Why Does the Renovaré Spiritual Formation Bible Include the Deuterocanonical Books?

The word "Deuterocanonical" simply means "a second canon" and refers to those books written between the time of the Old and New Testaments. The Renovaré Spiritual Formation Bible includes the Deuterocanonical books. There are numerous reasons for this decision—let me give you five:

1. The Deuterocanonical books were part of the ancient Greek Bible, the Septuagint, which was in circulation during the time of Christ. It was the Bible of the early Church. This Bible shaped the conscious awareness of God for the first Christians.

2. The Deuterocanonical books help Christian readers understand the New Testament context—the context of Jesus' ministry as well as of the writers of the New Testament books. The people Jesus encountered and taught were in many ways spiritually formed by these writings.

3. Most of the Church throughout most of her history has included the Deuterocanonical books as part of the Bible. The Eastern Orthodox Bible, the Greek Bible, the Slavonic Bible, the Anglican Bible and the Roman Catholic Bible all currently include the Deuterocanonical books. Plus, while not viewing them as Scripture, early Protestant Bibles—Luther's translation, the Great Bible of 1539, the Geneva Bible of 1560 (supported by John Calvin and John Knox), the Bishops' Bible of 1568, and the King James Bible of 1611—included the Deuterocanonical books, or "Apocrypha," as something of an appendix.

4. Throughout the ages, many questions have persisted about the value of the Deuterocanonical books. Even those groups in our time who include and use the Deuterocanonicals do not give them the same authority as the primary canon. And we, the General Editors of the Renovaré Spiritual Formation Bible, would not want to accord these books the same authority as revealed Scripture. Still, their role in bridging the gap between Malachi and Matthew is unquestioned and they provide marvelous insight into the way in which the first Christians understood their relationship to God.

5. The Deuterocanonical books do not affect any central doctrine of the Christian faith, but they do contain many helpful insights for spiritual formation. For this reason alone they are worth reading and can function for us today in much the same way that good sermons and devotional writings do. Of them, Luther wrote, "Apocrypha—that is, books which are not regarded as equal to the holy Scriptures, and yet are profitable and good to read." For this purpose, we have organized the Deuterocanonical books into three categories: Law & History, Writings & Wisdom, and Prophets & Apocalyptic.

For the General Editors,

Richard J. Foster

Read a letter from The Rev. David A. deSilva, Ph.D., Professor of New Testament and Greek, Ashland Theological Seminary, on the importance and helpfulness of the Deuterocanonical literature.

Download a Wisdom of Solomon sampler (a Deuterocanonical book) from The Renovaré Spiritual Formation Bible (93KB PDF)