Apocrypha

Apocrypha books

You will find all the articles below this introduction to the Apocrypha books.

In the original Greek "Apocrypha" means "Hidden Things". Do you find it weird that they took out those hidden things? I sure do, and I also wonder why? Let me explain my thinking. 

You see in the original 1611 King James Bible it had the Apocrypha which also has 16 books in it. Yes, there are 16 books missing from your Bible, but why? The entire bible only has 66 with 16 missing that is a lot of information, right? Even if they are not canonized they should at least still be available for all of us to read and learn from.

Recently I was told by someone who I respect a great deal that the Apocrypha was not canonized and that is why they took it out. Okay, I buy that, but I still wonder why?  Why were they not canonized in the first place.  

Okay, the truth is when you start to actually read them you find out very quickly why they were not canonized.  They do not always follow strict doctrine or even close for some of them. For example the fact that Enoch says that Eve was not the first wife of Adam, WHAT? Yes, so that would certainly upset the apple cart, right? Also there is a lot more contained in these 16 books in the apocrypha or apocryphal if you will.  

The adjective, Apocryphal, is used by Bible scholars for :

  1. Matters "secret" or "mysterious"; (Ya you bet they are mysterious!)
  2. Writings unrecognized, uncanonical. (Upset the apple cart like I said)

The noun Apocrypha is the name generally given to the 16 books. 

Apocrypha Books

Here is the list of all the missing 16 books:

  1. I Esdras
  2. II Esdras
  3. Tobit
  4. Judith
  5. Additions to Esther
  6. The Wisdom of Solomon
  7. Ecclesiasticus
  8. Baruch with the letter of Jeremiah
  9. The prayer of Azariah and the song of the Three Young Men
  10. Suanne
  11. Bel and the Dragon
  12. The prayer of Manasseh
  13. I Maccabees
  14. II Maccabees
  15. III Maccabees 
  16. IV Maccabees (Note sometimes the last two are omitted)

Note: That is a lot of books to just say "Oh well, we do not need these books"?

The old testament was written mostly in Hebrew yes some in Aramaic but the Apocrypha books are almost entirely written in Greek.  Strange, right since most of the New Testament was written in Greek and not Hebrew or Aramaic. But now get this, the Jewish authorities consider them uninspired? So they did not include them in the Hebrew canon, okay? 

Then there is this point (I think this is the real reason) Jesus NEVER QUOTED THEM! That seems to say everything, when the single most important person who actually lived with us stays totally clear on this subject.  Jesus did not say one way or the other about the apocrypha books. I can not wait to ask Jesus about this when he returns (God willing).  Jewish students were allowed to read and study the text but only for edification (Well how about us?). The point here is that they were never canonized.

If God wanted them to be canonized they would be that much is certain. And there is the rub of all this. Did you know in 1535 Myles Coverdale was the one to introduced them or put them into the Bible between the old and new testaments otherwise we may not know anything about them.  And then the Catholic Church, declared most of the them to be canonical in 1546. However, in 1629 they changed their minds and they were taken out.

So these book have at times been regarded as scripture and accepted, but not now? The Catholic church does not hold any weight with me at all. Because they were the ones that lied to me my entire childhood, and they still do today. Any time a church says "Catholics worship statues!” Because Catholics have statues in their churches, goes the accusation, they are violating God’s commandment" This link takes you directly to their own article, you can read how they disobey God and justify it in their own minds. 

Look I grew up with those people and you see is them bowing down to their status and praying to them every Sunday!

Get this though, the Protestants have failed to accept them at all! 

So there you have it, the good the bad and the ugly. So the choice is yours, read, don't read, trust, don't trust, really it is up to you. Are some good and others are not, who knows really? I can not tell you, and I do not think there is a real solid answer and won't be until Jesus returns. All I can do is to present them and tell you what they say and then you go from there. Below you will find the latest articles from the Apocrypha books. Happy reading...

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