Church of the East position on non-canonical Books

[Christina]

Kaloston. Ti kanis Mikhali?

About the "Western 5":

Paul would probably be the best person to ask but from how I understand it, the CoE didn't include those 5 books not only because they didn't receive the Aramaic originals from the Apostles; but also because they didn't receive them before they closed their cannon. Apparently the CoE closed their cannon very early - before the turn of the 2nd century, and that was that. For the CoE, it didn't take centuries of debate to decide which books were canonical like the case of the west. For them (from what I've heard), the criteria for a canonical book were:

1) book must be penned in the original language (Aramaic)
2) book must bear the author/scribe's seal
3) book must be hand-delivered to them by an immediate associate of the Apostle who wrote it, if not the Apostle himself

So you can see why their cannon wouldn't have been closed any later than the end of the 1st century. By this time nearly all (if not all) the Apostles and their immediate associates were dead, so they were not going accept anything presented to them as authentic after this. I don't know when the W5 were first presented to them, but by that time, the Aramaic originals were lost and so they were presented with Greek translations and couldn't accept them, this could only have happened some time after the 1st century, but perhaps before they were accepted into the western canon.

But again do remember as Mike (Judge) stated, that the authenticity of those 5 books were doubted by many for centuries, there were Church Fathers (eg: St. John Chrysostom) who rejected them, here's a quote from the Eastern Orthodox Bible about Revelation:

Already in the mid-third century, St. Dionysius of Alexandria could write:

Some before us have set aside and rejected the book altogether, criticizing it chapter by chapter, pronouncing it without sense or argument, and maintaining that the title is fraudulent. They say that it is not the work of John or a revelation, because it is covered thickly and densely by a veil of obscurity. [They affirm that its author is Cerinthus, who, desiring a reputable authority for his fiction, prefixed the name...]

However, I could not venture to reject the book, as many brethren hold it in high esteem. But I suppose that it is beyond my comprehension, and that there is a certain concealed and more wonderful meaning in every part. Indeed, if I do not understand, I suspect that a deeper sense lies beneath the words. I do not measure and judge them by my own reason... I do not reject what I cannot comprehend, but rather wonder because I do not understand it.

Therefore that the author was called John, and that this book is the work of one John, I do not deny. And I agree also that it is the work of a holy and inspired man. But I cannot readily admit that he was the apostle, the son of Zebedee, the brother of James, by whom the Gospel of John and the Catholic Epistle were written. For I judge from the character of both and the forms of expression, as well as the entire execution of the book, that it is not his.

For the evangelist nowhere gives his name, or proclaims himself, either in the Gospel or Epistle??? In fact, he did not say, as often in the Gospel, that he was the beloved disciple of the Lord, or the one who lay on his breast, or the brother of James, or the eyewitness and hearer of the Lord. Certainly he would have spoken of these things if he had wished to reveal himself plainly.

However, he says none of them; but speaks of himself as our brother and companion, and a witness of Jesus, and blessed because he had seen and heard the revelations. So, I am of the opinion that there were many with the same name as the apostle John, who, on account of their love for him, and because they admired and emulated him, and desired to be loved by the Lord as he was, took to themselves the same surname, as many of the children of the faithful are called Paul or Peter. For example, there is also another John, surnamed Mark, mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles... But that it is he who wrote this, I would not say... I think that he was some other one of those in Asia; as they say that there are two monuments in Ephesus, each bearing the name of John.

Note that St. Dionysius says "the Catholic Epistle" / "Epistle" (singular), so this would be what the west calls "1st Epistle of John" but what the CoE calls "the Epistle of John" as they (like St. Dionysius) didn't accept 2nd & 3rd Epistles of John.

Now we cannot know for certain if Aramaic originals ever existed for these books, but they sure read like LXX translational Greek to me; I think I've said before that they have variants and those variants had to come from somewhere. Even so, should Aramaic mss of those books (dating no later than the end of the 1st century) surface someday, they still have to meet the 2nd criteria before the CoE can even consider to add them to their cannon.

As for NT "Apocrypha" like 1 Clement, Epistle of Barnabas, ect. I haven't delved too much into this area so I have no idea, though I would argue for an Aramaic original for the Didache.

BTW here's a list of Ethiopian NT cannon:

1. Matthew
2. Mark
3. Luke
4. John
5. The Acts
6. Romans
7. I Corinthians
8. II Corinthians
9. Galatians
10. Ephesians
11. Philippians
12. Colossians
13. I Thessalonians
14. II Thessalonians
15. I Timothy
16. II Timothy
17. Titus
18. Philemon
19. Hebrews
20. I Peter
21. II Peter
22. I John
23. II John
24. III John
25. James
26. Jude
27. Revelation
28. Sirate Tsion (the book of order)
29. Tizaz (the book of Herald)
30. Gitsew
31. Abtilis
32. The I book of Dominos
33. The II book of Dominos
34. The book of Clement
35. Didascalia

And here's their OT canon:

1. Genesis
2. Exodus
3. Leviticus
4. Numbers
5. Deuteronomy
6. Joshua
7. Judges
8. Ruth
9. I and II Samuel
10. I and II Kings
11. I Chronicles
12. II Chronicles
13. Jublee
14. Enoch
15. Ezra and Nehemia
16. Ezra (2nd) and Ezra Sutuel
17. Tobit
18. Judith
19. Esther
20. I Maccabees
21. II and III Maccabees
22. Job
23. Psalms
24. Proverbs
25. Tegsats (Reproof)
26. Metsihafe Tibeb (the books of wisdom)
27. Ecclesiastes
28. The Song of Songs
29. Isaiah
30. Jeremiah
31. Ezekiel
32. Daniel
33. Hosea
34. Amos
35. Micah
36. Joel
37. Obadiah
38. Jonah
39. Nahum
40. Habakkuk
41. Zephaniah
42. Haggai
43. Zechariah
44. Malachi
45. Book of Joshua the son of Sirac
46. The Book of Josephas the Son of Bengorion

81 books in all, phew! <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ethiopianorthodox.org/english/canonical/books.html">http://www.ethiopianorthodox.org/englis ... books.html</a><!-- m -->