{\b Apocrypha}. {\b Basic Features}. The Apocrypha is a collection of fourteen books of the Old Testament which are largely included in the Septuagint (Greek) and Vulgate (Latin) Bibles but not in the Hebrew Bible because they are not considered by the Jews to be the genuine word of God. These books are: First and Second Esdras, Tobit or Tobias, Judith, the Rest of Esther, the Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch (with the Epistle of Jeremiah, usually the sixth chapter), the Song of the Three Holy Children, the History of Susanna, the Destruction of Bel and the Dragon, the Prayer of Manasses and the First and Second Maccabees. {\b General Comment}. The canonical or true character of these books was greatly disputed in the early church. They were received by the Greek church, while the Vulgate Bible, the official text of the Roman Catholic Church, excluded only the two books of Esdras and the Prayer of Manasses. At the Reformation they were rejected by the Protestants who felt their authorship was not divinely inspired. The Anglican Church continued to consider them readable until they were finally excluded in the nineteenth century. Though the apocryphal books are generally omitted from the authorised version of the Bible, it should be noted that the Septuagint version agrees with most of the quotations in the New Testament while the religious terminology of western European languages has been mostly derived from the Vulgate. Generally the canon of the New Testament has always consisted of the same books.
Posted on: Sat, 02 Nov 2013 18:09:51 +0000
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