Thus it has the connotation "uncanonical" with some of them. It has been employed in various ways by early patristic writers, who have sometimes entirely lost sight of the etymology. When we would attempt to seize the literary sense attaching to the word, the task is not so easy. The use of the singular, "Apocryphon", is both legitimate and convenient, when referring to a single work.
Such known works as the Shepherd of Hermas, the Epistle of Barnabas, the Didache (Teaching) of the Twelve Apostles, and the Apostolic Canons and Constitutions, though formerly apocryphal, really belong to patristic literature, and are considered independently.
The scope of this article takes in those compositions which profess to have been written either by Biblical personages or men in intimate relations with them. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more all for only $19.99.
Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download.