Looking at the table of contents of the Millennium Bible (a Polish Catholic edition) and comparing it to other editions such as the Gdańsk Bible, the New Gdańsk Bible, the Updated Gdańsk Bible, the Brest Bible, the Warsaw Bible, the Jakub Wujek Bible, the Toruń Translation, or the New Covenant Bible, we notice a certain difference in the table of contents, mainly in the Old Testament. All the books “added” in the Millennium Bible edition are commonly known as the Apocryphal books.
THE APOCRYPHA
The Apocrypha is a collection of books written in the period between the Old and New Testaments — during the 400 “silent years,” when there were no prophets who would normally record such writings under divine inspiration. They were probably all written in the two centuries before the birth of Christ, even though the content of these books describes earlier events. All of the apocryphal books (with the exception of 2 Esdras) were written in the Greek version of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint. The Septuagint came into common use in Palestine (Israel) and was a very popular version in Jesus’ day, although Jesus Himself never quoted from it. The Jews of Palestine likewise never accepted these apocryphal writings.
According to Wikipedia: Apocrypha (Gk. ἀπόκρυφος, apokryphos – hidden, secret) – a term used today mainly in a religious context for books with biblical subject matter that are regarded as uninspired and therefore not part of the biblical canon. Another term for them is deuterocanonical books. In a broader sense, it denotes a work of uncertain or questionable authenticity.
In pre-Christian antiquity, this term was used with regard to religious or philosophical texts within Hellenistic mystery religions and hermetic philosophical systems. Apocryphal writings were widespread until the decline of antiquity throughout the Roman Empire, especially in its eastern part, in the form of the religious movement known as Gnosticism (a non-Christian movement). In this latter case, however, the subject of apocrypha already overlaps with Christianity, given the very nature of Gnosticism. In this context, the term “apocrypha” in philosophical-religious circles meant that only initiates — those who possessed a certain knowledge (gnosis) unavailable to the uninitiated — had access to particular books, which is inconsistent with the message of the gospel, which is for everyone. In the Protestant churches these books are referred to as pseudepigrapha (from Gk. ψευδής pseudes “false” and ἐπιγράφω epigrapho “to write”) = false writings.
The term apocrypha refers mainly to the books of the Old Testament — specifically these 7 books:
- 1 Maccabees (1 Macc);
- 2 Maccabees (2 Macc);
- The Wisdom of Solomon (Wis);
- The Wisdom of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) (Sir);
- Tobit (Tob);
- Judith (Jdt);
- Baruch (Bar).
Passages regarded as deuterocanonical also appear in two other books:
- from the Book of Daniel: the Prayer of Azariah (Dan 3:24-90) and the last two chapters (Dan 13-14);
- Greek-language additions to the Book of Esther
The proper canon of the Bible’s books
Canon (Gk. kanon – “rule of conduct”) – a collection or list of books recognized as authentic and inspired Holy Scripture (the Bible). Establishing the canon is closely tied to recognizing the Bible and its individual parts as a work that arose from the inspiration of God.
From the standpoint of Judaism and Christianity, the term “apocrypha” designated writings that were not accepted into the canon of sacred scripture — that is, writings that stood, in a sense, in opposition to the canon. In this sense the term pseudepigrapha is also used.
In early Christianity, and indeed in its earliest written period, this kind of book was rejected, since it was recognized that they had not been written directly under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Among the criteria used to reject such writings were:
- uncertain origin of the text, meaning it could not be guaranteed to come from an apostle — a disciple of Jesus;
- doctrinal inconsistency with the common tenets of the faith — and this was not limited to outright contradiction, but also included dubious statements or theories contained in a given book or writing;
- religious syncretism present in the content of a given writing;
- mythological or even fantastical elements contained in the text;
- a large number of errors and discrepancies with historical facts.
The canon of the holy books (although the term “canon” as such was not yet used in reference to sacred scripture) within Judaism was settled toward the end of the 1st century AD (around the year 70), at a new center of Torah study (the so-called Hebrew academy) located in the town of Jamnia (Yavne) in Palestine. The sacred books were considered to be those written in Hebrew or Aramaic — 39 books in all (excluding the 7 apocryphal books). Greek texts (chiefly the Septuagint) and others were rejected, being labeled as external writings (ha-chitzonim). This is how the so-called Hebrew canon came into being, containing fewer books than the Septuagint (which included these 7 apocryphal books, for a total of 46 books), the version on which Christianity was based.
A Jewish council of rabbis convened in the year 70 after the birth of Christ to decide which books should be included among the Hebrew scriptures. They deliberated over which of these books were inspired by God and which were not. As a council, they announced their position regarding the books we know as the Apocrypha:
“For anyone who reads these outside books [without divine inspiration], there will be no place in the world to come.”
The difference between the Hebrew canon mentioned above and the Septuagint amounts to seven books, whose place in the canon raised doubts already in the early period of Christianity, right up until 1546.
Besides these seven apocryphal books, it is estimated that there are around 60 apocryphal writings of the Old Testament in total, and even more for the New Testament, where it is not even possible to establish an approximate number of all the non-canonical New Testament writings.
The Church should not create the canon or decide which books make it into the Bible. The Church should discover and acknowledge which books were inspired by God and used as such from the beginning. It was God who determined and, through the prophets, recorded the books that we today merely discover to have in fact been written under His inspiration.
In establishing the canonicity of the books and discovering their authenticity, five principles were used as guidelines:
- Was the book written by a prophet of God? If it was written by a messenger of God, then it is the Word of God.
- Did the author confirm the canonicity of his work through acts of God?
Miracles and signs often distinguished true prophets of God from false ones. Moses, for example, received the power to perform miracles to prove that he had been called by God (Exod 4:1-9). Elijah likewise triumphed over the prophets of Baal through supernatural signs (1 Kings 18). God also confirmed Jesus’ mission through miracles and signs (Acts 2:22).
- Did the message proclaim the truth about God? God cannot deny Himself (2 Cor 1:17-18), nor can He speak falsehood (Heb 6:18). Hence no book containing false statements can be the Word of God.
- Does it come with the power of God? The Church Fathers believed that the Word of God is living and effective (Heb 4:12), and that it should therefore possess the power to transform, to build up (2 Tim 3:17), and to evangelize (1 Pet 1:23). The content of a given book thus needed to carry practical, life-transforming, timeless teaching.
- Was the book accepted by the people of God? Unquestionably, a decisive factor was whether the believers living at that time recognized a given book. Did the people of God accept the book, read it, and apply it as the Word of God? If so, this was an indication that it should be regarded as canonical.
“For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.” – 1 Thess 2:13
How did the Apocrypha get into the Catholic Bible?
It all began when Pope Damasus gave Jerome (331-420 AD), the most learned theologian of his day, his authorization to prepare a Latin version of the Bible (the Vulgate) toward the end of the 4th century.
Jerome built his Old Testament canon on the Hebrew Canon, but he was instructed to add the apocryphal books to it. He was opposed to this, but he added them at the end of the Old Testament as a collection of additional, uninspired literature, and furnished them with commentary. He was clearly opposed to the Apocrypha. Up until the 16th century, the apocryphal books were not officially treated as inspired scripture.
The canonicity of these 7 books was finally confirmed dogmatically in the Catholic (and Orthodox) Church in the 16th century at the Council of Trent on April 8, 1546. This solution, however, was not adopted by Protestantism or any of the other Christian churches, which based their canon on the Hebrew canon that had long since been established, continuing to regard the 7 additional books as apocryphal. In the Old Testament, they recognize as inspired only the 39 books of the Hebrew Bible (24 or 22, according to the Jewish division) accepted by Judaism.
Interesting Facts
- The Apocrypha appeared in the Latin Vulgate, in one of the early Latin translations from Hebrew. At first they functioned as an appendix, with a note that they were not part of the Hebrew canon — because they are absent from the Hebrew Bible and were never included in its canon. This means that the Jews, the people first chosen by God, who received the ordinances of God’s Law, clearly held that the authors of these books were not inspired by God.
- These books were written almost entirely in Greek, rather than in Hebrew (and Aramaic), as was the case with the entire Old Testament.
- The term “apocrypha” means “hidden things” — secret, falsified, inauthentic, unrecognized, and non-canonical.
- The Apocryphal books were not part of the Catholic Church until 1546. The only churches where non-canonical books are now in use are the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church recognized as inspired a portion (7 books) of the books contained in the Alexandrian canon (the Septuagint) that do not appear in the Hebrew Bible.
- None of the Christian churches accept the apocryphal books, with the exception of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches.
- There is no trace in the Bible of Jesus, the Jews, the New Testament writers, or the majority of early scholars and Church Fathers ever appealing to the apocryphal writings.
- They also contain no mention whatsoever referring to the coming of the Messiah.
- None of the apocryphal writers claims divine inspiration or authority — and in some places, quite the opposite.
- None of the writers conveyed any message from God.
- These books contain many historical, geographical, and chronological errors, at times even contradicting themselves.
- These books teach doctrines and uphold practices that contradict the canonical scriptures, such as: sanctioning lying, justifying suicide and murder, and teaching and approving of magical incantations and prayer to the dead.
- Josephus (37-100 AD) — the well-known Jewish historian — likewise confirmed the canonicity and authenticity of the books of the Old Testament (39 books), listing them in his writings. He also rejected the authenticity of the Apocrypha.
The New Testament Apocrypha
There is likewise a large number of New Testament apocryphal writings, among which we can name:
- The Gospel of Bartholomew;
- The Gospel of Philip;
- The (Arabic) Gospel of John;
- The Gospel of Judas;
- The Gospel of Matthias;
- The Gospel of Peter;
- The Gospel of Thomas
There are also other writings, such as the Didache (The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles) (Gk. Didache) — an anonymous short treatise from early Christianity, one of the older writings of the Apostolic Fathers. It is not included in the canon of the New Testament (an apocryphon). It was probably written in the first half of the 2nd century, though some scholars hold that this text is older than some of the youngest books of the New Testament. The text of the Didache has survived in the Codex Hierosolymitanus manuscript from 1056.
The Didache is one of the oldest Christian sources. It remains under strong Jewish influence. The ancient text was lost, and for a long time it was known only from quotations in the writings of the Church Fathers. The Didache was only rediscovered in 1873, in the library of the Hospice of the Holy Sepulchre in Constantinople, by Metropolitan Philotheos Bryennios, in the Codex Hierosolymitanus manuscript of 1056.
The canon of the New Testament was likewise formed in a similar way over the course of time. The Greeks were the first to establish a division of the New Testament even before the Council of Nicaea (325 AD), probably as early as 250 AD. Roughly 25,000 New Testament manuscripts are available today. By comparison, only 643 manuscripts of Homer’s “Iliad” have been found, yet no one questions its authenticity.
Some errors in the Apocrypha
One might not notice any problem in the apocryphal books if one read them without special analysis or attention. Some of them are simply good historical or literary works, while others are stories or fantasy — but they cannot be treated as the inspired Word of God. Naturally, below I give only a few examples; in reality, at least 10 serious errors can be found in each book.
The Book of Tobit
A kind of fairy tale for children, full of doctrinal, moral, geographical, and chronological errors. The book is full of anachronisms (not visible once translated into Polish) that made it clear to the Jews that this document is fiction.
Example 1
1:1-4: “The book of the history of Tobit (…) whom Shalmaneser led away captive (…) I was still a young man at the time — the whole tribe of Naphtali, my forefather, had defected from the house of David (…) and from the city of Jerusalem…”
Being taken captive by Shalmaneser (which took place around 703 BC, according to 2 Kings 17:1-6) conflicts with the claim of being a young man when the tribe of Naphtali defected from Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:19-20, around 975 BC). This 270-year gap clearly shows that this story is fictional, since Tobit would have had to be 270 years old when he wrote this book.
Example 2
4:10; 12:9; 14:10-11: “for alms deliver from death, and it will not allow you to go into darkness. (…) Alms deliver from death and purge away every sin. Those who give alms will be filled with life. (…) because [Achiacharus] gave alms, he escaped the snare of death, (…) So now, my children, consider what almsgiving accomplishes…”
These passages teach false doctrines, inconsistent with the Bible, claiming that giving money:
- Delivers from death
- Keeps people from entering darkness
- Purges sin
Leviticus 17:11 states that “it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul,” which is why Jesus had to shed His blood for us on the cross. In the Old Testament, atonement for sin could be made only through the shedding of the blood of sacrificial animals.
“…whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed” – Rom 3:25
The conclusion drawn from these apocryphal verses is that salvation is based on how much money one gives, and that one can buy one’s way into heaven. This contradicts Eph 2:8-9, which says:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works [not through almsgiving], lest anyone should boast.”
These claims that one can buy one’s way out of death, darkness, and sin are completely unbiblical.
Example 3
4:17: “Place your bread on the grave of the righteous, but give none to sinners”
This does not agree with God’s Word regarding pagan rituals, which states:
“Then you shall say before the LORD your God: I have removed the holy tithe from my house, and also have given them to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed Your commandments, nor have I forgotten them. I have not eaten any of it when in mourning, nor have I removed any of it for an unclean use, nor given any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all that You have commanded me.” – Deut 26:13-14
The Book of Judith
This book is an attempt at a historical portrayal of the Jews of that era, but it too is full of doctrinal, moral, historical, geographical, and chronological errors. Such a large number of errors clearly indicates that this is not an inspired book.
Example 1
1:1: “It was in the twelfth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, who reigned over the Assyrians in the great city of Nineveh…”
According to the book of Daniel 4:4-6,30 and other secular sources, Nebuchadnezzar was king of the Babylonian Empire and ruled from Babylon, not the Assyrian Empire based in Nineveh. We know this from his own words:
“The king spoke, saying, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” – Dan 4:30
Example 2
1:6: Comments about the Hydaspes River in Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq)
In reality, this river flows in India — that is, thousands of kilometers away.
Example 3
2:21: “And he departed from Nineveh, marching three days toward the plain of Bectileth. At Bectileth they made camp…”
It is rather impossible to travel from Nineveh to Bectileth in 3 days. This stretch covers 480 km.
Example 4
9:2,10,13: “O Lord God (…) strike by the deceit of my lips the slave together with the commander (…) Give me deceitful speech, to wound and bruise them…”
Judith praises and glorifies God while at the same time asking for a blessing on her lies and deceit. This is a serious moral inconsistency with the message of the Bible.
Additions to the Book of Esther
Within the canonical Book of Esther, additional apocryphal content appears at the beginning and end. The reason for these additions was the intent to make this book more overtly religious by adding references to God and prayer that were not in the original text. However, these passages contain historical and chronological errors.
Example 1
1:1q: “And the king appointed Mordecai to a position at the [royal] court and rewarded him with gifts for it.”
This contradicts the canonical text of Esther 6:3, which says: “Nothing has been done for him at all.”
1 Maccabees
This book describes historical events and the political situation of the Jews. It contains errors of a historical and geographical nature.
Example 1
8:15: “…three hundred and twenty [council members] convene daily, and they constantly deliberate on behalf of the people, on how best to maintain order among them.”
History shows that the council actually convened only three times a month and on feast days.
Example 2
12:30: “…for they had crossed over to the other side of the river Eleutherus…”
This river is too far from the vicinity of Hamath (12:25) for Jonathan to have pursued them there.
Example 3
14:24: “After this Simon sent Numenius to Rome with a great shield of gold of a thousand minas’ weight…”
A thousand minas is far too great a weight. A Greek mina equals 0.6 kg, which would mean the shield weighed 600 kg!
Example 4
15:27: “But as soon as he [Antiochus] became king, he broke his word about all this, and became estranged from Simon…”
The historian Josephus states that Antiochus accepted this assistance and the gifts (15:26) that were sent to him (Antiquities, XIII.VII.2)
2 Maccabees
This book describes historical events, often supplementing 1 Maccabees, and is considerably more reliable than the former. However, it too is full of historical, geographical, and chronological errors. The author attempts to interpret history from a theological standpoint, and in doing so introduces doctrinal errors and adds teaching not found in the inspired texts.
Example 1
2:13: “…he [Nehemiah], founding a library, gathered…”
Neither history nor the rest of the Bible confirms that such a library ever existed.
Example 2
2:23-31: “All this, which has been set forth by Jason of Cyrene in five books, we shall attempt to condense into a single book (…) we have aimed to please those who wish to read (…) so as to win the gratitude of many. To be sure, it involves labor and sleepless nights to work out such an abridgment, but we have accepted the toilsome task, leaving the responsibility for exact details to the historian, and devoting our effort to arriving at the outlines of the condensation (…) For the one who composes a history undertakes a laborious task (…) but as for the one who does the abridging, it is granted to strive for brevity of expression and to forgo comprehensive treatment of the matter…”
The author of the book states that this is his attempt to condense the work of Jason of Cyrene. In other words, it is an attempt to copy a shortened portion of a historical work, rather than writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He then says the goal is to give the reader “a pleasant story (…) so as to win the gratitude of many.” The author does not treat his work as part of Scripture, but merely as a historical commentary drawn from the five books he had read by Jason.
The Wisdom of Solomon
This book, allegedly written by King Solomon, is similar to the book of Proverbs. A great deal of evidence indicates that it was in fact written in Greek in the first century AD — that is, more than 1,000 years after Solomon lived. This book contains much of God’s wisdom in many places, but elsewhere it contains a number of questionable statements regarding morality.
Example 1
2:24: “…but through the devil’s envy death entered the world…”
This contradicts what the Bible says in 1 Cor 15:21 about Adam’s sin: “For since by man [came] death…”
Example 2
16:20-21: “…you gave your people food of angels, and without their toil you supplied them from heaven with bread ready to eat, providing every pleasure and suited to every taste (…) it was changed to suit everyone’s liking, conforming itself to whatever anyone wished.”
This passage speaks of the manna the Israelites received from God in the wilderness. Manna is described here as something that suited everyone’s taste and could change at will according to whatever the person eating it wanted. This contradicts Exod 16:31, “and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey,” and further, Numbers 11:4-6, which says the mixed multitude among them was overcome with intense craving and longed for meat and despised the manna. If manna changed into whatever the Israelites wanted, they would not have craved meat.
The Wisdom of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)
A book resembling Proverbs in style, containing much wisdom and biblical truth, but also a low moral standard and doctrinal errors in places.
Example 1
Prologue: Sirach begins with a prologue, claiming that his grandfather had tried to write something about wisdom and instruction based on his knowledge of “the Law, the Prophets, and the other ancestral books” (5). He goes on to ask that we read it “with goodwill and attention (…) and to be indulgent in cases where, despite our diligent labor in translating, we may seem to have rendered some phrases imperfectly” (15-20)
Sirach makes it clear that he and his grandfather Jesus put in “great care and diligent labor to translate this book” (30), which is the work of another, originally written in Hebrew. He also asks forgiveness for any possible errors in the text. All the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments were directly inspired by God — never a translation. Sirach twice states that his book belongs to a different category than the Law and the Prophets. On the basis of all these statements, we can conclude without a shadow of a doubt that this book is not inspired by God.
Example 2
3:3: “Whoever honors his father atones for sins”
This contradicts Lev 17:11, which states that “it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” — which is why Jesus shed His blood for us, to redeem us from our sins.
Example 3
3:30: “…almsgiving atones for sin.”
This contradicts Scripture. See the response to Tobit 4:10 above.
Example 4
40:17: “Almsgiving endures forever.”
The Bible says that everything God does endures forever.
The Book of Baruch
Allegedly written by the secretary of the prophet Jeremiah. Part of the text is copied from the canonical book of Daniel. This book contains historical and chronological errors, as well as errors in its prophetic statements.
Example 1
1:1-2: “These are the words of the book that Baruch wrote in Babylon (…) in the fifth year, on the seventh day of the month, at the time the Chaldeans captured Jerusalem and burned it with fire.”
The fifth year of the Babylonian captivity is dated to 587/6 BC, yet the author frequently quotes the ninth chapter of the book of Daniel, which was written during the reign of Darius in 538 BC. How could the author quote a book that had not yet been written until almost 50 years later? Therefore Baruch, the real secretary of Jeremiah, could not have been the author of this book. In reality, this book’s true date of composition is placed in the second century BC.
Questions
- If the Jews, the apostles, the New Testament writers, and Jesus Himself never mentioned the apocryphal writings, should I?
- What is your view of these writings?
- Since from the time they were written until 1546 they were not considered inspired scripture, why should they mean anything more now?
- Can I trust the content of these writings?
Recommended reading from the “Vocatio” publishing house:
“The Apologetics Guide” – Josh McDowell
We also recommend these articles:
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