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Question 6
He accuses Protestants of a “double standard” by labeling hard passages in the canonical Old Testament as “difficult,” but labeling similar difficulties in the Apocrypha as “proof” it’s not Scripture (Jephthah’s daughter, the witch of Endor, God sending a “lying spirit”); what does this suggest about our assumptions regarding the character of God and the nature of inspiration, and where do you see yourself tempted toward the same double standard?
Another way to ask: Why does Bercot say Protestants use a double standard by excusing hard parts of the Old Testament but using similar issues to reject the Apocrypha? Where do you notice yourself doing the same thing when a passage makes you uncomfortable?

Direct Answer Bercot suggests we often assume the canon we already accept must be defended, while anything outside it is judged more harshly—so “difficult” stories become disqualifying only when they appear in the Apocrypha. This exposes assumptions that inspiration requires easy explanations and that uncomfortable narratives threaten God’s character only when we already distrust the book.

Support from Transcript:

  • He reports the objection: Apocrypha contains “strange unscriptural teachings,” then responds by comparing with troubling canonical stories.
  • Jephthah: if in Apocrypha, people would say, “This is clearly unscriptural,” but in Judges we call it “a difficult passage” and say “God certainly didn’t approve of it.”
  • Witch of Endor: if in Apocrypha, critics would claim it “teaches spiritism,” but in 1 Samuel “we shrug our shoulders and call it a difficult passage.”
  • Lying spirit: 1 Kings depicts God sending an angel as “a lying spirit”; if in Apocrypha it would be denounced as “blasphemous,” but in canonical Scripture it is tolerated as difficult.
  • He explicitly names it: “It’s a real double standard.”
Discussion Follow-ups Do you treat a book’s “status” as settled before you evaluate its hard passages? How might you apply the same patience and charity to the Apocrypha that you already apply to Judges or Kings?

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