stumbling block.”—Prov. 3:1, 2; Ps. 119:165.

19. How only may those who love peace and contentment be assured of enjoying it forever and ever?

¹⁹ All persons everywhere who are of good will and who love peace and unity, if you want to share in the all-surpassing happiness and live in everlasting peace and contentment in a paradise garden under the rule by God’s kingdom, then quickly associate yourselves with Jehovah’s peace-loving witnesses, and together with them be mild-tempered, calm, lovingly patient, self-controlled. Continue to obey the divine will, which includes Psalm 37: “Do not show yourself heated up because of the evildoers. . . . For like grass they will speedily wither . . . Let anger alone and leave rage . . . For evildoers themselves will be cut off, but those hoping in Jehovah are the ones that will possess the earth. And just a little while longer and the wicked one will be no more, and you will certainly give attention to his place and he will not be. But the meek ones [the mild-tempered ones] themselves will possess the earth and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.”—Ps. 37:1, 2, 8-11.

The Apocrypha—of God or of Men?

IS THE Apocrypha of God or of men? Is it part of “all Scripture [that] is inspired of God” and beneficial for our being “fully competent, completely equipped for every good work”? Or does it belong to “the tradition of men,” to “the elementary things of the world,” against which the apostle Paul warned Christians? What are the facts?—2 Tim. 3:16, 17; Col. 2:8.

The original meaning of the term “apocrypha” is made clear from Jesus’ use of it: “For there is nothing hidden that will not become manifest, neither anything carefully concealed that will never become known.” In time, however, the term took on the unfavorable connotation of “writings or statements of doubtful authorship or authority.” As most commonly used today, “The Apocrypha” refers to the eleven additional writings declared canonical by the Roman Catholic Church in her Council of Trent (1546), but which are challenged by others.—Luke 8:17.

These eleven additional writings are Tobit, Judith, Wisdom (of Solomon), Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, 1 and 2 Maccabees, a supplement to Esther and three additions to Daniel: The Song of the Three Holy Children, Susanna and the Elders, and The Destruction of Bel and the Dragon. Catholic writers refer to these books as deuterocanonical, meaning “of the second (or later) canon,” as distinguished from protocanonical.