Dr. Luther included the Apocrypha in his German Bible. These books were placed separately from the Old Testament and New Testament canonical books, yet considered to be good to read. Here is an announcement about a forthcoming CPH edition…
Feed: Cyberbrethren Lutheran Blog Feed
Posted on: Tuesday, May 11, 2010 9:56 AM
Author: Paul T. McCain
Subject: The Apocrypha: The Lutheran Edition with Notes
| A post from my colleague, Rev. Edward Engelbrecht on the forthcoming edition of the Apocrypha we are publishing. By the way, the other day I think I mentioned something about this on my Facebook page and indicated it would be out by late 2011, that was an error. This will be out in Fall 2012. In Fall 2011 we are releasing the finest edition of the Bible designed for children ever published. You think I'm exaggerating. But I'm not. More on that later. Given the interest in the Apocrypha project, Rev. Engelbrecht put together these observations and posted them on his blog, and I'm sharing them here with you. Here is what Ed had to say: I'm lifting my eyes away from the editing and writing for a few moments to share some news about a product currently in development at CPH. Our edition of the Apocrypha is based on the ESV translation prepared by the following scholars: *David A. deSilva, Trustees' Distinguished Professor of New Testament Interpretation, Ashland Theological Seminary *Dan McCartney, Professor of New Testament, Westminster Theological Seminary *Bernard A. Taylor, Loma Linda University David Aiken edited the ESV text, which is very similar to the 1971 Revised Standard Version (RSV) Apocrypha upon which it is based. The Lutheran edition will include all of the books that Luther translated for the German Bible in the order that Luther presented them. It will also include books that appeared in Lutheran editions of the Vulgate, as well as 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, and Psalm 151 since these latter books are used by other Christians and are part of the ESV edition. Each book will have an introduction, similar to the book introductions in The Lutheran Study Bible. Books included in the Luther Bible will have study notes, similar to those in The Lutheran Study Bible: Judith An article/chart will explain the use of the apocryphal books in various Christian denominations. The Lutheran edition will also include extensive introductory material and appendices prepared by Lutheran scholars. The release date is 2012. From the beginning of The Lutheran Study Bible project, we discussed and prayed about whether we should include the books of the Apocrypha in the new Study Bible. We decided against including them for the following reasons:
We were concerned that suddenly reintroducing the Apocrypha would confuse and possible even offend people who did not know about their inclusion and use in the Lutheran tradition. Therefore, we decided to include more pages in The Lutheran Study Bible about "The Time between the Testaments and The Apocrypha" (pp. 1551–1567) so that English speaking Lutherans could rediscover this aspect of their heritage and its value for biblical study and devotion. Our edition will have a similar design and appearance to The Lutheran Study Bible. It will be a volume in The Essential Lutheran Library. We believe this edition of the Apocrypha will fill an important gap in our biblical studies resources and help people better understand what Lutherans teach about the Word of God. As I noted on p. 1426 of The Lutheran Study Bible, "Sound goals that Lutherans may hope to reach during their lifetime include . . . Reading through the entire Holy Bible and the Apocrypha." We are preparing this edition for just such a purpose. I look forward to sharing this new resource with you. In Christ, General editor for The Apocrypha: The Lutheran Edition with Notes |
