Scripture Canonisation in the Orthodox Church

buzuxi02

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No, all the Fathers reject apocryphal books. Apocryphal books are NOT deuterocanonical books. They are the rejected books of gnostic influence and heretics.

The second tier books mentioned by St Cyril are the books Rufinus calls "ecclesiastical books". St Athanasios says they are sanctioned to be studied privately especially by catecumens as they are 'worthy to be read'. Meaning you are encouraged to read them because you are unable to listen to them in Church as they are not read aloud.

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kit

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The book of Enoch was never considered deuterocanonical, its not found in the LXX nor in any ancient list, rather the popularity of the book was well known and certain traditions borrowed from it. That sons of God were fallen angels is not the standard position of the Church today.

From what I understand the Ethiopian canon includes Enoch with possibly the inclusion of the book of Jubilees, but im not certain.

Different jewish scholars came up with alternative Old Testament's to the LXX. All of the ancient versions of the greek Old Testaments: LXX, Sinope, Symmachus, Theodotian were translated by jewish scribes.

I understand the same about the Ethiopian Church. They also have the Didaschalia I understand. I wonder how they had a larger canon than the Coptic Church as they have been autocephalous in the last Century.
 
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buzuxi02

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I understand the same about the Ethiopian Church. They also have the Didaschalia I understand. I wonder how they had a larger canon than the Coptic Church as they have been autocephalous in the last Century.

Thats probably more of an OO modern day view. The Church of Alexandria being an integral part of the roman empire was pretty much in uniformity with the rest of the churches of imperial Rome.
On the other hand Ethiopia was its own kingdom minting its own coins having her own traditions. The Aksum Kingdom also had early jewish contact and developed apart from her roman counterparts. This may explain the discrepancies. Also I find it unlikely that the Ethiopians were originally under Alexandria during this time. Canon 6 of Nicea only gives Alexandria jurisdiction over Egypt, Libya and Pentapolis ( I think pentapolis was coastal libya) but not over Ethiopia calling it the "prevailing custom".

Before the schism over Chalcedon it was primarily the nobles that were Christian in Aksum. After the schism many orientals of the alexandrian Church fled into egypt where they converted the masses. I believe it was at this time the Coptic church extended into Ethiopia. I know there is a tradition that St. Athanasius consecrated the first bishop of Ethiopia but im pretty sure it enjoyed a great deal of autonomy
 
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SuperCow

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The following books were included in all Bibles before 1534 AD:

Tobit
Judith
Esther chapters 10-16
Wisdom of Solomon
Ecclesiasticus (or Sirach)
Baruch (Epistle of Jeremiah)
The song of the Three Children (part of Daniel)
Susanna (part of Daniel)
Bel and the Dragon (part of Daniel)
1 Maccabees
2 Maccabees
1 Esdras
2 Esdras
The Prayer of Manasseh

Martin Luther removed these books when he first translated the Bible into German. He did not consider the books to be consistent with his theology.

Regarding Jasher, it is not included in any canon in existence, and Enoch only a few though Enoch was considered sacred by the Essenes who created the Dead Sea scrolls.

Jasher is interesting because of some seemingly significant characters who are glossed over in the Bible. There are two explicit references, but there are also many other implicit ones. Story lines in the Bible that make little sense on their own, but are clarified in amazingly consistent ways in Jasher, making the incomprehensible suddenly understandable. (Albeit these are storylines that are not particularly noteworthy in theology, but are historically.)

Jasher 2:26-35 --> Genesis 4:19-24 (Details of Lamech's extended family, and the killing of two men was accidental)
Jasher 3:27-38 --> Genesis 5:24 / Hebrews 11:5 (Explains what happened to Enoch)
Jasher 5:6-9 --> 2 Peter 2:5 (Genesis does not refer to Noah as a preacher as per Peter, but Jasher does, and Noah was helped by Methuselah)
Jasher 11:6 --> Genesis 14:1,9 (Nimrod goes by the name Amraphel in Genesis)
Jasher 34:32-35:25 --> Genesis 34:30,31 (After Dinah was raped by a Canaanite prince, and Simeon and Levi kill everyone in Shechem, there are no apparent consequences in Genesis other than Jacob's rebuke. An aftermath ensues in Jasher with the Canaanites, grossly embellished in alterations I believe, but still making more sense.)
Jasher 73:30,31 --> Numbers 12:1 (Moses wife was a Midianite. Why does Miriam complain about Moses Cushite wife? Jasher explains the story for Moses missing 40 years after fleeing Egypt.)
Jasher 75 --> 1 Chronicles 7:20-23 (Descendants of Ephraim are killed in a battle with Gath over a cattle dispute. No explanation in Chronicles, but the story is complete in Jasher.)
Jasher 79:27 --> 2 Timothy 3:8 (Jannes and Jambres mentioned by Paul don't exist anywhere else in the Bible, but they are in Jasher.)

Jasher has some stories about Abraham's early life that are not in the Bible, but are in the Qu'ran. (Written many centuries earlier) It is unlikely that a Jewish scribe, even if he were altering a Midrash would add information from a Muslim source unless both came from an even earlier document. Many Islamic writings appear to come from earlier Gnostic teachings.
 
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