The Apocrypha (Deuterocanonical) is not inspired of God

Protestants like myself call these books the Apocrypha, so when it says Apocrypha, I'm refering to the deuterocanonical books, which is what the Catholics call them. I will first answer my opponents reasons on why he believes they are inspired, then explain why I believe they are not inspired of God…. His reasons they are inspired of God…. 1) The Apocrypha was present in the Bible when it was made. 2) The Dead Sea Scrolls contained books of the Apocrypha. 3) The hierarchy is required to determine what is inspired or not. Answering #1 – Was the Apocrypha really in the Bible from the beginning? It depends on what my opponent means when he says beginning. If he means they were in the Bible during the time of Jesus, Paul, Peter, etc. , this is incorrect. The Jews were the people who God used to decide what books were to be accepted into the canon. Romans 3:2 says, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. Whenever the Jews were checking over writings to see if they could be added to the canon, they would check to see if those writings contradicted the books that had already been accepted, (Acts 17:11). Obviously they didn't accept them because they didn't agree with the Old Testament writings, which I will get to later. They clearly never accepted them. We know this because it wasn't until A. D. 382 that they were first put into a Bible, like my opponent admited. So during the time of Jesus, they were clearly not in the canon. The Apocrypha was officially in the Catholic Bible in 1546 at an event known as the Council of Trent. Jerome, who lived from 340-420 A. D. , was the man who translated the Bible from Greek into Latin for the first time. Jerome is considered to be the greatest biblical and Hebrew scholar of the early medievel period. Jerome's translation became the Bible translation for centuries to follow. It even became the official translation of the Roman Catholic Church. The Apocrypha was not in his translation. Jerome rejected the Apocrypha. . http://carm.org... Anwering #2 – The Dead Sea Scroll argument is not convincing. Though it is true the Apocrypha writings were discovered at Qumran, that does not make them inspired. One of many things that the Catholic church never tells their people is that there were other writings found there that they didn't put in their Bible. A few examples would be pseudepigraphal texts and sectarian writings of the Qumran community. (Reasoning from the Scriptures with Catholics, pp 41). If the discovery in Qumran makes them scripture then ALL the writings would have to be accepted, but clearly this is not the case; therefore the Dead Sea Scroll argument is not convincing. Answering #3 – The Catholic Church has NO authority on what is or is not inspired of God. Again, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God, (Romans 3:2). Proverbs 30:6 tells us to not add to the Bible. So giving the authority to the Catholic Church is dangerous and unbiblical, this is just a teaching that the Catholic Church made up. Another reason it is dangerous to give the Catholic Church this power is because they have teachings that contradict scripture. One example I will give is about Mary beind a virgin and having no children. The Catholic church teaches that Mary remained a virgin after the birth of Jesus and had no other children. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 510). This is clearly unbiblical. Matthew 1:24-25 - "And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took as his wife, and kept her a virgin UNTIL she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus. " Matthew 12:46-47 - "While He was still speaking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. And someone said to Him, "Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You. "Matthew 13:55 - "Is not this the carpenters son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? " The Roman Catholic Church have no prove for their say in what is inspired or not. Just like they have no prove that Mary was always a virgin. Five reasons the Apocrypha is not inspired of God…. Reason #1 – The author of Second Maccabees admitted that his writings were not inspired. (2 Maccabees 2:23 and 15:38) Reason #2 – The Doctrine of Purgatory contradicts scripture. Roman Catholics believe that Purgatory is a place where some people will spend a little time before they enter Heaven. Purgatory is mentioned in 2 Maccabees 12:41-46 (The writer who admited his writings were not inspired of God. ) Another problem with purgatory is the thief who died on the cross, (Luke 23). He would have been the perfect man for purgatory, but after he repented Jesus told him, "Truly Truly I say to you, TODAY you will BE WITH ME in paradise. (Luke 23:43). He didn't go to purgatory. Roman Catholics have no evidence for purgatory. Reason #3 - Reason #5 – There are no prophecies, divine miracles, and the Apocrypha never claims to be inspired. The Old and New Testament writings claim to be inspired, ( 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21; 2 Peter 3:16). The Apocrypha never made such a claim to be inspired. The Old Testament and New Testament writings also say things over and over like, "Thus say the Lord" or "The word of the LORD came unto him. " The Apocrypha never says anything like this. Reason #4 – The Apocrypha contradicts the Bible. The Apocrypha commands to use magic. (Tobit 6:5-7). The Bible commands not to use magic. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10) The Apocrypha encourages us to pray for the dead. (2 Maccabees 12:41-46) The Bible does not encourage us to pray for the dead. (Luke 16:25, 26 and Hebrews 9:27) The Apocrpha has God assisting Judith with a lie. (Judith 9:10-13) The Bible condemns liars. (Exodus 20:16) There are many other examples of contradictions but these must do for now. If God inspired the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Apocrypha, they would all have to agree with each other, but they don't. The Apocrypha is not inspired of God. Reason #5 – There are historical errors in the Apocrypha. A clear historical error the Apocrypha has is in the book of Judith. Judith says that Nebuchadnezzar reigned in the city of Ninevah. History, and the book of Daniel teaches that Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon. Reason #6 - Apocrypha teaches that people are saved by good works and not grace. This is a major disagreement among Catholics and Protestants today. The Catholics will use the Apocrypha to justify their believe of being saved by good works and not grace. To correct this, we are not saved by our good works outweighing our bad. The Pope ignores several scriptures to make that doctrine true: Rom. 11:6, "But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace. " Eph. 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not by works, lest any man should boast. " Rom. 10:9, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is God and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Titus 3:5, He saved us, not because of works done by us, but according to his mercy. Conclusion: We are clearly Saved by Grace, not works. 1 John 5:13 tells us that the people who are saved know if they are saved. Catholics do not know, because they teach it is by good works, and since they teach it is by good works, they never know if they have done enough or not. The thief on the cross had no time to be baptized, do good works, or anything, but Jesus still accepted him. To conclude all this, the Roman Catholic Church is not honest with their people and the Apocrypha is clearly not inspired of God. Thank you.