Apocrypha?

The Apocrypha is recognized by the [cultic] catholic church as part of the Bible.
Why don't Christian religions do the same?


In between the books of Malachi and Matthew
some bibles have books that are called the Apocrypha.
What is the Apocrypha and why is it only in some bibles?

The Apocrypha are books that were written after the Canon of the Bible was complete - about 425 B.C. Although they were and are asserted by [cultic] catholics to be canonical (or, belonging to the books of the Bible officially accepted as Holy Scripture,) these books were and are rejected by authentic Christians and labeled as being fraudulent entries - not the Word of God. The principles of canonicity were reviewed when the Apocrypha was first introduced. The word "apocrypha" means hidden or secret.

Due to their doubtful authenticity, the word "apocrypha" has come to mean spurious, fraudulent, or forged by legitimate Biblical scholars.....and thus "hidden away from" the genuine canonical Scriptures, or The Sacred 66 (as some have called the entire Bible).

The Apocrypha is composed of fourteen books which are found in the Septuagint and the Vulgate (though Jerome vigorously objected to Apocrypha being inserted therein but was overruled by cultic-catholic-ecclesia bullyboys ganging together at the Council of Trent in 1546, the year the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther died).

Apocrypha was never in the Hebrew Canon (thus nowhere within Kittel's Biblia Hebraica edition of ben Asher's Masoretic Hebrew Old-Testament Text based on the famed Leningrad Manuscript).

It is noteworthy that bonafide Hebrew Jews (of blood descendancy from the child of promise, Isaac, along with Isaac's natural offspring Jacob (a.k.a. Israel), were the ones God authorized to determine what was canonical from the start and continues to be regarded as such by ongoing blood-descendant progenie of Isaac and Jacob/Israel, being that:

John 4:22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

Romans 3:1 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?
Romans 3:2 Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews are entrusted with the oracles of God.
Romans 3:3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?
Romans 3:4 By no means! Let God be true though every man be false, as it is written, "That You may be justified in Your words, and prevail when You are judged."

It is been presumed (not "assumed"), by heretics, that New-Testament authors quoted from various apocryphal books sometimes snuck into certain editions of English renditions of the Old Testament -- based upon not the Hebrew language of bonafide Jews, but rather written in the non-authorized-for-the-Old-Testament-Text language of Greek. Deceitful and dishonest comparisons and allusions have and continue to be concocted by those desperately craving to give ridiculously-plagiaristic pseudo-scripture-like segments of apocrypha Spirit-authored credence.

One non-deniably honest and frankly-exposed cause (not "reason") involved concerning those who feel obligated to exhibit various degrees and intensities of allegiance and attention to apocrypha and so publicly espouse apocryphal apostasy, is fear of man instead of fear of God, included in which is a morbid and rebellious greedy desire to please other heretics in bribelike payback exchange for ego-puffed educational and/or financial positioning and other presumably-prestigious benefits.

Moreover, I have a persistent suspicion that those who presume whatever of the apocrypha is part of genuine Scripture are pompous egotistical asses who see no problem with belligerantly expecting people to consider whatever verbal and written blurbilizations they concoct and emit as present-time or soon-to-be-added ex cathedra Scripture also.

There is also a strange common factor that this webauthor detects about those who, in their mindless meanderings of depressing dissension-causing confusion, purport that apocraphal books belong to the canon of authentic Scripture, and that is what some term: "replacement theology" -- that "the Church" has now completely and forever replaced that blood-descendancy-based group of Hebrew Jews pertaining to God's never-ending covenantal promise to His Chosen People.

In other words, what is subtly evident and deplorably displayed is in fact a peculiar and despicable pseudo-christian antisemitism not that far removed in essence from nazi and islamic antisemitism, adherents of all such who (not merely disregarding but even despising anti-"palestinian" Israeli sovereignty for Israel's sake alone and not simply ally protection for the U.S.) see no point in protecting Israel's right to exist nor Israel's God-perpetuated covenant declaration of Holy-Land ownership in the Middle East as designated by boundaries succinctly described in Numbers 34 and Ezekiel 47.

Genesis 35:9 God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddanaram, and blessed him.
Genesis 35:10 And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name." So his name was called Israel.
Genesis 35:11 And God said to him, "I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall spring from you.
Genesis 35:12 The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your descendants after you."

Devious excuses have be made to purport the contrary premise, such as:

Romans 2:28 For he is not a real Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical.
Romans 11:13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry
Romans 15:16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Acts 13:46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, hey, we turn to the Gentiles.
Acts 18:6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, "Your blood be upon your heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles."
Acts 22:21 And He said to me, 'Leave; for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'"
Acts 26:23 that the Christ must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles."
Acts 28:28 Let it be known to you then that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen."

Ephesians 3:8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ

First Thessalonians 2:16 by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they may be saved--so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But God's wrath has come upon them at last!

But what those perhaps-non-admitting-but-nevertheless-defacto pseudo-"christian" jew-haters fail to take into consideration is:

Romans 11:1 I ask, then, has God rejected His people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God has not rejected His people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?
3 "Lord, they have killed Your prophets, they have demolished Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life."
4 But what is God's reply to him? "I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal."
5 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.
Romans 11:6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
11 So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.
23 And even the others, if they do not persist in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.
24 For if you have been cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree.
25 Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery, brethren: a hardening has come upon part of [Hebrew-Jew blood-descendants-of-Isaac-and-Jacob] Israel, until the full number of the [Abraham/Ishmael-offspring-and-others] Gentiles come in,
26 and so all Israel will be saved; as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob";
27 "and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins."
28 As regards the gospel they are enemies of God, for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.
29 For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.

Indeed, is it not obvious that covenant-promised blood-descendancy of Hebrew Jews is plain, not only by such intriguing semantics as:

Revelation 2:9 "'I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
Revelation 3:9 Hey, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie--hey, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and learn that I have loved you.

but also:

Revelation 7:5 twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand of the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand of the tribe of Gad,
Revelation 7:6 twelve thousand of the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand of the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand of the tribe of Manasseh,
Revelation 7:7 twelve thousand of the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand of the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand of the tribe of Issachar,
Revelation 7:8 twelve thousand of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand of the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Benjamin.

It has be rumored that even ousted-Catholic Lutheran-reformer Martin Luther got impatient with the jews of his time who (and not "which") he non-successfully tried to convert. But Luther clearly relinquished by his compliant inclusion of Romans chapters 9 thru 11, the book of Revelation, and other pro-Hebrew-Jews portions of canonical Scripture.

Originally, apocryphal books were penned in the Greek language, except for Ecclesiasticus, First Maccabees, part of Judith and Tobit. So, why do reputable Christian authorities (mostly Protestant) reject the writings of the Apocrypha as being the actual, inspired words of God? Here are some of the reasons cited:

1. The Apocrypha was never in the Hebrew Canon. Every card-indexing catalogue of the canon of Scripture from the ancient world listed only Jewish books of the Old Testament (thirty-nine as they are today.) The Apocrypha was ALWAYS excluded totally.

2. Neither Jesus Christ, nor any of the New Testament writers, ever quoted from the Apocrypha. [Really, although those with demonic imaginations make up false cross-reference comparisons].

3. Josephus(a well-known historian from the Biblical era) excluded them from his list of sacred scripture. He felt they were lacking authenticity or validity in essence or origin. Even Origen refused to accept Apocrypha as bonafide Scripture, not to mention Polycarp. Augustine questioned the veracity of the apocryphal book Judith.

4. During the first four centuries there was no mention made of the Apocrypha in any catalogue or canonical book. They were believed to be slipped in during the fifth century, near the time of islamic-founder Mohammed and his deviant and needless plagiaristic rehashing and revisionism against Christian Scriptures. There are reputed to be 263 quotations and 370 allusions to the Old Testament in the New Testament and not one of them refers to the apocryphal writings.

5. The books of the Apocrypha were never asserted to be divinely inspired or to possess divine authority in their contents.

6. No historically-verified Old-Testament prophets were connected with these writings. In stark contrast, each book of the Old Testament was written by a man who was a prophet.

7. Apocryphal books are replete with historical, geographical and chronological errors. In order to accept the Apocrypha one would have to reject the Old Testament narratives.

8. The Apocryphal doctrines and practices are contrary to the Canon of Scripture. Some examples:

Prayers and Offerings for the Dead! II Maccabees 12:41-46, prayers are to be offered for the dead and monetary offerings are to be brought on their behalf. This is in disagreement with John 3:18, 36. According to the Canon of Biblical Scripture, one's eternal destination is determined before one dies - and no amount of prayer by your loved ones, or offerings or alms or indulgence contributions to a church, will change this.

Atonement and Salvation through Alms-Giving! Tobit 4:11 states that salvation can be purchased - "For alms deliver from all sin and from death, and will not suffer the soul to go into darkness." A portion from either the book of Wisdom or the book of Ecclesiasticus (not to be confused with Ecclesiastes!) blasphemously states that obedience to one's father takes away sins.

Cruelty to Slaves Justified! In Ecclesiasticus 33:25-29 we read that the best way to treat a slave is to pile work on him. That is totally opposed to everything regarding treatment of workers in the Canon of Scripture.

Doctrine of Emanations! Presuming that the origin of life is other than Biblical-creation history, inferring that the world as an "outflowing" from One Absolute source, but not necessarily God.

9. Catholic scholar Erasmus, his contemporary Martin Luther, other reformers, plus Beza, Elzevir, Stephanus, and Scrivener rejected the Apocrypha as NOT part of true Scripture.

There has always been a lot of debate among the confused and the divisive about the place that the writings of the Apocrypha should hold. Roman catholic, some orthodox, and a few episcopalian and anglican (plus the wayward ELCA) churches include the Apocrypha (except for the books of Esdras and the Prayer of Manesseh,) but refer to them as "deuterocanonical" (or, by definition: "secondary canon," or ecclesiastical writing of inferior authority).

Orthodox Christians, however, refer to these same books as spurious writings, and being writings falsely attributed to Biblical characters or times. Being spurious, they are not only non-necessary to retain and read, but even destablizing against childlike faith and sinking into some of what one New-Testament author would call the [PSEUDO-"intellectual" and PSEUDO-"educated"] 'deep things of Satan.'

Now for a little debatable but perhaps somewhat-enlightening digression into questionable history.

Horton Davies pointed out that the Puritans took exception to the number of readings from the Apocrypha in the Book of Common Prayer "as implying a slight on the sufficiency of the canonical Scriptures."

Thomas Smith noted that one chief objection to the Common Prayer Book at a 1583 conference was "the appointment of certain apocryphal writings in the public worship of God, in which were several errors and false doctrines while many parts of the canonical writings, and the doctrine of the sacraments, were omitted."

Smith cited [the heretic] "archbishop" Whitgift stating (at a 1583 conference) the following: "The books called apocrypha are indeed parts of the scriptures; they have been read in the church in ancient times, and ought to be still read amongst us."

Several of the KJV translators who worked with, were taught by, or were associated with (and thus made ignorant by or under duress to) Whitgift might have held similar views, so as to include the Apocrypha between the KJV Old and New Testaments. Puritans among the KJV translators would have disagreed with regard for the Apocrypha. It was [heretic] "archbishop" Whitgift who presided over the crowning of James as King of England in July of 1603.

Incidently, it is most interesting to note that the lectionary contained within the present 1928/1945-edition of the Book of Common Prayer used by some episcopalian and anglican sects which includes a pericope of canonical Old-Testament readings for church services also includes optional selections from the apocrypha....but clearly understood to be regarded as optional and NOT mandatory readings (in contrast to canonical passages) because they are listed in italics.

Did the great Christian evangelists, Bible institute founders, well-publicized Bible expositors (e.g. Moody, Meier, Riley, Graham, Falwell, Kennedy, Robertson, etc.) EVER preach from the apocrypha? No, but certain perverts of cultic catholicism who embrace the apocrypha have sexually molested little altar boys - and NOT for circumcision!

No TRUE Christian today accepts the Apocrypha as Scripture. The Apocrypha is a collection of several pagan writings which the cultic catholic church accepts as inspired deutercanonical scripture. The cultic-catholic Council of Trent (1546) pronounced a curse upon anyone who denied that these books were inspired. Puritannical King James translators did NOT consider the books to be inspired Scripture, nor did they include them in the canon as such. They merely placed the Apocryphal books between the Old and New Testament as a historical document - not as Scripture. Their reasons for NOT accepting the Apocrypha as Scripture are listed on page 185-186 of the book Translators Revived by Alexander McClure. The reasons are basically as follows:

A. Not one of them is in the Hebrew canon in contrast to the rest of the Old-Testament books.

B. Not one of the writers lays any claim to inspiration.

C. Apocryphal books were never acknowledged as sacred Scriptures by the Jewish church, and therefore were never approved by our Lord.

D. They were not allowed a place among the sacred books during the first four centuries of the Christian church.

E. They contain bizarre statements, and doctrinal assertions which contradict not only the canonical Scriptures, but themselves. For example, in the books of Maccabees alone, Antiochus Epiphanes dies three times in three places!

F. It inculcates doctrines at variance with the Bible, such as atonement by obedience to parents, prayers to change the destinies of the dead, and immoral practices, such as lying, suicide, assassination, and magical incantation.

Similar to the chapter-and-verse-numbered Qur'an (a.k.a. Koran), the chapter-and-verse-numbered Apocrypha (comprised of such books as Maccabees, Sirach, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, Esdras, etc.) is a spurious group of religious-prose books not found in the canonical Hebrew-lettered ben-Asher Masoretic BIBLIA HEBRAICA Old-Testament Text....which PSEUDO-bible books are thus NOT accepted as The Word of God by true Christians of the true Christian Church.

Apocrypha is post-Old-Testament religious-public-readings tripe typically imposed by oppressively-authoritarian, rumors-superstitious, consigned-to-perpetual-addictions-and-sins, anti-Puritan, despising/rejecting-the-Truth, non-born-anew, cultic catholics - devoid of fair-minded tender and genuine love.

Such wolves-in-sheeps-clothing heretics - substituting in liturgical traditions from shadowy sources - concordantly espouse petitioning/prayer to dead humans and angels, belief in the delayed-repentance myth of purgatory, presumed Divine sinlessness of Mary and her alleged ascension, supposed infallibility of the pope, and works-pseudorighteousness anti-Gospel supposition of eucharist being self-sacrificing atonement re-sacrificing Christ's wafers-and-wine corpse back to Him, usually during every Sunday-morning mass.

The apocryphal writings are, in essence, needless and senseless, mixed-up, do-and-don't-commands rehash and plagiaristic rewording against the genuinely-canonical Old-Testament books of Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes...along with a conglomerate plethoria of questionable and irrelevant rewritten history or legends.

The Apocrypha was definitely not written by any Hebrew author(s) and therefore is certainly not Divinely-inspired. Christ Himself and His New-Testament-author apostles NEVER quoted ANYTHING from the Apocrypha - contrary to what some clerical and congregant liars have claimed in arrogant and mean-spirited opposition in their devious deceitfulness of giving similar-sounding-semantic credit to Satan and his literature-stealing conspirators.

The Apocrypha does NOT have a Messianic thrust, is deprecatory against men and women, tends to separate God away from humanity and humanity away from God as distant hostile-toward-each-other entities of differing power, and is markedly legalistic, harsh, and unmistakenly islamic Koran-like.

The AUTHENTIC Church of Jesus Christ and His latter-day saints must not be a part of such FALSE antichrist-like anti-evangelical ecumenism in surreptitiously trying to compromise with all world religions.

Some of the precepts of the Apocrypha are absurd and ridiculous, some are even dangerous in what they infer, some idolize human ethical strivings, and some are outright blasphemous libel against the Lord.

The crucial gospel characteristics of correctly-defined sin and actual total forgiveness, assured salvation, a gracious and humble Savior, complete redemption and everlasting life and resurrection in and by the Redeemer, righteous-renewed living, justification and sanctification in and through dependence upon the kindness and self-sacrifice of God, eternal glory and praise and joy....are misconstrued or missing in the Apocrypha.

Obviously, the autographic New-Testament Text of and penned by The Original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ has been preserved by The Holy Spirit down to us in the beginning of the 21st century, since "the Word of the Lord abides forever."

The autographic papyrus or parchments upon which The Apostles wrote their gospels and epistles have not necessarily been destroyed, but instead might be still hidden away and not yet discovered.

Be that as it might, precisely-accurate records and duplicates of That True and Inerrant New-Testament Text have been preserved throughout the early centuries of the Christian church, through the Middle Ages, through the Reformation, and which we now have presently in the form of ben Asher's Masoretic Hebrew Text of the Old Testament, and Scrivener's Trinitarian Greek Text of the New Testament. The Greek and Latin manuscripts such was based upon do exist and are in the possession of what the Bible terms 'trustworthy men' instead of deceivers and liars and heretics who would not admit their existence nor veracity anyway even if they had access to them.