Oriental Orthodox Canon of Scripture

[Cary.Melvin]

To the Oriental Orthodox of this Forum,

What books are contained in your Canon of Scripture (the Bible)?

The reason that I ask is that I was watching the History Channel last night on the Books that were "banned from the Bible" and they seemed to indicate that Ethiopian Orthodox had some books in their canon that the rest of the church does not. For example I beleive that they said that the Ethiopian Church included the Book of Enoch and the Book of Jubilee in their canon. Is this true?

Thanks

 

[erinipassi]

Hi Cary,

Welcome to the Oriental Orthodox Forum

I cannot answer on behalf of the Ethiopian Orthodox, But the Coptic Orthodox Church rejects the book of Enoch and the book of Jubilee.

The books that the Coptic Orthodox church recognises that are part of the Apocryphal books are:

The Book of Tobit
The book of Judith
Esther
Wisdom
Joshua son of Sirach
Baruch
First Macabees
Second Macabees
Psalm 151

These are the only additional books that the Coptic Orthodox recognises as part of its Cannon. If you would like to understand why, there is a detailed explanation in this website:
http://st-takla.org/pub_Deuterocanon/Deuterocanon-Apocrypha_El-Asfar_El-Kanoneya_El-Tanya__0-index.html

Very Often people mistakenly confuse Ethiopian Orthodox with Coptic Orthodox and although we are under the same Oriental Orthodox, some things are different.

love and blessings
erini

 

[erinipassi]

I forgot to add that the Coptic Orthodox Church uses the New King James Version for its English version of the bible because of its more accurate translation compared to others. So we don't have any additional books outside the New King James Version bible except for the Apocryphal books listed above.

love and blessings
erini

 

[CanisLupus]

Is there a place online where I can read the books "left out" of the 66 book KJV Bible?

 

[Cary.Melvin]

Is there a place online where I can read the books "left out" of the 66 book KJV Bible?

http://etext.virginia.edu/kjv.browse.html

These books were originally in the King James Version in a section called Apocrypha at the End of the Old Testament.

 

[erinipassi]

Hi CanisLupus,

Welcome to the Oriental Orthodox Forum .

If you are referring to the Apocryphal books that the Coptic Orthodox recognises which I mentioned above, the website that I gave above will give you the books and you can read them online. At the bottom of the website are the books listed and you can read them.

http://st-takla.org/pub_Deuterocanon/Deuterocanon-Apocrypha_El-Asfar_El-Kanoneya_El-Tanya__0-index.html

love and blessings
erini

 

[CanisLupus]

Thanks!

 

[villoththoma]

The Indian Orthodox church does not have any additional texts,they follow the King James version or any other common version of the bible.
Though the Indian Orthodox Church was established by St.Thomas,and the church is the sole church in the world established by St.Thomas,it does not have the Gospel of St.Thomas or the Acts of Thomas in its bible.(because it was thought to be altered by the heretic Mani,.the founder of Manichaenism,..a dead religion today)
But the Gospel of Thomas is subject to study and research,though not accepted to be a part of the bible.

 

[Yeznik]

Hello Cary.Melvin

Here are the Armenian Books;

OLD TESTAMENT
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
I Samuel
II Samuel
I Kings
II Kings
I Chronicles
II Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
I Esdras*
II Esdras*
Tobit*
Judith*
Esther (& addtn.*)
I Maccabees*
II Maccabees*
III Maccabees*
Job
Psalms (to 151)
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Songs
Wisdom of Solomon*
Ecclesiasticus
(Sirach)*
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Baruch*
Letter of Jermiah*
Ezekiel
Daniel:
Song of Three*
Susanna*
Bel & the Dragon*
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
Prayer of Manasseh

*considered by some as apocryphal

NEW TESTAMENT
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Acts
Romans
I Corinthians
II Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
I Thessalonians
II Thessalonians
I Timothy
II Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews
James
I Peter
II Peter
I John
II John
III John
Jude
Revelation

http://www.armenianchurchlibrary.com/files/BibleintheArmenianChurchMovsesian.pdf

 

[IowaLutheran]

Here's a link to the Ethiopian Orthodox site, which confirms (I think) what the History Channel said:

http://ethiopianorthodox.org/english/canonizedbooks/canonizedbooks.htm

 

[villoththoma]

The ethiopian orthodox church is so very mystical,....it has always been...

The fact that they have some additional books in their Bible,which are relevant particularly for them,...shows the depth and antiquity of their apostolic traditions...

Im proud of the Ethiopian Orthodox being a part of my communion, the Oriental Orthodox.

Last year i attended a christian youth camp organised by our Indian Orthodox church...we were lucky to have some delegates from the Ethiopian church..we got to learn a bit about their fascinating christian history....and about their culture..
They also seemed very pious.