Bible Question: Why is the Apocrypha in some Bibles and not in others? |
Bible Answer: The Old and New Testaments were considered Inspired Scripture because they passed certain test that proved they were spoken by God. The Apocrypha did not pass these test. Who made the test? The top biblical scholars of the day put the scriptures to some very difficult test. For the Old Testament it was a council of rabbi's. For the New Testament it was a Church council. The Apocrypha contained error's, false doctrines, or lacked any inspirational value, but most importantly did not have the voice of God we all hear when we read the Holy Scriptures. The Apocrypha was included in some Catholic Bibles but were never canonized like the Holy Scriptures were. The Apocrypha are considered Pseudo in nature. While they have no scriptural value they do have a historical value. For instance the Book of the Macabee's tell us what happened during those 400 silent years that stretched between the Old and New Testaments. In those years there was a famine of God's Word upon the land. |