Interesting...

I've been reading over a paper that we used for teaching youth group a few months ago. It's a history of the English Bible, and it provides a lot of very interesting information.

The timeline that it sets up is very interesting, but the handout itself didn't have the information that I was looking for on it. I wanted to know the circumstances under which the Catholic Church canonized the Apocrypha; this little bit of knowledge wasn't on the timeline (although, when I found it, it was in fact where I recalled it belonging) and I had to do some research with my high-powered dial-up connection to figure it out. In 1546, during what is sometimes considered a counter-reformation, the Council of Trent canonized the Apocrypha. Earlier that century, the Tyndale Bible (1525), the Coverdale Bible (1535), the Matthew's Bible (1537), and the "Great Bible" (1539) were all published, including the Apocrypha as an appendix and explicitly indicating the non-inspired nature of its writing. I found all this on a website about the Apocryhpa; it's what I remember learning, too. The ironic part of this is that I have heard people defending the Apocrypha say that Martin Luther removed it from the Bible, picking and choosing what he wanted. The issues with this argument is that: 1) Martin Luther didn't translate the whole Bible in 1522; it was just the New Testament. 2) Bibles made post-reformation still included the Apocrypha, even until 1855. The Apocrypha was officially removed then, presumably by whoever was controlling England (since it was being removed from the King James version). 3) Most obviously, the Apocrypha wasn't part of the Bible when Martin Luther presumably removed it; the canonization happened a few decades after the Reformation.

I have to run off to the grocery store now and buy some produce. (= fruit for a pie, veggies for eating).

I wish Jessica could see my apartment! It's pretty cool. My bed, an old antique-ish dresser (that my family got for free!), and my stereo are all moved in now. I miss Jessica. I'm whiney. Whine whine whine.