These are old documents which the Catholic Church has rejected as not being inspired books of the New Testament, in contra-distinction to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Some of these apocryphal Gospels are heretical; others contain fanatic nonsense. Some of them, however, contain edifying and devotional material. The apocryphal Gospels are: The Gospel according to the Hebrews, the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel according to the Egyptians, the Gospel of the Twelve Apostles, the Gospel of Philip, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Nicodemus, the story of Joseph the Carpenter the Transition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Arabic Gospel of the Infancy, the Proto-gospel of James and the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew.
Reprinted from January 9, 1998
Is it true that Pope Vigilius changed God's laws as set out in the Book of
Exodus, Chapter 20?
Of course this is not true. Neither Pope Vigilius nor any other pope has the authority or power to change God's laws. The enumeration of the 10 commandments in catechetics, of course, has varied from time to time for pedagogic reasons, but the enumeration as set out in Exodus, chapter 20, is still able to be used. Certainly, the earliest bishops of the Catholic Church, that is, the Twelve Apostles and Saint Peter, the first pope, using the authority given to them by Jesus (Matthew 16 and Matthew 18), made the weekly Sabbath Sunday rather than Saturday. Pope Vigilius and all of Christianity followed the Apostles in this.
Reprinted from April 3, 1998
What is the oldest part of the New Testament?
There is currently a great deal of scholarly discussion about the dating of the New Testament documents. Presently, most Catholic scripture scholars say that St. Paul's First Epistle to the Thessalonians is the oldest of the New Testament writings. It was written around the year 51 AD. Recent and on-going scientific research may soon reach a consensus, however, about another opinion in this matter.
Reprinted from January 31, 1997
What is a biblical concordance?
It is a book which contains every word found in the Bible and which then lists each place in the Bible where that particular word is used. Some concordances use the original biblical words which are Greek and Hebrew, while others are concerned most with words found in various translations in more modern languages. Most Catholic bookstores can order a concordance for you if you want one.
Reprinted June 20, 1997
I thought that Herod died and that enabled Jesus, Mary and
Joseph to return from Egypt. But, Saint Luke claims that Pilate, during his
trial, sent Jesus for a while over to Herod (Luke 23:7-12). How do you explain
this?
The Herod, who murdered the innocents and who died (Matthew 2:19), was the founder of the Herodian dynasty and is known to history as Herod the Great. The name Herod was then taken by his sons as a dynastic name, something like all the roman emperors called themselves "Caesar" after Julius Caesar. The Herod who was involved in the Pilate incident (and in the death of John the Baptist) was a son of Herod the Great, known by historians as Herod Antipas. He was the Tetrarch (the regime was divided into three after the original Herod's death) of Galilee and Peraea.
Reprinted from April
11, 1997