Para-Biblical books
MJ. Smith
MVP Posts: 54,539 
For purpose of this suggestion, what I mean by para-Biblical texts are (1) Old Testament pseudepigrapha excluding the deuterocanonicals (2) Dead Sea Scrolls (3) Nag Hammadi texts (4) New Testament apocrypha including late apocrypha and similar materials (5) Philo and Josephus.
I would like to see these have their own library type Para-Biblical and their own Commentary type Para-Biblical Commentary. There may be a need for a separate overview/survey resource type as well.
This is needed because the Ancient Literature category correctly has a date cutoff that bisects the actual category and because the para-Biblical resources are of increasing interest to students of the Bible. My library currently has nearly 200 books of para-Biblical texts; I don't have a count on commentaries but there is clearly sufficient material to justify a separate designation.
I would also like to see a separate section for them in the Guides which would work much like a collection section until FL expands the BK tagging to the para-Biblical books.
I would like to see these have their own library type Para-Biblical and their own Commentary type Para-Biblical Commentary. There may be a need for a separate overview/survey resource type as well.
This is needed because the Ancient Literature category correctly has a date cutoff that bisects the actual category and because the para-Biblical resources are of increasing interest to students of the Bible. My library currently has nearly 200 books of para-Biblical texts; I don't have a count on commentaries but there is clearly sufficient material to justify a separate designation.
I would also like to see a separate section for them in the Guides which would work much like a collection section until FL expands the BK tagging to the para-Biblical books.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
Tagged:
4
Comments
-
I strongly agree with the general suggestion. I think the category might be refined a bit, though. I'm not sure I would group Philo and Josephus with the OT pseudepigrapha, and the Dead Sea Scrolls include more than one type of literature. Personally, I'd categorize the fragments of canonical books included in the Dead Sea Scrolls as Biblical, rather than para-Biblical. But those are just details. The basic idea would be very useful.0
