I think, in all fairness, however, that the man has a valid point when he says that the books 'have no ancient authority', because their late authorship is not in dispute, and this is precisely the reason that they were not admitted to the Hebrew canon. The latest books in the protocanonical OT are Daniel, Esther, and perhaps a few Psalms, all of these dating from about 150BC, give or take a few years. What criteria were used to decide the 'cut-off date' is a matter of great interest among Bible scholars, with no clear answer that I am aware of; in any case, the Hebrew canon seems to have been determined around 90AD with anything more recent than a couple of centuries excluded.

His statement that they were not 'received' by Christ and His apostles is a bit harder to interpret - I'm not sure what he means by 'received' - again, if they could read Greek and had access to the LXX, these books would have been included. As you know, the Bible refers to many other books which are now completely lost that, from the context, seem to have been considered canonical at the time. This includes Jude's reference to the book of Enoch, which is still extant, but, as far as I know, no longer considered canonical by anyone.

I might just add that I believe Zondervan publishing is owned by Rupert Murdoch, the Australian schlockmeister who also owns the Fox TV network and several sleazy tabloids. I believe that it was Zondervan who published a book several years ago claiming that Universal Price Codes (UPC) were the anti-Christ. Did they also publish '88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988'? But perhaps this is unfair 'guilt by association'. (Murdoch himself is, I think, Jewish.)

Yes, I will have that list for you later this week. It's bright and sunny this morning, much more cheerful than yesterday. The Weihnachtsmarkt stalls are being set up and should be in operation by the weekend.