When Were The Apocryphal Books Removed From The Bible

Apocrypha Books Of The Bible

The Apocrypha is a collection of books that were included in the King James Bible. They are not considered part of the Christian canon, but they were included alongside other books in the Bible by King James.

The word apocryphameans hidden. These books include some of the most well-known stories from the Old Testament: Tobit and Judith, for example, are two stories about people who risked their lives to save others.

The Apocrypha also includes books that are similar to those found in the New Testament: The Wisdom of Solomon, for example, contains a very similar message to that of Pauls letter to the Romans.

The Apocrypha is often used as evidence against those who believe that everything written in scripture must be true because it is Gods word however, these books do not necessarily contradict any other scripture or teachings.

What Is The Apocrypha Are Apocryphal Books Really Scripture

The word apocrypha comes from the Greek word meaning hidden or secret. Originally, the term was reserved for books with content considered too sacred and grand to make accessible to the general public. Over time, apocrypha took on a more negative connotation, due to the questionable origins and doubtful canonicity of these books.

• Christianity.com Editorial Staff
• 201925 Apr

The word apocrypha comes from the Greek word meaning hidden or secret. Originally, the term was reserved for books with content considered too sacred and grand to make accessible to the general public. Over time, apocrypha took on a more negative connotation, due to the questionable origins and doubtful canonicity of these books.

Those who dont accept these books as canon call them the Apocrypha apocryphal. But those who do accept them call them the Deuterocanon or deuterocanonical books, meaning belonging to the second canon.

Why Were The Book Removed

Many people disagree about the reasons why these texts were removed. Most believe that this text remained in the Bible until 1828 but translators say that the additional books made it challenging for people to understand the word of God.

There were also a lot of teachings in the books that went against the accepted books of the Bible, causing greater confusion.

This could point to one of the major reasons why the books were removed they were difficult to read and understand. The goal of the Bible according to translators was to prepare people to accept God and understand Him. Anything that would have complicated or further challenged that agenda would have come up against contention.

Likely this is why the additional 14 books were finally removed from the common Bible in the seventeenth century.

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The Catholic Church Didnt Declare The Apocrypha Was Scripture Until The Reformation

The Roman Catholic Church officially declared that the Apocrypha was canonical at the Council of Trent in 1546. One must ask though if these books were authoritative, why wait over fifteen hundred years to declare their authority? It seems that Rome declared their canonical status as a direct response to the teachings of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformers who rejected these books and their teachings.

Perhaps the biggest reason these books were even up for discussion is because St. Jerome hesitantly included them in the Latin Vulgate Bible in AD 404. Because this was the official Bible of the Western Church for over a thousand years, its not hard to imagine how Christians began to think the Apocrypha was also Scripture.

While Jerome included these books in his Vulgate, he specifically differentiated them from the rest of the Bible. He indicated that these books were not for the establishing of the authority of the doctrines of the church.4 That is to say, Jerome recognized that these books didnt carry the same authority as Scripture. Only Scripture establishes Christian doctrine. The Apocrypha doesnt have authority to do that.

Knowing the origins of their inclusion in the Latin Vulgate and the late declaration of their canonical status is yet another reason to reject these books as Scripture.

Theological And Spiritual Benefits

Even a broken clock is right twice a day. This well-known saying captures the fallibility of human writings. Unlike the Old and New Testaments, every human writing contains, to varying degrees, truth and error. This is not to disparage these writings, but simply to say that writings containing portions we deem unorthodox or wrong, such as the Apocrypha, can still communicate truth that accords with Gods word . Nevertheless, they can also communicate error. The Apocrypha will benefit Protestants theologically only when we know how it accords with divine truth and how it doesnt.

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What Is The Apocrypha Why Arent These Books Found In The Protestant Bible

Posted June 13, 2017 by JMM Team and filed under the category .

Today the word apocrypha is synonymous with the fourteen or fifteen books of doubtful authenticity and authority. These writings are not found in the Hebrew Old Testament, but they are contained in some manuscripts of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, which was completed around 250 b.c. in Alexandria, Egypt.

Most of these books were declared to be Scripture by the Roman Catholic Church at the Council of Trent , though the Protestant Church rejects any divine authority attached to them.

Those who attribute divine authority to these books and advocate them as Scripture argue that the writers of the New Testament quote mostly from the Septuagint, which contains the apocrypha. They also cite the fact that some of the Church fathers, notably Iranaeus, Tertullian, and Clement of Alexandria, used the apocrypha in public worship and accepted them as Scripture, as did the Syriac Church in the fourth century.

St. Augustine, who presided over the councils at Hippo and Carthage, concurred with their decision that the books of the apocrypha were inspired. The Greek Church adds its weight to the list of believers in the inspiration of the apocrypha.

Appealing to certain Church fathers as proof of the inspiration of the books is a weak argument, since just as many in the early church, notably Origen, Jerome, and others, denied their alleged inspiration.

Why The Apocrypha Isnt In The Bible

Ive had more than a few conversations about the Apocrypha. From my experience, this group of a dozen Jewish books written between the Old and New Testaments perplexes most Christians. A couple of reasons exist for this confusion. First, most have never read these books. That is, nobody knows what they say. And second, Catholics include these books in their Bible. Why would they include them in their Bible while Protestants do not?

Because much confusion exists around the Apocrypha, let me give four reasons why I believe the Apocrypha shouldnt be included in our Bible.

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Rejection By Many In The Catholic Church

6. The Catholic Church has not always accepted the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha was not officially accepted by the Catholic Church at a universal council until 1546 at the Council of Trent. This is over a millennium and a half after the books were written, and was a counter-reaction to the Protestant Reformation.4It is true that the Catholic Church accepted the Apocryphal books at earlier councils at Rome , Hippo , Carthage , and Florence . However, these were not universal Church councils and the earlier councils were influenced heavily by Augustine, who was no Biblical expert, compared to the scholar Jerome, who rejected the Apocrypha as part of the Old Testament Canon. Furthermore, it is doubtful that these local church councils decisions were binding on the Church at large since they were local councils. Sometimes these local councils made errors and had to be corrected by a universal church council.

7. Many church Fathers rejected the Apocrypha as Scripture, and many just used them for devotional purposes. For example, Jerome, the great Biblical scholar, and translator of the Latin Vulgate rejected the Apocrypha as Scripture though, supposedly under pressure, he did make a hurried translation of it. In fact, most of the church fathers in the first four centuries of the Church rejected the Apocrypha as Scripture. Along with Jerome, names include Origen, Cyril of Jerusalem, and Athanasius.

What Are Apocryphal Books

Apocrypha is a collection of texts written during the Second Temple Period, but not included in the Hebrew Bible or the Protestant canon. These writings are considered to be non-canonical by most other religions such as Catholics and Orthodox Christians, but they are accepted by some Protestants.

The term apocrypha comes from the Greek word meaning hidden or secret . The purpose of these books was to supplement or add on to biblical teachings without altering them.

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Why Did Martin Luther Remove 7 Books From The Bible

Several reasons are proposed for the omission of these books from the canon. One is the support for Catholic doctrines such as Purgatory and Prayer for the dead found in 2 Maccabees. Another is that the Westminster Confession of Faith of 1646, during the English Civil War, actually excluded them from the canon.

The Missing Books Of The Bible

• FR. WILLIAM SAUNDERS

Last week, my friend who is a Baptist was visiting and came with me to Mass. The first reading was from the second Book of Maccabees. She had never heard of that book. I said, “It is in the Bible.” She said, “It is not in my Bible.” Is there a difference?

Yes, there is a difference between Catholic and Protestant editions of the Bible. However, to appreciate this question and its answer, one must first remember that almighty God never handed anyone a complete Bible and said, “Here it is.” Rather, over the centuries of salvation history, the Holy Spirit inspired the authors of Sacred Scripture to write down God’s revelation to us. As time went on, the Church compiled these books to form a Canon an authoritative set of Sacred Scripture and declared it “God’s Word.”

Although some discussion arose over the inclusion of other books into the Church’s canon of Sacred Scripture after this time, the Council of Florence definitively established the official list of 46 books of the Old Testament and 27 of the New Testament.

The Council of Trent, reacting to the Protestant Reformers, repeated the canon of Florence in the Decree on Sacred Books and on Traditions to be Received and decreed that these books were to be treated “with equal devotion and reverence.” The Catechism repeats this same list of books and again affirms the apostolic Tradition of the canon of Sacred Scripture.

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Which Churches Accept The Apocrypha Books As Canon

The Catholic Church

Since the Council of Rome in 382 , these apocryphal books below have been considered canonical by the Catholic Church:

• Tobit
• Additional chapters of Esther and Daniel
• 1st and 2nd Maccabees
• Sirach
• Baruch

The Eastern Orthodox Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church also accepted the Apocrypha as divinely inspired texts and canonical with the Old Testament. The Orthodox tradition includes the same list of books as the Catholic Church along with these below, which are considered canonical only by the Orthodox Church:

• 3rd Maccabees

Geneva Bible V King James Version Sample Comparisons

To compare the Geneva Bible with the King James, here is Revelation 6:1217 in both versions . The differences have been italicized :

Here are both the Geneva and the King James versions of Genesis 3:7 with spellings as in their originals :

The two versions are very similar. Examination of the differences shows that the earlier Geneva version is often more direct and modern in style than the later King James, e.g.

“and the moon was like blood” versus “and the moon became as blood”

“as a fig tree casteth her green figs” versus “even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs”

By and large, the difference is that the KJV lacked footnotes that the Geneva Bible contained. The KJV does use the serial comma.

As can be seen by the text below, Daniel chapter 4 in the Geneva Bible appears to have removed two verses. In reality, the Geneva Bible places those two verses at the end of chapter 3, as the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin versions all did. It was not until the King James Version that those verses were placed with chapter 4 as opposed to chapter 3:

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Where Can You Find An Original Bible

Keep in mind that there is no such thing as an original Bible. The Bible consists of a large number of books and stories that were compiled over time. As a result, there cant be just one original Bible.

The books of the Bible were written by many different people at different points in time. Over the centuries many different interpretations have resulted, creating a diverse range of translations and inclusions or exclusions of books, such as the Apocrypha.

Purgatory And A Heavenly Treasury

Lets first consider how the Apocrypha does not accord with Gods truth. This is theologically vital for Protestants. Second Maccabees 12 is a classic text. It records the aftermath of a battle during the Maccabean revolt, where Judas Maccabeus and his men were picking up the bodies of their fallen comrades. Under their tunics, however, they found idols. And so it became clear to all that this was the reason these men had fallen .14 They then prayed for these dead brothers, requesting that the sin that had been committed might be wholly blotted out . Judas also took up a collection and sent it to Jerusalem as a sin offering . The narrator comments:

In doing this he acted very well and honorably, taking account of the resurrection. For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, so that they might be delivered from their sin.

Judass example also leads the RCC to view almsgiving as a good work that merits the forgiveness of sins. The book of Tobit is more explicit on this topic. Consider a few quotes:

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Jews Have Never Accepted The Apocrypha As Scripture

The Jews dont believe the Apocrypha belongs in their Bible, and they never have. Josephus, the greatest Jewish historian of the first century, explained:

It is true, our history has been written since Artaxerxes very particularly, but has not been esteemed of the like authority with the former by our forefathers.1

Josephus quote is especially helpful here. He indicates that ever since the reign of Artaxerxes , the Jewish writings have not been esteemed of the like authority with the former by our forefathers. In other words, the Jewish consensus was that while these writings might contain some helpful history and content, they dont belong in the same category as the Old Testament texts.

Rabbinic literature during the first couple of centuries also affirms this distinction. The Babylonian Talmud reports:

After the latter prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi had died, the Holy Spirit departed from Israel.2

Based on this text, the Jews recognized that the Spirit stopped speaking through the prophets after Malachi died. Thus, the Apocryphal documents, which were written after Malachi, are not Spirit-inspired Scripture.

In fact, no early or recent Jewish canon includes the Apocrypha. That the Jews reject these Jewish documents as Scripture is a strong indication that they dont belong in our Bible.

An Analysis Of Individual Apocryphal Books In Alphabetical Order

Baruch

Jeremiah 36:4CRITICAL CONCEPTSJob 31:35Baruch 3:4Job 21:13Psalms 6:5Psalms 89:48Psalms 146:4Deuteronomy 18a consulter with familiar spiritsFor all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord:Ecclesiastes 945610I Corinthians 15:26Hebrews 2:14

Bel and the dragon

Deuteronomy 13:13

But all it takes is only one lie to prove the book was not from God and in fact, has Satan’s hand in it.Consider this:Therefore, Bel and the dragon had to have been inspired by devil spirits.

Matthew 6:23

Ecclesiasticus:

James 3earthly, sensual, devilishconfusion and every evil workEcclesiastes:

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