Wednesday, October 16, 2019

John Garbett's comments on the Apocrypha from 1827 Mirroring D&C 91


In a mock dialogue between an individual supportive of Roman Catholic theology (“Phildox”) and “Orthodox” (a conservative Protestant), John Garbett, an Anglican critic of Catholicism, writing in 1827, presented a view of the Apocrypha similar to that of D&C 91:

PHILODOX

You speak thus from dislike to the Apocrypha.

ORTHODOX

By no means. The apocryphal books are of great importance to the elucidation of the canonical; they contain a fund of piety and wisdom, and much valuable historical record, mingled with no small portion of error. But in altering the canon, the present Church of Rome not only sets herself in opposition to the old Church, but to all Christian Churches: to the Church of the Apostles, the Prophets, and of Christ himself . . . (John Garbett, The Nullity of the Roman Faith; Being a Practical Refutation of the Doctrine of Infallibility in a View of The Evidence and History of Certain Leading Tenets of the Church of Rome [London: John Murray, 1827], 40)



Further Reading

Jared Ludlow, Exploring the Apocrypha from a Latter-day Saint Perspective (Cedar Fort, 2018)