you have some extra time, many of the books are very interesting and shed light on various strands of Jewish thinking.
Quote:
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Metzger and many other scholars have contended, that Paul was familiar with Wisdom...
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Here's some of the passages that he might be referring to. In Wisdom 13 it says:
"For all people who were ignorant of God were foolish by nature; and they were unable from the good things that are seen to know the one who exists, nor did they recognize the artisan while paying heed to his works... And if people were amazed at their power and working, let them perceive from them how much more powerful is the one who formed them. For from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator... Yet again, not even they are to be excused; for if they had the power to know so much that they could investigate the world, how did they fail to find sooner the Lord of these things? But miserable, with their hopes set on dead things, are those who give the name ‘gods’ to the works of human hands, gold and silver fashioned with skill, and likenesses of animals, or a useless stone, the work of an ancient hand..."
It is definitely possible that Paul may be thinking of that passage when he writes this:
"For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles." (Rom 1:18-23)
Wisdom also speaks quite a bit about God's sovereignty, saying things like:
"For who will say, ‘What have you done?’
or will resist your judgement?" (Wis 12:12) "A potter kneads the soft earth
and laboriously moulds each vessel for our service,
fashioning out of the same clay
both the vessels that serve clean uses
and those for contrary uses, making all alike;
but which shall be the use of each of them
the worker in clay decides." (Wis 15:7)
Which appear to have been passages Paul was familiar with, and Paul may be thinking of these when he says:
"You will say to me then, 'Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?' But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, 'Why have you made me like this?' Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use?" (Rom 9:19-21) Quote:
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According to C. C. Torrey (AD 1945), however, only in the Epistle to the Hebrews is there clear evidence of a literary allusion to the Apocrypha.
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Maybe he is referring to these two passages, I don't know:
In Wisdom 7:25-26 it speaks of wisdom personified:
"She is the brightness of the everlasting light, the unspotted mirror of the power of God, and the image of his goodness."
And in Hebrews 1:3 Christ is spoken of similarly:
"He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature..."
The books in the apocrypha are also interesting in explaining other things, such as why we see Jesus in the temple at the feast of Dedication (John 10:22-23). Reading the story of the Maccabees sheds "light" on why Jews worshipped in the temple during this time (1 Mac.4:56-59).