What is the Apocrypha? Why are they included in Roman Catholic Bibles, and why do Protestants reject those books?
– Simon, India
DR. GEORGY’S RESPONSE:
The Apocrypha refers to 14 or 15 books of questionable origins and doubtful canonicity. The word “apocrypha” comes from the Greek word meaning “hidden” or “secret.” Despite doubts, the Council of Rome in AD 382 acknowledged the apocryphal books as canonical. And in response to the Protestant Reformation and Martin Luther’s views on the Apocrypha, the Catholic Council of Trent (1545-1563) canonised these books. Martin Luther had criticised the Catholic Church for not having scriptural support for some doctrines like praying for the dead. By canonising the Apocrypha (which has support for praying for the dead in 2 Maccabees 12:44-45), the Catholic Church had “scriptural” support for this and other distinct Catholic doctrines.
In the late fourth century AD, Jerome was entrusted with the responsibility of translating the Greek Septuagint into Latin, but he used the original Hebrew Old Testament as well for the task. In that process, Jerome doubted the inspiration of the apocryphal books. Jerome denied their status as Scripture and said that they were not books of the canon but rather books of the church. He clearly concluded that they were not divinely authoritative. His judgement was ignored.
Roman Catholics argue that the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament produced in third century BC) contained the Apocrypha. It is interesting that the Jewish scholarship at the Council of Jamnia (AD 90) rejected the apocryphal books and concluded that these books were not divinely inspired. Church fathers like Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Clement of Alexandria used the apocryphal books in worship and accepted them as Scripture. On the other hand, other early Church fathers like Origen, Jerome, etc. denied their inspiration. Even though Augustine in his early years acknowledged the Apocrypha, in his later years, he rejected those books as being non-canonical and concluded that they were inferior to the Hebrew Scriptures.
Protestants hold that even though some of the apocryphal books may have been referred to in the New Testament, no author of any New Testament book ever quoted from any of these apocryphal books as holy Scripture, or accepted them as inspired books. If they were inspired, then surely Jesus and His disciples would not have ignored them.
The Apocrypha contains clear historical mistakes (concerning the book of Tobit), affirms unbiblical doctrines (praying for the dead, giving money to atone for sins, praying to saints in heaven and asking them for prayer), which are all refuted by Scripture. And unlike many of the biblical books, no apocryphal book claims to be divinely inspired. Therefore, these books clearly do not belong in the Bible.
