The Apocrypha is a group of Old Testament books that are not in all versions of the Bible, such as the modern Protestant and Hebrew Bibles.
They are, however, part of the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox versions of the Bible.
Since much of Christianity deems these writings as holy and inspired, I think it’s worthy to consider them. These books are:
- Tobit
- Judith
- 1 Maccabees
- 2 Maccabees
- Wisdom
- Sirach
- Baruch
- Supplemental passages for Daniel and Esther.
I understand the Apocrypha books were part of the original King James translation of the Bible, but they were later deleted.
Furthermore, the Apocrypha was part of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, which was in use during Jesus’ time.
So, why were these books expunged from the Bible? The justification is that since they aren’t in the Hebrew Bible and there are no versions of them written in Hebrew, they were removed.
I think that was a bad call. These books contain some epic stories and can add flavor and depth to our understanding of God. We should embrace them rather than reject them.
(Read the Apocrypha books in The New Jerusalem Bible or New American Bible.)
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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