What are Apocryphal Books?

Have you heard about apocryphal books? Why is it in some Bibles, but not others? Here you will find out

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Most people know that the Christian Bible contains famous books such as Genesis, the Psalms, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the letters of Paul, and of course, the book of Revelation. But if his origins are Roman Catholic or Orthodox, he may have heard references to the books of Tobias, Judith, or 2 Maccabees. These writings, along with several other books, are often referred to as apocryphal books.

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In Roman Catholic Bibles, such texts are included in the Old Testament. Other Bibles group the apocryphal books into a separate section between the Old and New Testaments. And many new translations of the Bible used by Protestants do not include apocryphal books at all. Christians, as a whole, are divided over the inclusion of apocryphal texts in the Bible. Orthodox Christians include books that Catholics do not include. Catholics include books that Protestants do not include.

So, what are apocryphal books? Why are they so controversial?

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The Apocryphal Books
The word "apocryphal" did not come into widespread use until the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century.1 It comes from a Greek word meaning "things that are hidden" and refers to the belief that these writings were hidden or mysterious.2

In total, apocryphal books are a collection of about fifteen books. These writings contain wisdom literature, stories from Old Testament times, prophecies and historical narratives of the Jewish people for a time often referred to as the intertestamental period (from the fourth century BC, the end of the Old Testament, to the time of Jesus in the first century AD, the beginning of the New Testament).

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The Apocryphal Books and the Catholic Church
Let's look at a bit of history about how Catholics came to embrace apocryphal books. Around 400 of the Christian era Jerome, one of the fathers of the church, compiled the most important works of sacred literature of the Christian church. In doing so, he translated many writings, including the Bible itself, from Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek into Latin. His translation of the Bible is known today as the Latin Vulgate.

The Vulgate became the main Bible used by the Latin church for approximately 1,500 years. In it, Jeronimo included apocryphal works, but made a distinction between these and the canon of the Bible. (The word "canon" means "rule" or "norm" and refers to the final list of books accepted as part of the Christian Bible: the rule or norm of faith).

Jerome wrote: "So, as the church actually says Judith, Tobias and the books of the Maccabees, but does not receive them among the canonical books, then we also read [other works in question] for the edification of the people, but not to establish the authority of ecclesiastical dogmas. " However, over time, church leaders granted the same status to apocryphal books.

the Roman Catholic Church, in response to the uprising of the Protestant Reformation, declared the Apocrypha as an official part of the biblical canon for the first time, using the term "deuterocanonics", which means added to the canon later, or in second place. As such, Roman Catholics continue to include the Apocrypha in the Bible, but recognize their status as different from the content of the Old and New Testaments.

Many Christians are not aware of the controversy over apocryphal books. In truth, it does not affect any of the central principles of the Christian faith. Put more simply, Roman Catholics place greater emphasis on the value of apocryphal books while Protestants generally question them.

However, all Christians agree on the fundamental principles of their faith. All Christians believe in the one true God who created us and loves us, even though human beings are sinners and in need of grace. And all Christians believe that only Jesus, through his life, death and resurrection, makes it possible for us to experience the forgiveness and grace of God.