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Apocrypha

Books excluded from the Protestant Bible

The word "Apocrypha" means "those having been hidden away."

Some Protestant reasons for exlcusion of Apocrypha from their Bible (Geisler)

In 1546, the Council of Trent claimed that books of the Apocrypha were to be included in their Bible by the Roman Catholic Church. They decided that these specific books were sacred writings which are the norm for faith among believers, and declared them "inspired" and thus a part of the canon of the Old Testament of the Holy Bible.

Protestants disputed this inclusion for many reasons...

1. Jesus Christ, nor any of the New Testament authors, never quoted from these books as Scripture.

2. The Jews, who were entrusted to the oracles of God within the Old Testament (Rom 3:2), did not view these books inspired.

3. It was only in the fifth century that these books were declared "inspired" by the Roman Catholic Church

4. St. Augustine's teachings led to the acceptance of the books, which was refuted by St. Jerome

5. St. Jerome, the most biblical scholar, emphatically rejected these books of the Apocrypha.

6. These books were added by the Catholic Bible to support false doctrines of Purgatory (II Macc 12:45) and salvation by "works" (Tob. 12:9; Ecclus. 3:30).

7. The Apocrypha does not claim to come from inspiration of God, and there were probably no prophets of God at the time the books were written.

8. There is no new knowledge about Christ the Messiah added, which is in direct contrast to Scripture that sates "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophesy" (Rev 19:10)

The books of the Roman Catholic Apocrypha included in their Bible

1. Tobit
2. Judith
3. Additions to Esther
4. Wisdom
5. Ecclesiasticus
6. Baruch
7. The Letter of Jerimiah
8. Payer of Azariah
9. Susanna
10. Bel and the Dragon
11. 1 Maccabees
l2. II Maccabees

It should be noted that there are additional books included in the Orthodox Bibles that are also considered "Apocrypha", but are not presently listed in this report.

Citations

Geisler, Norman L. "Christ: The Key to the Inspiration and Canonization of the Bible." A Popular Survey of the Old Testament. Michigan: Baker Academic, 2006. 16.

Cite Article Source

MLA Style Citation:
McFarland, Kathy L. "Apocrypha." Guided Bible Studies for Hungry Christians 25 August 2007. <http://guidedbiblestudies.com/topics/apocrypha.htm>.

APA Style Citation:
McFarland, Kathy L. (2007, August 25). Apocrypha. Guided Bible Studies for Hungry Christians. Retrieved from http://guidedbiblestudies.com/topics/apocrypha.htm

Chicago Style Citation:
McFarland, Kathy L. 2007 Apocrypha. Guided Bible Studies for Hungry Christians (August, 07), http://guidedbiblestudies.com/topics/apocrypha.htm (accessed )

(NOTE: Add date retrieved where indicated in place of the all-capitalized letters.)

About the Author

Kathy L. McFarland is a Becker Bible Studies Teacher and author of Guided Bible Studies for Hungry Christians. She is a Religious Studies student of Liberty University, Hebrew language student attending Israeli taught Ulpan and a Homeschool parent teaching the things of God. She is also well-known as a child advocate of innocent children tortured and suffering from the abuse of sexual perversion, out-of-control violence, and pathetic neglect by a carnal world gone mad.

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