[sword-devel] The Quran & BoM (was Glossary vs. Dictionary)

[Chris Little]

On Thu, 29 Aug 2002, Jerry Hastings wrote:

> That would be _The Epistle of Barnabas_. That is not the first thing that 
> comes to my mind when I think of apocrypha. It is of course, but it depends 
> on who is saying it and what the context is. Anybody want to define terms 
> so we don't get confused and talk about two things at once when we think we 
> are talking about one. Also, I know some people who get kind of upset if 
> you call their Deuterocanoniclal books apocrypha. Anyway, it can be hard to 
> tell if everyone is on the same page. Then again, maybe we should save this 
> can of worms until after the new BibleCS release is out.

Good ideas.

Apocrypha generally refers to "Old Testament Apocrypha" which consist of 
the Catholic "Deuterocanon".  They're also considered canonical by 
Orthodox Christians.  Some people find the term "Apocrypha" offensive.  
Maybe they shouldn't, since that's what the books were called, long before 
some folks decided they were spurioius.  The term "intertestamentals" is 
also sometimes used, but that only applies well if you are talking about 
the Apocrypha as being in contrast to the OT & NT.  This term doesn't 
contrast well when you're talking about Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha.

Pseudepigrapha refers to "Old Testament Pseudepigrapha".  These are pieces
of literature that match the genre exhibited in the OT, such as histories,
prophesies, apocalypses, wisdom literature, psalms, etc., and discuss OT
themes, but that are not considered canonical by anyone.  The exception to
that is the Ethiopic Orthodox church, which considers Jubilees and 1Enoch
to be canonical.  There is no such thing as "New Testament
Pseudepigrapha".

New Testament Apocrypha are non-canonical books that match NT genre 
(gospels, epistles, infancy gospels, apocalypses, acts, etc.) and discuss 
NT themes.  The Epistle of Barnabas, Gospel of Thomas, etc. are New 
Testament Apocrypha.  No one considers these canonical, except for 
some gnostics and a couple of smaller sects, who each consider a few books 
canonical.

Then there are other Ancient Near Eastern texts worthy of consideration 
like Gilgamesh, the Enuma Elish, and generally anything you'd find in 
ANET.  They provide biblical parallels in neighboring cultures, but I'm 
fairly sure the last surviving believers of these materials died out a few 
millenia ago.

And finally, you're correct that we don't need to worry about this much.  
It's independent of the 1.5.4 release since we can release modules 
whenever & however we like.

--Chris