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One of the things I'm thinking about on this subject is new christians or those who have yet to become part of the body. Basically, those without much or any knowledge of the bible. Even if you were to say something along the lines of "Vine's says that such and such..." most of us would know that Vine's is a study aid, but some don't and would lump that reference in the same group as "we read in Acts that..." That's but one example. I agree that Josephus and some of those others provide a lot of valuable insight. I regret not having taken opportunity to read those for myself. And it certainly isn't a sweeping condemnation. It just seems some discernment (agreeing with Charles' wording) and statement of reference needs to be kept in place. This could easily digress into a discussion on why the books in the bible made the cut and such as Josephus did not. Such a discussion would seem to be in line with Wanda's question about (paraphrased here) "just because something's not in the bible doesn't mean it's not inspired". Interesting take, and one that I've leaned toward myself in the past when grappling with books I'd found such as one that claimed to be the lost book of Jasher.
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