Bro. Michael Jacob
The sixty-six books of the Bible only are accepted as ‘Divinely inspired’ (God-breathed) and sacred. The others which do not harmonize with the sacred cannon of our Bible are spurious and called as ‘apocryphal’. They have been counterfeits and imitations all through history.
Our Lord attested the books of Moses, Psalms and the prophetical books, in His discourse on the Emmaus road. Neither Jesus nor the apostles quoted from any books of the Apocrypha . Quotations from the Old Testament and in particular, ‘the Pentateuch’ (the first five books of Moses) provide the basis for all subsequent revelations. The Apocryphal books, on the other hand, do not agree with these first books of the Bible. It is the attempt of the devil to draw away ones faith in God’s word which is once for all delivered and needs no further revelation or addition. (Rev 22:18-19). Therefore, the ‘Apocryphal Books’ find no place in the sacred cannon.
Cleansing of sins by giving alms find a place in ‘Apocrypha’. It means salvation is obtainable through ‘works’ and not by the ‘blood of Christ’. Prayers without confessing sins and getting pardon find a place in the ‘Apocrypha’. Praying for the dead is referred in Macabees. Similarly many contradictions are seen in the ‘Apocryphal Books’. Therefore, the ‘Apocrypha’s ‘ is not from God.
Old Testament Apocryphal Books
- Esdras I – 9 chapters
- Esdras II- 16 chapters
- Tobit – 14 chapters
- Judith – 16 chapters
- The rest of Esther- 6 chapters
- Wisdom – 19 chapters
- Ecclesiastes- 51 chapters
- Baruch – 6 chapters
- The song of three children
- The story of Susannah
- Idol Bel and Dragon
- The prayer of Manassess
- Maccabees I -16 chapters
- Maccabees II- 15 chapters
New Testament, Apocryphal books
- Protoevangelium of James
- Gospel of Thomas
- Epistles- attributed to several others.