Comments on Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament: Athanasius and the Canon

That should have been "...spectrum of books which ...

2007-06-06T17:29:00.000-05:00

That should have been "...spectrum of books which have become..." above. Sorry about that.

You might not know, Professor, that in Eastern Ort...

2007-06-06T17:26:00.000-05:00

You might not know, Professor, that in Eastern Orthodox circles the books St Athanasius mentions were "appointed by the Fathers to be read by those who newly join us" have been and are still referred to as the "Readable Books" (αναγινωσκομεναι or related forms), reflecting precisely the same intent with this label that he mentions, because "apocrypha" is always considered negatively as referring to the various works of heretics. These days, based on various local councils through the centuries (most notably canon 2 of the Quinisext/Trullo Council, which ratified all canons both short and long, conciliar and personally promulgated [like Athanasius'], and the Confession of Patriarch Dositheus of Jerusalem, who responded to Protestant objections to them) these books are all considered primary parts of a larger canon, with no "deuterocanonical" label, though the "readable" category is still maintained. That is, the EO canon is tacitly recognized to consist of something of a spectrum of books which having become an important part of the Christian life through long and devoted usage, not simply those books that meet an externally imposed evaluation as to their "inspiration" or "authenticity." All of the books are available in English Bibles so far only in the RSV and NRSV translations, with the different books between the Greek canon (4 Maccabees) and Slavonic canon (3 Esdras = 4 Ezra, the Ezra Apocalypse) being considered "in an appendix" even if not printed so. A definitive statement on the canon of the Eastern Orthodox Bible will be made in an upcoming (hopefully soon!) Pan-Orthodox Council.

I thought you might find that interesting!

Doug,Thank you for your comment. Send me an email...

2007-06-05T20:03:00.000-05:00

Doug,

Thank you for your comment. Send me an email with the links for your posts on this topic.

Claude Mariottini

Yes, I think you're right to potentially include G...

2007-06-05T17:19:00.000-05:00

Yes, I think you're right to potentially include Gnostic gospels in this rather unspecified category. I look forward to your further posting on this topic, which is one I have blogged on myself.

Doug,I agree with you. The books we call Deutero-...

2007-06-05T13:53:00.000-05:00

Doug,

I agree with you. The books we call Deutero-canonical are the books Athanasius says are the books appointed by the fathers to be read for instruction.

I don’t disagree with your view that the heretical books are the NT Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. However, since Athanasius was from Egypt, I think the heretical books he mentioned may include the Gnostic gospels which originated in Egypt. If the Alexandrian origin of Gnosticism is to be accepted, Athanasius would be very familiar with their teachings.

Thank you for your comment.

Claude Mariottini

I think, by the way he speaks, Athanasius has thre...

2007-06-05T12:05:00.000-05:00

I think, by the way he speaks, Athanasius has three categories of books: the Canon, the books appointed by the fathers to be read, and the apocrypha. The second category are what we customarily call OT Apocrypha / deutero-canonical, and the third what we would call NT Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. I don't think Athanasius would class the books appointed by the fathers as those the heretics "write when they choose". This may be what you meant, but I thought your use of the word Apocrypha embraced both categories 2 and 3.