Apocrypha

Are there really lost books of the Bible? What are the Books included? Why do the Roman Catholics insists that these books are to be included?

The Apocrypha is a collection of documents, generally produced between the 2nd century B.C. and the 1st century A.D., which were not a part of the original Old Testament canon. The names of these books:

1 Esdras, 2 Esdras, The Rest of Esther, Song of the Three Holy Children, History of Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, Prayer of Manasses, Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, 1 Maccabees, and 2 Maccabees.

The last seven of these are incorporated into Roman Catholic editions of the Bible. The Catholic Council of Trent (1546) affirmed the canonicity of these books, as found in the Latin Vulgate, and condemned those who reject them.

The title, “Apocrypha,” is a transliterated form of the term apokruphos, meaning “hidden.”

The Truth About the Apocrypha and the Lost Books of the Bible

Don Stewart :: Why Were the Books of the Old Testament Apocrypha Rejected as Holy Scripture by the Protestants?

• The Apocrypha Has Different Doctrine And Practices Than Holy Scripture
• The Apocrypha Is Never Cited In The New Testament As Scripture
• The Apocrypha Has Always Been Rejected By The Jews As Scripture
• The Books Of The Apocrypha Were Written During The Silent Years
• The Septuagint Translation Proves Nothing
• There Is No Evidence The Apocrypha Was In Septuagint At The Time Of Christ
• There Is No Evidence Of A Greater Alexandrian Canon
• They Are Not On The Early Canonical Lists
• Read more at This Site

Why Don’t We Accept the Apocryphal Books?

(1) Even though the Septuagint existed in New Testament times and was available to the New Testament writers (the Book of Hebrews quotes from the Septuagint), there are no direct quotations from the Apocrypha in the New Testament nor does the New Testament refer to any apocryphal books as part of Scripture. (2) No general church council in the first four centuries of Christian history endorsed apocryphal books. While some early Christians thought highly of these books, others, such as Athanasius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Origen and Jerome opposed them. (3) While Augustine accepted the Apocrypha, his list is not exactly the same as that found in Catholic Bibles [for example, he omitted Baruch, which is in the Catholic Bible, and he included 1 Esdras, which is not in the Catholic Bible]. Furthermore, Augustine seems to have changed his mind from accepting the Septuagint as authoritative to later recognizing that only the Hebrew Scriptures were inspired. (4) Even the Roman Catholic Church did not officially recognize the Apocrypha as belonging in the Bible until the Council of Trent in A.D. 1546—?Catholicism’s response to the Reformation. (5) The Apocrypha appeared in Protestant Bibles even before the Council of Trent and on into the nineteenth century but were placed in a section separate from the Old and New Testaments. (6) Some teachings found in the Apocrypha appear to be unbiblical and even heretical, such as praying for the dead (2 Maccabees 12:45–46) and salvation by works (Tobit 12:9). The New Testament teaches that after death comes the judgment (Hebrews 9:27) and that salvation is by grace and not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9); (7) Some stories in the Apocrypha seem fanciful or even unethical (for example, Judith asks God to help her in a falsehood, Judith 9:10-13).

Why We Reject the Apocrypha
Myron J. Houghton, Ph.D., Th.D.

Photo and Video Credits: World Video Bible School (WVBS)