In terms of the Apocrypha, my stance lines up with the stance taken by the Tentmaker forums (Christian Universalist forum site) which states
https://tentmaker.org/forum/welcome-central/some-guidelines-from-the-moderators/msg171840/#msg171840
Tentmaker stands on the integrity and inspiration of all the scriptures in the commonly accepted cannon of the Bible. It means that for the purpose of the site, only the scriptures in the Old Testament and New Testament cannon are accepted as God-breathed and of suitable authority to be used in our discussions. Books and epistles like the Apocrypha, Enoch, Clement, Barnabus, etc. are not asserted with the weight of "scripture" attached to them for the purpose of the forum.
That’s why for all the verses on this site, I use the commonly accepted canon of the Bible
I have the Aionian Bible Version on this site here: https://jesus-saves-all.com/Verse/Aionian.htm
Here’s the full list of all the verses that are covered under “commonly accepted canon of the Bible”, which are the 66 canonical books.
https://www.aionianbible.org/Bibles/English---Aionian-Bible
So for the purpose of this post I will provide clarifications to parts of the Apocrypha using the commonly accepted Canon of the Bible and putting it through a Christian Universalist light.
Ecclesiasticus 3:30, Water will quench a flaming fire, and alms maketh atonement for sin.
The only atonement for our sins is not alms, which is works salvation, but faith alone in Jesus Christ! Tus everyone will believe in Christ Jesus with faith alone and be saved. Christ is the ONLY atonement for sin.
Romans 3:28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
Tobit 12:8-9, 17, It is better to give alms than to lay up gold; for alms doth deliver from death, and shall purge away all sin.
Again, with the alms thing. Look, to repeat the point from above, it’s faith alone in Jesus Christ that delivers us from death. It’s faith alone in Christ Jesus that purges away all sin. Giving alms is works salvation and works salvation is false! Thus, everyone will believe in Jesus Christ with faith alone and be saved.
Mary was born sinless (immaculate conception):
Wisdom 8:19-20, And I was a witty child and had received a good soul. And whereas I was more good, I came to a body undefiled.
Some people try to use this to try to show that Mary was born sinless, but that’s false! Everyone has sin and thus everyone will be saved by Christ! Mary was born with sin, that’s true! That’s why Christ was born of a virgin, to avoid Original Sin. Mary has Original Sin, like every other descendant of Adam.
Romans 11:32: "For God has consigned all to disobedience, that He may have mercy on all."
2 Maccabbees 12:43, “And making a gathering, he sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection.”
Money doesn’t save the dead! It’s only faith alone in Jesus Christ. Christ Jesus, the Blessed Messiah, will come down to Sheol and convince the dead to believe in Him with faith alone to be saved! Jesus has the keys to Sheol! And He’s going to Sheol to save everyone there whether or not your paying Him a bunch of money. The gift of salvation is free! It’s not something you pay for with money, that’s works of the law, which is false.
Psalm 116:3-8 The cords of death bend me, Sheol held me in its grip . so I invoked the Lord by name. "Deliver me, 0 Lord, I beseech thee..." Gracious is the Lord and righteous, our God is full of compassion ...I was brought low and he saved me ... He has rescued me from death.
Sirach 12:4-7 “Give to the godly man, and help not a sinner. Do well unto him that is lowly, but give not to the ungodly; hold back thy bread, and give it not unto him... give unto the good, and help not the sinner.”
Jesus Christ came to help all sinners! Jesus Christ came to save the godly! We’re all sinners, so if we don’t help the sinner, then we can’t help anyone because everyone is a sinner. Thus, all sinners will be helped, all sinners will believe in Christ Jesus with faith alone and be saved.
Ephesians 4:10: "He who descended is the one who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things."
https://christianuniversalist.org/resources/articles/salvation-conspiracy/
The Apocryphon of John (a.k.a. The Secret Book of John) declares all will be saved except apostates.
The truth is that everyone will be saved, including apostates! Because apostates are sinners, and those who are not apostates are also sinners. Everyone here on Earth are sinners, including the apostates! And Christ came to save all the sinners!
One of the primary beliefs of the early Christians was that Jesus descended into Sheol/Hades in order to preach to the dead and rescue all of those, as it clearly says in I Peter 3:20
In the Coptic Book of the Resurrection, all but Satan and his ministers are pardoned.
The truth is that everyone will be pardoned for their sins by believing in Jesus Christ with faith alone! That includes Satan (assuming Satan is a literal being and not a metaphor) and his ministers (assuming they’re also literal beings and not metaphoric).
Colossians 1:19-20: Through Christ "God was pleased ... to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross."
On the topic of Apocryphal, here’s some strange Gnostic writings.
https://tentmaker.org/forum/lounge/gospel-of-judas/msg68602/#msg68602
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_judas
“Gospel of Judas claims that all of the disciples didn’t learn the true gospel and that Jesus secretly taught it to Judas Iscariot.”
The “Gospel” of Judas straight up contradicts scripture. The disciples did learn the true gospel. Which is, to believe in Jesus Christ with faith alone and be saved.
1 Corinthians 15:22: "As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive."
Look, God loves everyone and wants to give people a way to be free of sin. The Lord has said to spread the Gospel, the good news, to all people, not to keep them hidden. The Good News is for everyone to hear, not just Judas. While it’s true that Judas will be saved, this applies to everybody. Everyone will be convinced to believe in Jesus Christ with faith alone to be saved.
Romans 5:18: "Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men."
A response by a user on the Tentmaker forums sums this up nicely
The Quar’an, Koran, the book from Islam, is false because it denies the deity of Christ. And that book was also inspired by Apocrypal writings.
WhiteWings
Re: Gospel of Judas
« Reply #2 on: July 18, 2009, 02:48:17 PM »
Yeah, if the teachings where so top secret that only Judas was allowed to know it how could they been written down.
What’s next Gospel of Bob? Gospel of Greg? There’s only one overall good news, one total Gospel, and that’s to believe in Jesus Christ with faith alone and be saved! And thus, everyone will believe in Jesus Christ with faith alone and all will be saved!
In certain editions of the 1611 KJV, Apocryphal writings were included for some reason. For example, I downloaded a King James Version .pdf online and found that it had a whole section dedicated to the Apocrypha. Of course, I recognize the commonly accepted canon of the Bible. But it might be confusing to people who are just reading the Bible for the first time and aren’t aware of the context behind the writings.
Revelation 5:13: "And I [John] heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, `To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!"'
Catholics, as in, members of the Roman Catholic Church, I’ve seen, they take a defensive stance on Apocryphal writing like the Gospel of Thomas.
Same with Mormons, members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, who quote the Book of Mormon, which are writings by Joseph Smith.
Ellen White's writings are treated like Gospel by the Seventh Day Adventist members.
Look, all of these Christian Denominations have one thing in common, they have the same canonical 66 books from the Old Testament and New Testament. The Gospel, is the good news meant for everyone to hear. Thus, God would not only explain that message throughout all His writings, but would also make the Good News easily understandable to all these people. This good news is to believe in Jesus Christ with faith alone to be saved. And thus, everyone will believe in Christ Jesus with faith alone to be saved.
Matthew 11:27: "All things have been handed over to me by my Father”
Apocryphal writings are like an intellectual trap, they hook you in by telling you that some sort of “secret knowledge” like Gnosticism, can be found by reading their books specifically. However, the truth is plainly written. Believe in Jesus Christ with faith alone to be saved and thus everyone will be saved in that way. Let every man be a liar, and instead let us trust the Word of God my friend, the original Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek scriptures. Because there’s already enough confusion with all these translation errors that humans make that contradict scripture. Let’s not add more confusion here by trying to add more human written books in error here that contradict scripture.
Luke 19:10: "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."
This is the Gospel: Everyone is born with sin. Jesus Christ lived a perfect life and died on the cross. He paid the wages of sin, death, and resurrected 3 days later. Thus, believe in Jesus Christ with faith alone to be saved and washed of all your sins. Eventually, everyone will have all of their sins washed away because they will eventually believe in Jesus Christ with faith alone to be saved.
Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."