Sunday, April 20, 2008

PSEUDEPIGRAPHA WATCH: The book of 2 Esdras (4 Ezra) is being invoked in the discussion of race relations in the United States:
U.S. should risk an overdue dialogue on race
Shirley Stancato and John Rakolta Jr.
(Detroit News)

Discussing race is tough.

There's no getting around it. Of all the challenges that confront our nation, race relations makes just about everybody uncomfortable. But that's no reason for us to turn away from Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama's recent call for conversations on race in this country. In fact, it is all the more reason we need to accept his invitation and participate in a long-overdue national dialogue on race.

For the past five years, New Detroit has led such conversations. We've learned a lot about the best ways to make those discussions productive.

[...]

The 14th Chapter of 2nd Esdras in the Apocrypha tells us, "I shall light a candle of understanding in thine heart, which shall not be put out." That is why these ongoing, good faith, sometimes heated, and sometimes painful discussions are worth it for all of us. Listening to one another can light a candle of understanding in our hearts, which shall not be put out.
The reference is 2 Esdras (4 Ezra) 14:25. Technically the book of 2 Esdras is in the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, not the Old Testament Apocrypha. It is not part of the Catholic or Orthodox biblical canons, even though it is normally printed in the Apocrypha.