Judithand Tobit and the Protestant canon - Essay Example

Judith and Tobit and the Protestant canon The books of Judith and Tobit draw a few similarity and huge differences with the Protestant Canon. There are a few similarities and differences in the way the character of God was presented in the Protestant canon and the apocryphal books of Judith and Tobit. In the book of Judith and Tobit, the character of God was expressed as someone that valued good works as he forgives people of their sins due to their good works. The book of Tobit makes us know that God forgives the sins of people that give alms to beggars and help the needy (Geisler & Nix, 1986).

God could be described as someone that used magic to heal people especially when he sent the archangel Raphael to heal Tobit and drive the demon from Sarah with the gall, liver and the heart of the fish. The attitude of God towards morality is in question in the books of Judith and Tobit as Judith was not depicted as a woman that was full of morals as she tried to seduce Holofernes (Unger, 1951). The character of God is not consistent with his character in the Protestant canon as there are some inconsistencies in the way God was presented in the Protestant canon when compared with the books of Judith and Tobit.

In the Protestant Canon, God does not absolve people of their sins by merely giving alms and being nice to their neighbors. It is divine repentance and grace that make God forgive people of their sins and after this, good works would follow and so is the character of God in the Protestant Canon. God teaches his people to strive to be moral in all their deeds as he loved women of virtue in the protestant canon (Horne, 1841). God does not like violence as the killing of the men of Shechem by Simeon and Levi was condemned by God and this is quite inconsistent with the murder of Holofernes that was carried out by Judith as this was judged as an act of God.

God is not magical in the Protestant canon as he makes use of the word to deliver his people of demons and this quite different from what the character of God that was depicted in the book of Tobit when God instructed Angel Raphael to use some magical potions to drive the demon Asmodeous out. In using some sort of magical concoction by using the gall of the fish to heal Tobit’s blindness, God was presented more as a magician but he was presented more as the person that had the authority over all being, by just speaking the word in the Protestant canon (Bruce, 1950).

There is however a similarity in the Protestants canon and the books of Tobit and Judith as God sends his angel to his people in their time of need. God used angel Raphael to heal Tobit and drive the Asmodeus demon out of Sarah and he used angels Gabriel and Michael to guide him in the land of Babylon and pursue the devil that prevented Daniel’s supplication from getting to the throne of grace. It is generally believed by the Protestants that the books of Judith and Tobit contains some fictions and this is the reason the book has not been included in the canon.

The fact that no book in the New Testament made no reasonable reference to the books of Tobit and Judith has made it difficult for the books to be included in the Protestant canons as it has doubted the authenticity of the book as one inspired by God. The Apocrypha have generally not been quoted in the New Testament and the books of Tobit and Judith are also part of the Apocrypha and this explains the reason these two books have not been included in the Protestant canon.ReferencesBruce, F. F. (1950). The Books and the Parchments.

London, England: Pickering & Inglis.Geisler, N. & Nix, W. (1986). A General Introduction to the Bible. Chicago: Moody Press. Horne, T. H. (1841). Critical Introduction to the Holy Scriptures. Philadelphia, PA: Whetham & Son.Unger, M. F. (1951). Introductory Guide to the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.