The Apocrypha And Various Biblical Books Discussion Paper

The Apocrypha And Various Biblical Books Discussion Paper

Read one (1) of these Apocrypha books: Tobit, Judith, or 1 Maccabees. Give your impressions about the similarities and differences you see between the Apocrypha and various biblical books. You can find these books at www.newadvent.org/bible Links to an external site.. They are found under the Old Testament: Old Testament History column.

INSTRUCTIONS: Your Reflection Paper is to be between 500-750 words in length (about 1-2 pages) following MLA format and submitted as a Microsoft Word compatible document (.doc or .docx)The Apocrypha And Various Biblical Books Discussion Paper. If you cite source material, include a Works Cited page, but do not include the Works Cited in the total requirement for the assignment.

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There are several ancient religious texts that are disregarded by the standard Protestant Bible. These books are, nonetheless, included in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles. Commonly referred to as the Apocrypha, these texts were written in the period between the old and new testaments. For the most part, these books provide historical accounts, offer poetry of religious nature and moral teachings to Christians. The aim of this short report is co conduct an analysis of one of the Apocrypha texts, the Book of Judith, by comparing and contrasting it with other religious books.

The Book of Judith

The book of Judith is centered on the life of a woman by the name Judith who is depicted as a courageous leader of his community by gong to great lengths to protect them from enemies (Mroczek 390). In particular, the book demonstrates how Judith wittingly and intelligently defied the onslaughts of different enemies to ultimately wade them off and guarantee the safety of her community. There are several similarities and differences that emerge between this book and other religious texts in the standard Protestant Bible. The first evident similarity is the emphasis placed on faith and trust in God. Throughout the Bible, faith is presented as a strong them and a concept that defines the relationship between humanity and God. Similarly, the Book of Judith demonstrates the role faith played in guiding Judith’s decisions in life especially as it pertained to guiding her community. The books of Psalm and Proverbs are entire dedications to the teachings of faith in much the same way the book of Judith was written. A second evident similarity is the use of imagery and metaphors in both the Bible and the book of Judith (Mroczek 389)The Apocrypha And Various Biblical Books Discussion Paper. In a bid to convey important messages and communication and considering that everything in the Bible is done in text, imagery and metaphors are harnessed in both categories of books. In the book of Judith for instance, trees are used metaphorically to depict faith in God. The book narrates that trees provide shades to people who seek residences under them. This, as explained by Mroczek, alludes to the idea that those who seek protection from God and are faithful ultimately find peace and protection (387). The biblical books of Isiah, Ezekiel and Ruth use similar symbolic language to express the power and might of God with each of these using symbols and metaphors to achieve it.

There are, nonetheless, as many differences as there are similarities between these sets. While the books of the standard bible are included within the protestant bible, the book of Judith, like the other Apocrypha texts, is not. The justification for this is that this book was not part of the original Hebrew Bible. Instead, the book of Judith was written in Greek during the Hellenistic period leading many Protestant Christians at the time to disregard it by claiming that it was a non-canonical work. A second difference is that there are noticeable historical inaccuracies and anachronisms in the Book of Judith that do not align with other texts in the Protestant Bible. The book of Judith claims that Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon and that he ruled over the Assyrians. This is contradictory because written in other books of the Bible is that Babylonians and Assyrians were two different empires and, more interestingly, existed in two different periods (Korpman 74)The Apocrypha And Various Biblical Books Discussion Paper. Suffice to say, the fact that the texts in the Protestant Bible are accurate and consistent in the historical accounts places a high level of doubt on the authenticity of the book of Judith and other Apocrypha texts.

Works Cited

Korpman, Matthew J. “The Protestant Reception of the Apocrypha.” The Oxford Handbook of the Apocrypha (2021): 74.

Mroczek, Eva. “Hidden Scriptures, Then and Now: Rediscovering “Apocrypha”.” Interpretation 72.4 (2018): 383-395. The Apocrypha And Various Biblical Books Discussion Paper