Apocrypha for Beginners: A Guide to Understanding and Exploring Scriptures Beyond the Bible

by Brandon W. Hawk

Go beyond the Bible with this simple introduction to apocrypha

Whether they were lost, cut, or censored, the various apocryphal stories offer unique opportunities to learn about the histories of Judaism and Christianity while broadening spiritual understanding. But exploring this vast canon of texts alone can be daunting. Apocrypha for Beginners makes it simple by offering a guided experience, helping explain each piece’s importance and contextualize its place in history.

This standout among religious books includes:

More than 50 apocrypha―Delve into a variety of apocrypha from different eras and cultures, like the Book of Enoch, the Gospel of Judas, and more.
In-depth commentary―Better understand each text with a brief summary of its origin, meaning, and cultural significance.
Easy-to-follow info―Explore the history of Judaism and Christianity with the help of a detailed timeline, canon comparison chart, and index of important individuals.
Take your Bible study to the next level with Apocrypha for Beginners.

Genres: Religion, Christianity, History

156 pages, Paperback

Published July 20, 2021

About the author

Brandon W. Hawk is Professor of English at Rhode Island College who writes about the Middle Ages, biblical apocrypha, and intersections with pop culture. He has published the books Preaching Apocrypha in Anglo-Saxon England, The The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew and the Nativity of Mary, and Apocrypha for Beginners: A Guide to Understanding and Exploring Scriptures Beyond the Bible.

Reviews

[Eric Vanden Eykel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a remarkable book that will be of great interest to anyone interested in learning more about Jewish or Christian Apocryphal Literature. The author addresses a number of critical questions at the start, including what apocryphal literature is (and isn't) and what we can potentially learn from it.

The bulk of the book is designed to introduce readers to specific apocryphal texts. For each, the author gives a succinct and helpful collection of "facts" (e.g., date, language), details about the text's discovery, a summary of contents, and brief analysis. While clearly written with a non-specialist reader in mind, this portion of the book will serve as a helpful reference to readers of all levels.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the study of apocryphal literature, and especially to those who may just be starting work on this important and fascinating collection of texts.

Disclaimer: the publisher provided me with an advance review copy of this book.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It is a great start for those interested in learning about apocrypha. There are a few high level pages along with some historical context for each apocrypha described. I will definitely continue to utilize this for reference and as a guide in diving deeper into the source material.

[Eliot]

Useful book.
Repeated use of BCE and CE!??

[Jenny Trott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Educational, clear, interesting

[Joel Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brandon W. Hawk provides a succinct, usable, and wisdom inspired resource with "Apocrypha for Beginners." Hawk ably provides background and information regarding many of the Scriptures that exist outside of the accepted canon. This introduction allows for the researcher to consider various texts in brief so that he or she might then further explore the texts that hold interest.
The method of presentation of these texts is very appreciated. Each book considered has helpful background information, a brief exploration of the content, and an analysis that allows for deeper understanding regarding the theological and ideological content of the book. I also appreciated how the book follows the presentation of literature within the accepted canon. Hawk begins with texts similar to those found in the Old Testament. Then he continues by exploring texts similar to those found in the New Testament beginning with Gospels and histories, continuing with epistles, and concluding with apocalypses.
This book provides a great introduction to Apocryphal literature. It serves as a boon in helping people to understand the complexity of the literature represented in both the accepted Scriptures and those Scriptures not accepted into canon.

[Stephanie Isaacs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful basic outline. Great starting point.

[Kate Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an excellent intro to apocryphal and extra-biblical lit. I really appreciate the way Dr. Hawk writes; you can tell he KNOWS. HIS. SHIT. - but his diction and syntax are such that the information doesn't come off as overly-academic-for-academia's-sake. Sometimes scholarly work has a tendency to feel......I want to say "self-serving" or "pretentious", (which are both just kind ways of saying "up its own ass"), but this book makes these texts feel accessible to both scholars and lay-people.

I think I would definitely recommend it for apocrypha virgins who might be looking to expand their horizons.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great on the Kindle.

The paper book is very well presented but I mainly read eBooks. I'm happy to report that everything is well formatted in this book.

Per the content, I'm echoing what other reviewers have written. This is an outstanding way to understand the Apocrypha. The author strikes a nice balance between ease of use and rigor. You can't go wrong with this book for a great introduction to this topic.

[Mona Mistric · Rating 5 out of 5]

More Writings

An excellent way to learn what’s in the Apocrypha. Some of the stories add to the Bible.
However, you can understand why they were left out of the Bible.

[Christopher Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview.

The author goes thru several apocryphal texts giving about a page overview to each. Not a bad introduction to the texts covered.

[Christa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful overview of Apocrypha materials.

[Briana Grenert]

Succincte and extremely interesting 🤔

[Solomon · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐⭐ - OK

It gave brief overviews of many non-canonical scriptures. The summaries seem good, but there was just a lot to get into if you are not particularly interested in learning of all these different works. My main benefit was learning more about what each of the books in the Catholic Deuterocanon were actually about, but there is a lot more contained in this book.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Birds Eye review of many of the apocryphal Jewish and Christian ancient texts. I love it to be short and sweet, straight to the point and systematic. Includes a wealth of references on line and bibliographical if you are interested in diving further. A good investment of time for those interested in the subject, and are, of course, beginners.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book contained only summaries of apocrypha and not the actual text. I’m left taking the authors word for what these texts say rather than original content. It didn’t seem clear that that was the case when I was trying to decide which book to purchase.