God has blessed us with His inspired Word in the canon of Holy Scripture. From Genesis to Revelation, God has given us everything we need to establish the doctrine of His Church. Nevertheless, there are ecclesiastical texts that, while not inspired by the Holy Spirit, are still helpful in recording the history of God’s people and clarifying biblical contexts. Even Martin Luther retained many of these texts in his German translation of the Bible. Lutherans since have also included them in their daily lectionary. And the Jews in Jesus’ day made frequent use of them in their Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament).
This might explain why the Bible itself makes references to them. For example, when Jesus calls Himself “the Light of the world” (John 8:12), it’s in the context of Hanukkah which originated in 1 Maccabees. And the author of Hebrews refers to Tobit when he says, “some have entertained angels unawares” (13:2), and 2 Maccabees when Hebrews says, “women received back their dead, raised to life again” (11:35). Because these texts have been judged as worthwhile reading in the Church, yet not to detract from God’s inspired Word in Sunday Adult Bible Class, we would like to begin a supplemental Small Group Bible Study.
Concordia Publishing House (LCMS) has compiled The Apocrypha: The Lutheran Edition with Notes. It is available for purchase at $44.99 through its website (cph.org). This is a nice companion volume to your Lutheran Study Bible. However, a bare bones version of the texts is also available at no cost online via apocrypha.org.
Dates:
Sunday March 23 at 3:30 P.M.: Judith; Wisdom of Solomon; Tobit
Sunday April 27 at 3:30 P.M.: Ecclesiasticus (Sirach); Baruch; The Letter of Jeremiah
Sunday May 25 at 3:30 P.M.: 1 & 2 Maccabees
Location: Pastor Miller’s home (see church directory for address)
