This paper equips listeners to better preach NT passages which reference non-canonical texts. Some Christians are quite disturbed to hear that the Bible sometimes references non-inspired texts, like Jude’s references to Enoch or the many allusions to the rabbinic oral tradition in the Gospels. Paul quotes Greek plays (1 Cor 15:33), pagan poets (Acts 17:28), Cretan prophets (Titus 1:12), and non-Christian philosophers (Acts 17:24).
There are a growing number of resources which address the NT’s use of the OT and the OT’s use of the OT, but few exist to directly address how the Bible uses non-inspired sources. Even fewer ask the question: how does a preacher treat these allusions appropriately without elevating a non-canonical text too high, while at the same time helping the audience understand the value of such ancient documents? This paper is not encouraging preachers to directly preach the Apocrypha or other such texts. Rather, this paper equips preachers to address NT texts where the authors themselves quote or allude
Part I of the paper will introduce the issue and outline the wide array of non-canonical allusions in the NT. It will overview many of the more prominent allusions in the NT, including references to the Apocrypha, OT Pseudepigrapha, and the oral traditions which predate the Mishnah. It is vital that if a preacher seeks to handle these allusions from the pulpit, he knows something of where they come from. Important works on these backgrounds will also be highlighted and recommended for further study, such as James H. Charlesworth (ed.), The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (2 vol.) (Peabody, MS: Hendrickson, 1983) and J. Julius Scott Jr., Jewish Backgrounds of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 1995).
Part II will address the question, “Why do NT authors quote or allude to non-inspired texts?” The challenge with studying and preaching these texts in the NT is that many of them have different purposes and different functions within their contexts. They may even represent different levels of truth. Preachers need to have an answer for this question if they aim to handle these texts appropriately from the pulpit. If a NT author quotes a source, does that necessarily affirm the reliability of the rest of the source? Or is it more akin to a pastor referencing a movie or popular book series?
Part III will offer practical homiletic advice. Preachers will be encouraged to handle the text with care and to build discernment between inspired truth, general truth, and incorrect worldview. They will leave with the tools to differentiate texts that are inspired and canonical (the Bible!), non-inspired but truthful, and non-inspired and false. This paper will equip preachers to have the confidence to understand these texts better and treat them appropriately in their ministry.