View source for TerryHomePage:The Apocrypha

{{TerryHomePage}}


<center><big>'''THE APOCRYPHA'''</big></center>


<center><big>'''FOREWARD'''</big></center>

The Apocrypha is a series of books, written between B.C. 250 and B.C. 100, which exemplify  the “superstitious” “traditions,” “imaginations,” and “commandments of men” which Jesus and Paul warned against (Acts 17:22, Matt. 15:9, Rom. 1:21, Gal. 1:14).... Some point to the inclusion of Apocryphal Old Testament books in [some early] Bibles.... All pure Bibles viewed these books as non-canonical and said so in their preface. 

[Some] current Study Bibles, like the Scofield Reference Bible (“From Malachi to Matthew”) and Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible (“Between the Testaments”) include a section between the Old Testament and the New Testament, explaining the events, history and beliefs of the intertestamental period.... No one today thinks that Scofield’s notes are a part of the Bible, just as no true Christian in 1611 thought that the Apocrypha was a part of the Bible. '''Bible Prologues stated ‘up front’ that the Apocrypha was not scripture. The Great Bible’s Prologue stated that the Apocrypha was not “found in the Hebrew” Bible. Wycliffe’s Prologue said that the Apocrypha “is, without authority.” Luther’s Bible (1534 ed.) stated that the Apocrypha is “not to be considered as equal to Holy Scriptures.” The early Westminster Confession of Faith stated that the Apocrypha is “no part of the Canon of Scripture; and therefore are of no authority in the church of God; nor to be any otherwise approved, or make use of, than other human writings.” The KJV translators said that the Apocrypha was not scripture because it was not written in Hebrew, nor ever accepted by the Jews or early Christians, nor ever mentioned by Jesus Christ -- because it detailed those “superstitious” “traditions” which Jesus and Paul warned about. '''

Early Bibles, including the KJV, placed numerous non- Biblical items within the binding of the Bible for practical reasons. They included things like calendars, genealogies, maps, gazetteers, metrical Psalms for singing, and the Apocrypha (which shed light on just exactly what “superstitions” and “traditions” were being followed by the Jews). Even today Bibles include concordances, dictionaries, notes, histories, commentaries, and cross references. No one mistakes these for being equal to the scriptures. In 1611 and before, few people had a collection of books; most owned only one book, the Bible. Binding other materials within it served a practical need.... 

Unlike pure early English Bibles, such as the KJV 1611 which separated the Apocrypha from the Bible, the corrupt Catholic bibles (e.g. New Jerusalem Bible) and their manuscripts (e.g. Vaticanus from which the TNIV, ESV, HCSB NIV, and NASB are translated) intersperse these corrupt books among those of the Bible. Rather than including them as a warning of exactly what “commandments of men” Jesus was warning about, these corrupt versions placed Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees after the book of Nehemiah; they placed Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus following the Song of Solomon and Baruch following Lamentations. The Song of Azariah, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon are included in the book of Daniel. Why? The Catholic church has adopted the “traditions of men” expounded in these books. Some of the heresies included in these books include the following taken from the New Jerusalem Bible: 


#  “[A]lmsgiving expiates sins” and “almsgiving saves from death and purges every kind of sin” (Ecclesiasticus 3:30, Tobit 12:9).  
#  Purgatory, and prayers for the dead (2 Maccabees 12:39-45).  
#  “[T]orments and the rack...irons” for the “disobedient” (Ecclesiasticus 33:24-29).  
#  The immaculate conception for Mary; reincarnation and transmigration of souls for New Agers and Hindus (Wisdom 8:19, 20).  
#  Monism and pantheism. “For your imperishable spirit is in everything!” (Wisdom 12:1). Even new versions changes, like the NKJV’s “God is spirit” (John 4:24) echo the New Age concept that god is in “everything.”  


<center>Since Catholic bibles include the Apocrypha as scripture, it becomes vital that Bibles no longer include it, even as history.</center>


<center>[http://www.angelfire.com/la2/prophet1/inaweofthyword.html Excerpt from IN AWE OF THY WORD]</center>
  

<center><big>'''THE APOCRYPHA'''</big></center>

  
'''The word "apocrypha" means "hidden" or "concealed," but after c. 450 A.D. came to refer to the non-canonical books, especially those of the Old Testament period. '''


Consideration of the Apocrypha usually centers around the highly contentious issue of additional books contained in Roman Catholic bibles, and, more increasingly, in several modern Protestant versions.

=The Nature of the Apocrypha= 

The Apocrypha consists of 15 books of Jewish literature written during the intertestamental period. Some of them have historic value, but all are spurious, of unknown authorship, and without claim of inspiration or authority. Some are legendary and fantasy. Many of them are written to reinforce post-exilic Jewish opposition to idolatry. 

All extant copies of the Apocrypha are written in Greek. 

 
=The List of the Apocrypha= 

The following list gives the books referred to as the Apocrypha:

{| border="1"
| '''Book''' || '''Date''' || '''Type'''
|-
| Wisdom of Solomon || 30 B.C. || Didactic
|- 
| Ecclesiasticus || 32 B.C. || Didactic
|-
| Tobit || c. 200 B.C. || Religious novel
|-
| I Esdras || c. 150 B.C. || Historic & legendary
|-
| I Maccabees || c. 110 B.C. || Historic
|-
| II Maccabees. || c. 100 B.C || Historic & legendary
|-
| Judith || c. 150 B.C. || Romantic novel
|-
| Baruch || c. 100 A.D. || Prophetic
|-
| Letter of Jeremiah || c. 200 B.C. || Prophetic
|-
| II Esdras || c. 100 A.D. || Prophetic
|-
| Additions to Esther || c. 130 B.C. || Legendary
|-
| Prayer of Azariah* || c. 100 B.C. || Legendary
|-
| Suzanna (Daniel 13)|| c. 100 B.C. || Legendary
|-
| Bel & The Dragon (Daniel 14) || c. 100 B.C. || Legendary
|-
| Prayer of Manassah || c. 150 B.C. || Legendary
|-
|}
<br>


* The "Prayer of Azariah" is also called the "Song of the Three Hebrew Children," and follows after Daniel 3:23.

=The acceptance of the Apocrypha= 

As a general summary: 

The Jews do not accept the Apocrypha as part of their Scriptures. 
Protestants do not accept the Apocrypha as Scripture, though some ascribe to them value as "good and useful reading" and "for example of life and instruction of manners." 
The Roman Catholic 'Church' in effect accepts 12 of the apocryphal books as canonical (omitting I & II Esdras and the Prayer of Manassah from the above list.) Because of this the Roman Catholic 'Church' speaks of the Apocrypha as "deutero-canonical" books, and in turn labels as apocrypha what we may term "pseudoepigraphical" books." 
 

=The includion of the Apocrypha= 

The Apocrypha are contained in the following: 

a. [[w:Septuagint|The Septuagint]] (LXX) 

::Except II Esdras. 

b. [[w:Codex Alexandrinus|Codex Alexandrinus]] (A) 

::Also contains III & IV Maccabees 

c. [[w:Codex Vaticanus|Codex Vaticanus]] (B) 

::Except I & II Maccabees and The Prayer of Manassah 

d. [[w:Codex Sinaiticus|Codex Sinaiticus]] (Aleph) 

e. [[w:Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus|Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus]] (C) 

::Includes Wisdom of Solomon and Ecclesiasticus 

f. [[w:Chester Beatty Papyri|Chester Beatty Papyri]]

::Fragments of Ecclesiasticus 

g. [[w:Dead Sea Scrolls|The Dead Sea Scrolls]] 

::Some apocryphal writing was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls - interestingly written in Greek. 


In general, the Apocrypha were more favoured by the Western (Latin) Church Fathers. For example, [[w:Irenaeus|Irenaeus]] (115-200 A.D.) quoted from the Book of Wisdom. 

However, in the East, [[w:Clement of Alexandria|Clement of Alexandria]] (150-217 A.D.) recognized II Esdras. Origen (185-254 A.D.) inserted II Esdras, the Maccabees, and the Letter of Jeremiah to his canonical list. 

[[w:Jerome|Jerome]] (340-420 A.D.) reluctantly inserted Judith, Tobit, the Additions to Esther, and the Additions to Daniel into his Latin Vulgate after some "friendly" pressure. The rest of the apocryphal books were added to the Vulgate after his demise. 

'''The most influential benefactor of the Apocrypha was [[w:Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] (354-420 A.D.), the "Father of corrupt theology." He influenced the Councils of Hippo (393 A.D.) and Carthage (397 A.D.) to declare the Apocrypha canonical. ''' In his usual form, Augustine also saw to it that any opposition to the Apocrypha was suppressed.

=[[w:Council of Trent|Council of Trent]]=

The Apocrypha were formally canonized by the Roman Catholic 'Church' on April 8, 1546 A.D. at the [[w:Council of Trent|Council of Trent]]. 

The Council of Trent was actually a series of 3 Church councils held between 1545 and 1563 A.D. and dominated by the newly-formed Jesuits. It was called as an integral part of the counter-Reformation which had begun 28 years earlier, sparked by Martin Luther. The Papal bull convening this council required 3 things: 

* The defining of Catholic dogma 
* The reformation of Catholic 'Church' life 
* The extermination of heresy 

'''One of the catch-cries of the Reformation was 'sola-Scriptura' (i.e., "The Bible says!!"). In order for the Roman Catholics to say the same thing, the Apocrypha were added to give "Scriptural" proof for their false teachings. '''

The resolution of the Council was: "...if anyone receives not as sacred and canonical the said books entire with all their parts, as they have been used to be read in the Catholic Church...let him be anathema (accursed!)." 

Some of the unscriptural Catholic doctrines supported by the Apocrypha are: 

:a. Purgatory - II Maccabees 12:39-45 

:b. Salvation by Almsgiving - Ecclesiasticus 3:30 

'''Other unscriptural things found in these books are the justification of suicide (II Maccabees 14:43-46), slavery and cruelty (Ecclesiasticus 33:24-28), and [[911:New_Age_agenda#Future_Life_.28Reincarnation.29|reincarnation]] (Wisdom of Solomon 8:19-20). Lying, assassination and [[911:Black Magic|magical incantations]] are also approved. '''

The Rheims-Douay Version (1582 A.D.) lists 7 additional books, adds to Esther and Daniel, and combines the "Letter of Jeremiah" with "Baruch" -- thus including 12 of the 15 apocryphal books to the Old Testament. 

The Council was selective in this exercise, because it did not include II Esdras, which in its chapter 7:105 speaks against prayers for the dead!

=The includion of the Apocrypha in english versions= 

Many of the early English versions contained the Apocrypha, for two basic reasons - because of the general acceptance of the Apocrypha during the Dark Ages, and/or (in case of the Authorized, King James Version) for Scriptural analysis. 

In each case, the Apocrypha were delineated either in an appendix and/or with an explanation showing them to be non-canonical.

#Tyndale's Bible (1525 A.D.) places them by themselves as "uninspired." 
#Coverdale's Bible (1535 A.D.) does likewise, and with the following title: 
#"Apocrifa. The bokes & treatises which amonge the Fathers of old are not rekened to be of authorite with the other bokes of the Byble, neither are the foude in the Canon of the Hebrews." (1) 
#Matthew's Bible (1537 A.D.) and Taverner's Bible (1539 A.D.) place the Apocrypha between the Testaments. 
#The Authorized, King James Version (1611), like the Great Bible, (1539 A.D.), the Geneva Bible (1560 A.D.) and the Bishop's Bible (1568 A.D.) before it, places them in an appendix. 
Apocrypha began to be omitted from the Authorized Version in 1629, and by 1827 were excluded permanently.

=Arguments for the includion of the Apocrypha= 

The following arguments are most generally advanced for granting the Apocrypha canonical authority: 

::a. The New Testament alludes to Apocryphal events. 

Hebrews 11:35 is thought to refer to II Maccabees & and 12. (In actual fact, it is referring to I Kings 17:22 and II Kings 4:35.) 

Jude 14 cites the pseudepigraphical book of Enoch. Does it? It cites Enoch, whose words the Holy Ghost knew. 

II Timothy 3:8 is also supposed to refer to some Apocryphal literature. Again, the Holy Spirit can reveal the names of the Egyptian magicians when He chooses. 

b. Early Manuscripts include the Apocrypha. 

::More will be said about this later. 

c. Early Christian art includes Apocryphal scenes. 

::So?!? 

d. Early Church Fathers cited them and listed them as Canonical. 

::More will be said about this later.

=Arguments against the canonicity of the Apocrypha= 

#They are not, and have never been, in the Jewish canon.
::Josephus explicitly excluded them from his list.
::Philo (20 B.C.-50 A.D.) neither mentions or quotes them.
#They were never quoted or alluded to by Jesus Christ or any of the apostles. The sermons in the Book of Acts, which outline #Jewish history, do not include apocryphal events. 
#Jewish scholars meeting at the Council of Jabneh did not recognize them. 
#Most Church Fathers in fact rejected them. 
#None of the Apocrypha claim inspiration or divine authority. 
#Many of the Apocryphal books contain historical, geographical, and chronological errors. 
#Many of the Apocryphal books teach heresy, contrary to the Word of God. 
#Their literary style is legendary and fantasy. Some stories are grotesque and demonic. 
#They lack the power and distinctive elements of the Word of God. 


=Supplementary Note=

By moving from a word based culture to an image based culture with “superstitious” “traditions” and “commandments of men”, (some of which are contained in the Apocrypha, which Jesus and Paul warned against (Acts 17:22, Matt. 15:9, Rom. 1:21, Gal. 1:14), the “holy” Roman church deceived and conquered people during the Dark Ages for 1000 years by replacing the words of Scripture with the use of rituals and images (statues, symbols, relics, etc.), and by forbidding the common man from owning a copy of the Scriptures. In 1647 the American Colony of Connecticut along with the Colony of Massachusetts passed the Old Deluder Satan Law to prevent the abuse of power over an illiterate population ignorant of the true scriptures, as had been the case in Catholic countries in Europe and abroad. The law stated: “It being one chiefe project of that old deluder, Sathan, to keepe men from the knowledge of the scriptures, as in former time.... It is therefore ordered...[that] after the Lord hath increased [the settlement]... to teach all such children as shall resorte to him, to write and read....” (America's God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations, p. 179). 

The Roman Emperor Constantine (AD 306-337), who in 312 A.D. professed his “conversion” to Christianity, sought to unite paganism with Christianity and established the Roman Catholic Church at the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325 with the help of Origen's corrupt bible. Constantine's life and conduct were a mixture of Christianity and paganism. He had his eldest son, Crispus, and his second wife, Fausta, put to death. Constantine was the Roman empire's first ever ‘Christian’ Pontifex Maximus (the pagan title meant supreme pontiff or chief priest at Rome; this honor was retained by Constantine until his death and perpetuated in our day by the ‘Holy Father’ himself). Pope Innocent III (circa 1198 A.D.) was the first who instituted the office of the inquisition: the slaughter of countless thousands of innocent Bible believing Christians was the result of this ‘holy’ inquisition. During the Reformation period (circa 16th century) while Protestants were exposing the corrupt doctrines and false teachings of the Roman church and educating the public with the true Scriptures, this same “holy” Roman church, by "divine" decree, persecuted and executed (murdered) many of her opponents (in 1508 - Lawrence Guale... was burnt alive... for denying the real presence in the Sacrament; Richard Hunn... refused to pay the priest his fees for the funeral of a child... and was... murdered; in 1519 - Thomas Mann was burnt in London, as was one Robert Celinfor... for speaking against image worship and pilgrimages; in 1541 - being before the bishop of London, Dr. Barnes was asked whether the saints prayed for us? To this he answered, that "he would leave that to God; but (said he) I will pray for you." ... these men were brought from the Tower to Smithfield, where they were all chained to one stake; and there suffered death; priests told the people that whoever brought fagots (bundles of sticks) to burn heretics would have an indulgence to commit sins for forty days; sheriffs, encouraged and “justified” by the Roman Catholic church, always seized the goods of the martyrs for their own use, so that their wives and children were left to starve (the list goes on and on – read Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Condemned as obstinate heretics, some Christian martyrs were guilty of no other offence against what was called the “holy Mother Church”, than that of reading Tyndale's English translation of the New Testament. 

By the grace of God, King James I of England narrowly escaped being executed in 1605. Several Roman Catholics “had taken an oath to assassinate him and the members of the House of Commons. Their pledge was sealed with a solemn communion service, served by a Jesuit priest, Father John Gerard.... On the morning of the plot's unfolding, urgent messages were to be sent to the pro-Catholic members of parliament calling them away from their unsuspecting presence in harms way.” The plot was discovered in the nick of time when “on November 5th, British security agents discovered the suspicious presence of Guy Fawkes (or, as he preferred, Guido Fawkes), a Catholic soldier of fortune, positioned outside the cellar door of Westminster Palace.” “Hidden beneath... the very spot where James would be standing in just a few hours, thirty-six barrels of gunpowder were uncovered by the astonished members of the King's secret service. A tinder box and matches were found on Fawkes' person.” When “summoned to face the council in the royal bedchamber at Whitehall Palace”, Fawkes “appeared unmoved”, expressing his only regret was that he had “failed to blow the Scottish king and his Scottish followers back to Scotland where they belonged.” Months of investigations revealed a circle of conspirators which included Thomas Winter, Thomas Percy, John Wright, Guy Fawkes, Robert Catesby, a Jesuit priest, Father Henry Garnet. Three of the collaborators died in a shoot out with authorities. The remaining conspirators were later tried and convicted of their diabolical scheme. (Sermons of The Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, 1859, p. 152; The Story of Civilization, Ariel and Will Durant, Vol. 7, p. 141; Tower of London, Christopher Hibbert, p. 86; Final Authority, William Grady, p. 188,189; The Men Behind The King James Version, Gustavus S. Paine, p. 88) (see also The Gunpowder Treason, 1609; The History of The Gunpowder Plot, 1804). 

Unlike the Roman Catholic church, who's official policy was to torture and murder those who rejected its authority and spoke out against its false doctrines, King James the VI of Scotland & I of England was against such sadistic practices, stating, “I will never allow in my conscience that the blood of any man shall be shed for diversity of opinion in religion, but I would be sorry that Catholics should so multiply as that they might be able to practise their old principles upon us.”(The Cecil Family, George R. Dennis, 1914, p. 184). The Jesuits, or the society of Jesus, so called, founded by Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) in Paris, France in 1534 (confirmed by pope Paul III in 1540) was a society known for their cunning in propagating their principles and using craftiness and deceit to infiltrate non-Catholic countries and Protestant churches and institutions to seduce people back to the Roman church. The fact that Jesuitism and deceit are synonymous is telling in and of itself. Webster's Dictionary defines Jesuitism as “Cunning; deceit; deceptive practices to effect a purpose;” (America Dictionary of the English Language, 1828, 1860, 1911; Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913, 1998). 

History confirms that the Jesuit organization has well earned its corrupt reputation. Webster's Universal Dictionary says: “The power of the organization lies largely in its close scrutiny into affairs, its secret methods.... For the means it has sometimes employed to accomplish its purposes in statecraft it has been condemned as unscrupulous in intrigue and deceptive in purpose, tending to the subversion of legitimate government.” (Webster's Universal Dictionary, 1904). Historian Edmond Paris commenting on the Jesuit organization wrote: “It is the same today; the 30,000 official members of the Society operate all over the world in the capacity of her personnel, officers of a truly secret army containing in its ranks heads of political parties, high ranking officials, generals, magistrates, physicians, Faculty professors, etc., all of them striving to bring about, in their own sphere,“l'Opus dei”, God's work, in reality the plans of the papacy.” (Secret History, Paris, pp. 27,30). 

The Jesuit Society was first established in the United States in 1807. In 1816 John Adams wrote to Thomas Jefferson stating, “I am not happy about the rebirth of the Jesuits. Swarms of them will present themselves under more disguises ever taken by even the Bohemians, as printers, writers, publishers, school teachers, etc. If ever an association of people deserved eternal damnation, on this earth and in hell, it is this Society of Loyola” (Secret History, p.75). In 1864, speaking about the papacy's hatred of Protestantism and American democracy, President Abraham Lincoln said, “This civil war seems to be nothing but a political affair to those who do not see, as I do, the secret springs of that terrible drama. But it is more a religious than a civil war. It is Rome who wants to rule and degrade the North, as she has ruled and degraded the South, from the very day of its discovery. There are only very few of the Southern leaders who are not more or less under the influence of the Jesuits through their wives, family relations, and their friends.” Lincoln said that “if the American people could learn what I know of the fierce hatred of the generality of the priests of Rome against our institutions, our schools, our most sacred rights, and our so dearly bought liberties, they would drive them away to-morrow, from among us, or they would shoot them as traitors.” (Fifty Years in the Church of Rome, Charles Chiniquy, 1889, pp. 696, 697). (Lincoln was assassinated April 15, 1865. Some of the people who were alive at the time of Lincoln's murder witnessed first hand the physical evidence and the verbal testimony of those involved in the crime. And many of these people, the witnesses of history, justifiably held strong convictions that the papacy played a role in Lincoln's assassination) (See also The Jesuit Connection, and The Suppressed Truth, and Assassination of President Lincoln, and The Suppressed Truth about the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and Rome's Responsibility for the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and The Assassination of Lincoln, 1900, and Assassination of Lincoln; A History of The Great Conspiracy, 1892) 

While some Protestants may have spoken out against papal tyranny and broke and burned Catholic idols, Catholics persecuted, tortured and burned alive at the stake many Protestant Christians. To compare, as some Catholic apologists have done, the decapitation of statues made of wood or stone with the decapitation of living human beings, and to compare the burning of idols made of wood or stone with the burning of living human beings is utterly absurd and profoundly disturbing, to say the least. 

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath... Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God” (Ex. 20:4,5). 
“Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female” (Deut. 4:16). 

“And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.” (Revelation 22:8,9). 
 


Most Catholics know little or nothing about the true history of their church, as the church hierarchy have done its best to conceal these disturbing facts and re-write its own history. Even Roman Catholic scholars confirm this fact. Roman Catholic historian John Acton (1834-1902), commonly known as Lord Acton, wrote: “The Council instituted the index of prohibited books, which is the fourth article in the machinery of resistance.... A German divine warned the Pope that if the fathers of Trent were allowed to read Lutheran books they would become Lutherans themselves, and such writings were accordingly forbidden even to cardinals and archbishops. The idea of drawing up a comprehensive list of all that no man should read commended itself to the zeal of Caraffa, having been suggested to him by Della Casa, who had published such a list at Venice.... A congregation was appointed to examine new publications, to issue decrees against them as required, and to make out catalogues from time to time of works so condemned. Besides this, censures were also pronounced by the Pope himself, the Inquisition, the Master of the Sacred Palace, and the Secretary of the Index, separately. In this way an attempt was made to control what people read, committing to oblivion the works of Protestant scholars, and of such men as Machiavelli, and correcting offensive texts, especially historians. Several such corrected editions were published at the time, and many things were reprinted with large omissions.” (Lectures on Modern History, ed. John Neville Figgis and Reginald Vere Laurence, London: Macmillan, 1906). Being unfamiliar with much of their church's history and not knowing the true Scriptures or the true nature of Apocryphal material some Catholic apologists boast of the acceptance of the Apocrypha by the early Romish church, citing such statements as: 


(Council of Rome [A.D. 382]) 
"Now indeed we must treat of the divine Scriptures, what the universal Catholic Church accepts....Canticle of Canticles, one book; likewise Wisdom, one book; Ecclesiasticus, one book ... Tobit, one book;... Judith, one book; Maccabees, two books" (Decree of Pope Damasus)." 

(Council of Hippo [A.D. 393]) 
"[It has been decided] that.... the Canonical Scriptures are ... Tobit, Judith, ... two books, Maccabees . . ." (canon 36). 

(Council of Carthage III [A.D. 397]) 
"[It has been decided] that.... the Canonical Scriptures are...Tobit, Judith, ... two books of Esdras, two books of the Maccabees . . ." (canon 47). 
 
Jesus said, “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, 
saying, I am Christ [Gr. anointed (a priest)]; and shall deceive many.” (Matthew 24:4,5). 
The 1953 Book OF Common Prayer of the Episcopal church in America describes Catholic Masses and Transubstantiation as “blasphemous fables, and dangerous deceits.”(Article 31, p. 609). In 1765 Jonathan Mayhew, a Congregationalist minister, Harvard graduate and Pastor of The West Church in Boston, published a sermon entitled “Popish Idolatry.” In this sermon Mayhew addressed, among other idolatrous practices, the popish doctrine of transubstantiation. In his published sermon, Mayhew stated, 

“The Romanists do not pretend to deny, but that all the five senses bear testimony against it, as much as they possibly could if it were false, or if the bread and wine remained after the juggling, hocus-pocus trick, which they term consecration.... For the truth of the Christian revelation itself depends on the truth of certain facts, by which there was an appeal made to the senses of men; particularly the miracles and resurrection of our Saviour.... Thus does the church of Rome, by this doctrine, subvert the very foundations of Christianity.... transubstantiation is the grossest imposition and insult, that ever the priesthood itself put upon the superstitious credulity of mankind. This doctrine then, being plainly false, the church of Rome is certainly guilty of idolatry, in worshipping the eucharist as true God.” (Popish Idolatry, Jonathan Mayhew, 1765, pp. 11,12). 
For more than three centuries, the vast majority of American pulpits reverberated with the sound doctrine of the Holy Scriptures. Ministers of the gospel knew the true source of man's salvation as revealed in the Holy Bible. They also knew the source of man's depraved nature and his inclination to follow dangerous heresies. And this is why pastors of churches regularly preached against false doctrines and cunningly devised fables. It is only in the last two generations that many, if not most, American Christians have become ignorant of the history of the world, of the history of their nation, and of the history of the churches both at home and abroad.

=Link=

* [http://www.angelfire.com/la2/prophet1/apoc.html Link]

=Sources=

Landmarks of English Bible: Manuscript Evidence, pp. 70-75

Robert J. Sargent

Lecture 5 CANONIZATION 

Miller, H.S., General Biblical Introduction. Houghton, New York: The Word Bearer Press, 1960: p. 117.