"UNDERSTANDING THE APOCRYPHA," by Jared W. Ludlow, Covenant Communications, $15.99, about 2.5 hours
The Apocrypha is a collection of writings that were not a part of the original Hebrew Bible.
A recently released two-disc audio CD called “Understanding the Apocrypha” by Jared W. Ludlow, a professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University, helps answer many questions that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may have about the works.
He begins the audio recording by sharing a history of the Apocrypha and how it came into existence. “We learn a lot about Jewish thought and belief from this time period that was really formative for the early Christians,” Ludlow says. He also explains what early LDS Church members thought about it.
Ludlow says the Apocrypha can be divided into three basic parts. There are the biblical expansions, heroic stories and wisdom literature.
Ludlow does an excellent job of summarizing the most significant stories from the Apocrypha and sharing the gospel principles associated with them. He’s not the most captivating storyteller, but listeners will get the point.
For example, there are three additional stories in the Apocrypha about the prophet Daniel. One of the stories deals with Daniel’s companions Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. It details the prayer of deliverance they offered to God when they were in the fiery furnace and how it felt moist with a nice cool breeze.
The stories Ludlow shares from the Apocrypha entertain, teach good moral values and illustrate the power of deliverance by God when experiencing trials. The Apocrypha also contains a message for those trying to live righteously in the world by either adopting, adapting or rejecting the world’s values. “The other message I see in the Apocrypha is one of repentance and God’s mercy,” Ludlow says.
This audio recording sounds like it was captured during one of Ludlow’s presentations at Brigham Young University. It is clear and understandable with little background noise. This is an excellent and thorough resource for understanding the Apocrypha.