The Apocrypha is a selection of books which were published in the original 1611 King James Bible. These apocryphal books were positioned between the Old and New Testament (it also contained maps and geneologies). The apocrypha was a part of the KJV for 274 years until being removed in 1885 A.D. A portion of these books were called deuterocanonical books by some entities, such as the Catholic church. –King James Bible Online
Below are Excerpts from Pastor Mike Schreib, BBCI
The Apocrypha are found in the Old Testament of a Catholic Bible which are not found in everybody else's Bible and I’ll list them for you the names of those books are Baruch, the book of Judith, first and second Maccabees, the book of Tobit, the book of Sirach or sometimes called the Song of Sirach or Ecclesiasticus and the alleged proverbs written by King Solomon they call that the Book of Wisdom, but those seven books are found in the Old testament of a Catholic Bible but not found in a Protestant Bible or anybody else's Bible. In 1546 the Roman Catholic Council of Trent in Italy, the largest Church Council they ever convened to define their doctrines and to establish what it was Catholics believe or were supposed to believe and to affirm the authority of the church over the lives of men, but in 1546 on April the 8th after one of their sessions, they summarize their books of the bible like this: "...but if anyone receive not as sacred and canonical the said books entire with all of their parts as they have been used to be read in the Catholic Church and then they list all of those books including the Apocrypha books and as they are contained in the Old Latin Vulgate editions and if anyone knowingly and deliberately condemn the traditions of four said let him be an anathema or accursed..."
The word Apocrypha means hidden or questionable, naturally you can see the Catholics wouldn't want to call their books by that name they prefer another name another term called “Deuterocanonical”, the Book of Deuteronomy means “the second giving of the law”, so the word Deuterocanonical means a second group of books that should also be in the Old Testament canon or the Old Testament collection of bible books so they call it Deuterocanonical meaning extra books that should also be in the scriptures.
A Bible Believing Christian rejects these books despite the Catholic Church's threat of cursing you, because number one, no New Testament writer quoted from them and we'll try to make that clear. Number two, Jesus rejected them when he defined what the Old Testament canon books. Number three they teach false doctrines such as Pantheism, one of their books, Wisdom of Solomon 12:1 “For thine incorruptible Spirit is in all things. “ That’s Pantheism! That the Spirit of God resides in all things and all objects both animate and inanimate, they teach or they commend one man for committing suicide in the history of Israel. They also teach or endorse witchcraft in the book of
Tobit 6:5-8. They also teach the subject or endorse the subject of Purgatory in the 2 Maccabees chapter 12. Every Orthodox Rabbi today rejects those books from being part of the Hebrew scriptures and the Roman Catholic church officially cursed Jesus Christ by their statement. I'll give you the references to support that statement.
Note: In the 1611 KJV Bible, the publishers indicated which Books are God inspired scriptures by giving it a title header above each page of the Old and New Testament, these may act as a brief background or description of each chapters of the Bible, while in Apocrypha, each page only has the header named “Apocrypha” indicating that the book is not God inspired without explicitly mentioning it and unlike the Catholic bibles which inserts the Apocrypha books within the Old Testament, in 1611 KJV Bibles, these are segregated in between the Old and New Testament with its own section, not adding any books to the Old and New Testament of the Bible.
Now in the Old Testament or the Hebrew scriptures says we would refer to them when we're dealing with Jewish people, but in the Hebrew scriptures their books of their Bible begin with Genesis and they end with Second Chronicles, they have the same 39 books in their Old Testament that we have in ours they're just arranged in a different order you have to keep that in mind, but here Jesus says in Matthew 23:35.
Matthew 23:35 King James Version
“That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.”
Abel (Book of Genesis) to Zacharias / Zechariah (Second Chronicles), no inclusion of Apocrypha can be found in that bracket, Jesus bracketed what the Old Testament or what the Jews considered to be the Old Testament scriptures. Come also if you will to the Book of Luke 24:44.
Luke 24:44 King James Version
“And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.”
According to an Orthodox Jew the Old Testament or the Hebrew scriptures contain three parts they contain: the Law, they contain the Prophets and they contain the Psalms sometimes that's referred to as the writings and that section of the of the Hebrew scriptures which are referred to as the Psalms are not just the Book of Psalms, the Book of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon, those five books are what are referred to as the Psalms and at least in this reference, but no Apocrypha can be found in those three categories the Apocrypha books which alleged to cover history of Israel that spanned somewhere between 500 BC and in the time of Christ, but no Jew accepted them as part of the scripture in Jesus’ day and no Orthodox Jew or Rabbi considers them part of the scripture today.
Law of Moses or Pentateuch or Five Books of Moses
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
Book of the Prophets
Historical: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther
Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel
Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
Book of Psalms
Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon
So when the Catholic Church says that anyone who rejects any part of what they call the books of the Bible let him be accursed they are the only church that officially cursed Jesus Christ in so doing because Jesus Christ rejected those books when He declared what the bracket of the Old Testament books of the Bible ought to be.
The Westminster Confession of Faith held by Protestantism which I happen to have a copy of here they list their books of the bible without the Apocrypha and they say the books commonly called Apocrypha not being of divine inspiration are no part of the canon of the scripture and therefore are of no authority in the Church of God nor to be otherwise approved or made use of than other human writings and this was published in Westminster Abbey during the year 1643-1648 they also say a couple of other very interesting things all things in scripture are not alike plain in themselves
nor light clear unto all yet those things which are necessary to be known believed and observed for salvation are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of scripture or other that not only the learned but the unlearned in a due use of the ordinary means may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them in other words you don't have to be well educated all you have to do is be diligent in reading the scripture and comparing scripture with scripture and God will show you what they mean.
All right here's a book called the Biblical Basis for the Catholic Faith and I mentioned this to you I found it on one of my many adventures at thrift stores not long ago 2005 written by a man named John Salza published by our Sunday visitor press, they publish a Catholic newspaper every week that goes throughout the entire country probably around the world in other languages and it says John Salza is a well-respected Catholic Apologist and says he's also the creator of scripturecatholic.com one of the most popular Catholic apologetic sites on the web and the back cover says there's commonly held misconception that the catholic church made up a lot of its teachings how do you debunk that myth if you're a devout Catholic but your knowledge of scripture is spotty and by the way most Catholic apologists or people trying to defend their faith make that concession they make that admission that: “us Catholics were not used to studying our Bibles as often as Protestants do”, “we don't read and study our scriptures the way our non-Catholic friends do”. They actually admit that in number of books that I have right up front though let's get that out of the way, well why is that?
Let’s not just pass or move on, let's dwell on that for a minute, why is that? There's got to be a reason why they don't. No authority, there's no authority! What drove Martin Luther out of the
Catholic Church was he began to read the Bible on his own right and he learned that Salvation was by Grace and not by works and so and I’ve made up a copy of page 16 of this book and he deals with the some text, some passages in the so-called Apocrypha books. The first, John Salza list a number of instances where supposedly the Apocrypha is being referred to or quoted from or alluded to by the writers or the speakers in the New Testament and thus you know if that's true then who are we to reject those books and say that they don't belong in the Bible and the couple of examples he gives the first one we'll deal with two of these today that Jesus calls his father, the Lord of heaven and Earth there in Matthew 11:25 quoting from the book of Tobit 7:16. In their in their bible their so-called Book of Tobit 7:16 and she said: “She went and made the bed in this room as he had ordered, and took her daughter to it. She wept over her, then wiped away her tears and said, 'Courage, daughter! May the Lord of heaven turn your grief to joy! Courage, daughter!' And she went out.” And from that I guess we're supposed to believe that Jesus was quoting from that verse in the book of Matthew 11:25. That's the word Jesus said: “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.” And the writer John Salza said that Jesus was quoting from the Catholic Apocrypha Book of Tobit, well the Book of Tobit doesn't say “Lord of heaven and earth”, it simply said “Lord of heaven”, that's not an exact quote, it's not an exact match furthermore the expression Lord or Lord God of heaven is found numerous places in the Old Testament.
So the author of this book is really grasping at straws to say that Jesus was quoting from the book of Tobit when the phrase Jesus uttered is not even an identical match with the one found in that Apocrypha reference, but he's really grasping at straws and you see the lists (see full video) that I gave you I presume this is the best example he has to offer that's why he starts his list off with it maybe not we'll see as we go. Let's go to the second one on found list there that's Luke chapter 1 verse 52.
Luke 1:52 King James Version
“He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.”
And the author says that Mary is following or quoted from the Song of Sirach 10:14, when she says the Lord has put down the mighty from their seats and exalted him of low degree they'll say that Mary is quoting a phrase found in that particular book in the Catholic Bible when she utters those words that God has raised up a lonely handmaiden or put down those that are mighty and certainly God certainly knows how to do that and elevated someone of low degree if that were the only phrase anywhere in the Old Testament books including apocrypha books that was similar to what Mary said. They might have a case but it's not and so they don't let me show you, why I say that come back to the book of first Samuel chapter 2.
1 Samuel 2:1-8 King James Version
1 And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation.
2 There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.
3 Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
4 The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.
5 They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.
6 The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.
7 The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.
8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and he hath set the world upon them.
I come forward to the book of Job in chapter 5, here job's friends are trying to offer their reasoning
as to why Job's suffering why he's afflicted by God and how he ought to look at it what do you ought to do about it. Notice there verses 10 and 11 his friend says about God who giveth rain upon the earth and sendeth waters upon the fields to set up on high those that below that those which mourn may be exalted to safety
Come to Psalm 113 and begin there in verse 5.
Psalm 113:5-8 King James Version
5 Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high,
6 Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!
7 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill;
8 That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.
The whole idea that God raises men up and he brings men down that God honours the lowly or he brings down the mighty and those that are proud those that are in power and rich verse nine of this chapter of this Psalm “He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD.” Well if you want to push that farther and push that on to the Virgin Mary and say that was a prophecy of her, Hannah and Sarah were both early types of the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus by Mary, they weren't a perfect match but you see the miraculous birth that God blessed them with Sarah (mother of Isaac) all beyond the years of normal childbearing and Hannah (mother of Prophet Samuel) thinking she'd never have a child. God answered their respective prayers, He gave both of them sons in their old age when they're beyond the normal expectation of having ever having children, God gave them children nonetheless and they were types if you will
or foreshadows of the Virgin Birth the miraculous birth of Jesus by Mary and so it's only logical that Mary would echo the words of Hannah that God had hearkened to the words of his handmaiden and he elevated the lowly and just as he's able to bring down the mighty
I want you to come back one verse second Samuel chapter five. Notice there verse 12.
2 Samuel 5:12
“And David perceived that the LORD had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel's sake.”
Yes, it was the LORD who exalted him king over Israel, it wasn't anything he had earned or deserved, he didn't expect to receive that kind of honor and would otherwise not have received it other than God decided to give it to him and brought him up and he brought King Saul down and some common theme found in the word of God, is that God is the one who has the right, the prerogative to raise kings up or to bring kings down, to exalt people of low degree or to bring people down who are proud and mighty and a great reputation he was able to humble the king in the Book of Daniel drove him out of out of the kingdom went out and lived outdoors for you know seven years and became like a wild man his nails grew like a bird's claws and his hair and so forth and he went out of his mind. God's able to humble the mighty and to raise up the humble.
You cannot say now if the reference in the book of the Song of Sirach, if that was the only reference anywhere in any scripture book that the Catholic Church could say Mary was quoting from them, they might have a point but since it's a recurring theme recognized by the righteous and the unrighteous alike, that it's God's power to elevate or to bring down, then they really don't have a case, plus there was nothing in that passage of Mary’s speech that said as it is written. Recall when you read the New Testament how often you see the phrase according as it is written in the book of such and such or as it is written, as it is written and then God, then the story quotes from the Old Testament book, but not so in these cases where the guy says someone's quoting from the Apocrypha books.
It's necessary for you to see what's contained in them so you have some idea of what a Catholic is supposed to believe or why his views differ from yours and mine sometimes when you read these books by Catholic apologists and if you're not reading your Bible to see if it indeed it is, so you can be very confounded, confused by what they say, you can be confused into thinking hey maybe they aren't quoting from those books when you go and actually look at the references in their Bible you'll see that no such thing is taking place.
Key Takeaways:
What is Apocrypha?
Apocrypha, (from Greek apokryptein, “to hide away”), in biblical literature, works outside an accepted canon of scripture.
These apocryphal books were positioned between the Old and New Testament (it also contained maps and geneologies).
Often called “Deuterocanonical books” by the Catholic Church
Why were they included in 1611 KJV Bible?
Due to the Decree in the 4th Session of the General Council of Trent
Are these God inspired texts?
No, because no one quoted from these books in the New Testament
Jesus Christ outlines which books are considered in the Old Testament as canon Matthew 23:35, Luke 24:44
Promotes false and pagan doctrines such as Pantheism, Purgatory, Witchcraft, etc.
Publishers implicitly showed that it’s not God inspired by not providing a header with short description above each page like in the Old and New Testament Books and only says “Apocrypha”, and are segregated from the Old and the New Testament, not adding to those 2 Testament books.
And for the same reasons as above that Apocrypha was removed from KJV Bibles in 1885.
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