A Biblical Vision, Part II: Mastering the New Testament Witness to Christ

Sess ion 1: Int roduct ion: The Cent ra l i ty of Jesus of Nazareth to the New Tes tament 19

c. No council of the Church included them in the canon until the 5th century !

d. The Apocrypha became the basis of a number of unique Catholic doctrines.

(1) Purgatory (2 Macc. 12.45)

(2) Salvation by works (Tob. 12.9; Ecclus. 3.30)

e. They do not claim to be inspired (even the books recognize the absence of prophets during the period of their writing, cf. 1 Macc. 4.46; 9.27).

4. Good evidence to suggest that the Apocrypha did not carry the same weight in the mind of Jesus of Nazareth as the traditional Hebrew Scriptures (our 39 books of the Old Testament )

C. Christ is the key to the Bible’s interpretation.

1. Jesus claimed at least five times that he was the theme of the entire canon of the Hebrew Scriptures.

a. He came to fulfill the Scriptures, Matt. 5.17 – Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

b. He interpreted himself in all the Scriptures, Luke 24.27 – And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.