Invitation to the Apocrypha

by Daniel J. Harrington

In this volume a leading biblical scholar helps readers rediscover the ancient books of the Old Testament Apocrypha. INVITATION TO THE APOCRYPHA provides a clear, basic introduction to these important--but often neglected--ancient books that is ideal for personal study, churches, and classroom settings. Using the latest and best scholarship yet writing for those new to the Apocrypha, Daniel Harrington guides readers through the background, content, and message of each book. A distinctive feature of this primer is that it focuses throughout on the problem of suffering, highlighting what each book of the Apocrypha says about this universal human experience.

Genres: Theology, Christianity, Biblical Studies

230 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1999

About the author

Rev. Father Daniel J. Harrington, SJ, was a professor of New Testament studies and chairman of Biblical Studies at Boston College’s School of Theology and Ministry. He received a PhD in biblical languages and literatures from Harvard University. A past president of the Catholic Biblical Association, he wrote more than two dozen books about the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Reviews

[Neil R. Coulter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve been a Protestant Christian for much of my life, and most of my experience has been in traditions that don’t say much about the apocryphal literature. I’ve known something about some of the books, and I’ve read parts of it here and there, but when I follow the Anglican lectionary and a section of an apocryphal book comes up, I really don’t know where it fits into the big story. Earlier this year in our evening Bible study group, we discovered that we all had similar experience. So we decided it would be fun to work through these mysterious books together. As the leader, I knew I’d need a good guide to help me with the background and context, and I found a lot of recommendations online for this book, Invitation to the Apocrypha, by Daniel J. Harrington.

I was particularly intrigued by a line in the back-cover blurb: “A distinctive feature of this primer is its focus throughout on the problem of suffering. . . . Harrington shows how each book makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of this universal human experience.” But I didn’t see this theme in the chapters. Instead, after a brief introductory chapter, Harrington proceeds book by book, each chapter presenting the context for the book (the time in which it was written and the time in which its story is set), a summary of the book, and the significance and some of the major issues. Basically, then, it’s like a lot of books that give a similar kind of overview of the Bible. That’s fine, and it’s what I needed for the group’s study, but I had expected something more unifying through all the chapters. Because of that, the book was helpful, but not particularly remarkable. I do recommend it to others who want to get to know the Apocrypha, but the most important parts for me were the introductions to each book’s context and significance; I found the summaries less helpful, as the books themselves are generally not very difficult to read and understand.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A concise but scholarly introduction to the Apocrypha as presented in the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. This is good for people who have little to no knowledge at all of these texts. Harrington summarizes each text, discusses problems of scholarship and states why it is important in Judaism and the various major branches of Christianity. Although he is a Jesuit, one detects very little, if any, Catholic bias; the author does his very best to be ecumenical, I think.

Most of these books are considered canonical or at least deuterocanonical. There has always been recognition that they do not have the credentials to fit into the Hebrew canon. Some of them are attributed to individuals mentioned in the canonical Scriptures and yet it's fairly obvious that these claims of authorship are not sound. Some texts betray a lack of knowledge about historical and geographical details. Others betray the influence of Hellenistic thought.

And yet these texts are important because they develop and comment on various concepts contained in the Hebrew Scriptures. They form a bridge between the Old and New Testaments, and their influence can be sensed in the ways used by some New Testament authors to formulate their ideas.

One unifying theme which Harrington finds throughout the Apocrypha is suffering. Characters react in various ways to trials whether they be of a personal nature or whether they stem from persecution by foreign powers. They ponder the reasons for suffering, and look to God as a source of strength during tribulation and victory over it.

[Glenn Crouch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good introduction to the Old Testament Apocrypha. The Author both summarises and explains each book, as well as briefly looks at the Significance of the book to both Jews and Christians, as well as Scholarly Issues. I think this book is quite accessible to Pastors, as well as those interested in the History between the Old and New Testament.

The Author has quite a positive though realistic approach to the Apocrypha. One downside, is that he does seem to take a late date for the Book of Daniel as a fact - and I almost felt as though he puts many if not most of the Apocrypha on the same level with it. I realise that there are some good arguments for the late date approach, but there are some good ones for an earlier date as well. This then made me doubt whether he also favoured (without argument) later dates for the Apocrypha books...

I especially applaud the list of books for Further Reading at the end of the examination of each book of the Apocrypha.

Good reference book to have, though easy enough to read.

[Leon O'Flynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really concise introduction to the Apocrypha. Perhaps the best aspect of this text is that it give a section on each book about how it influenced later Christian theology. really useful for those of us who come from traditions that make no use of these texts.