The Difference Between the Ca­nonical and Apocryphal Books. "We distinguish those sacred books from the apocryphal, namely, the third book of Esdras, the books of Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Jesus Syrach, Baruch, the appendix to the book of Esther, song of the three Chil­dren in the Furnace, the history of Susannah, of Bell and the Dragon, the prayer of Manasses, and the two books of the Macca­bees. All of which the Church may read and take instruction from, so far as they agree with the canonical books; but they are far from having such power and efficacy, as that we may from their testimony confirm any point of faith, or of the Christian religion; much less detract from the authority of the other sacred books."

The sacred books here mentioned are the canonical books, which have Divine authority and are written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. This cannot be said of the apocryphal books. The word "apocryphal" means mysterious, doubtful, secret; the name already telling us that they were kept secret and were not used in the synagogues and in the first Christian churches, since they do not contain the rule for faith and life.

These apocryphal books came to us by way of the Septuagint, which is the oldest translation into the Greek language of the Hebrew Old Testament, dating to about 200 B.C. In general the Christians knew the Greek language, but did not know Hebrew, and therefore they began to read the Septuagint, which contained also the apocryphal books. At the Synod of Trent the Roman Catho­lic church accepted all the books of the Septuagint as canonical books and put everyone under censure who doubted the Divine authority of these books. Thus through the Septuagint and the Vulgate (the Roman Catholic Bible in Latin), the apocryphal books were used for fifteen centuries in the Christian church.

Luther and other reformers returned to the original Hebrew Bible and rejected the apocryphal books. Since for centuries they had been of Divine authority in the churches, it was necessary for the reformers to give a reason for doing so, and therefore we have this article in our confession. Today, in some of the older Bibles, you can find the apocryphal books as an appendix in the back, but their only importance is for a historical knowledge of the period between Malachi and the birth of the Lord Jesus.

The apocryphal books can be divided into those relating to the Old Testament and those relating to the New Testament. However, only those relating to the Old Testament will be mentioned, as these only are acknowledged by certain churches, among them the church of Rome. The originals of these books were probably written in Hebrew, although nothing is available to prove this. The writings which we have of them are all written in (or translated into) the Greek and Latin.

The apocryphal books can also be divided into classifications of historical books and doctrinal books. Those which are historical give some of the history of those days, but in them we find many fabulous things which are contra­ry to reality. In the doctrinal books we find many facts which are contrary to the doctrine of free grace and the commandments of the Lord. These errors make it very clear that the books were not written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but were made by men; therefore they are without the necessary leading of God and cannot be made a part of the Bible. Next time, the Lord willing, we will mention a few of these errors to prove our state­ment that they are false teachings.

In order to prove that the apocryphal books were not written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we would mention the following:

1. A number of things are found which are not historically true or are contrary to God's Word, such as –

• In the fourth book of Ez­ra there is spoken of a Divine revelation to Ez­ra so that he wrote 204 books within 40 days.
• In the book Tobiah a girl named Sarah was given to seven men, but an evil spirit Asmodeus killed these men; an angel is sent to deliver her so that she may become the wife of Tobiah. Through a strange ceremony the evil spirit fled away and never returned.
• In II Maccabbees 12, Judas is sent to Jerusalem with money to make sacrifices for those killed in the battle and to pray for them.
• In II Maccabbees 14 Ra­zis is praised for committing suicide.
• In I Maccabbees there are many historical errors, such as in chapter one where it is stated that Alexander the Great divided his kingdom during his lifetime among his generals. This did not take place.

2. There is nowhere spoken about the coming Messiah, Who would deliver by His active and passive obedience. In the books all expectations are in man himself, and must be done by him.
3. The Jews received the Word of God, but they have never accepted these books as original. They were written after the Canon was closed, as it is also mentioned in the preface of Je­sus Syrach, the oldest of the apocryphal books. The Lord Jesus condemned the Jews for their wrong explanations of the Bible, but He never said that they falsified the Bible. In the New Testament we cannot find any quotations from the apocryphal books, whereas the Old Testament is often quoted by the Lord Jesus and His Apostles.

The church of Rome originally accepted these books as canoni­cal, but today the modern catholic theologians speak about the first and second canon – the second canon being the apocryphal books. Officially this is not acknowledged.

We may read these books, and to the extent they agree with God's Word, we may believe them, but these books never have the authority to confirm matters of faith. Thus, in matters of Christian religion, we cannot refer to these books nor use them to prove God's Word, as they lack Divine authority.

The Bible was given by the Lord Himself, as Paul wrote (1 Timothy 3:16a), "All scripture is given by inspiration of God." The holy men of God were moved by the Holy Ghost in speaking and in writing it. This cannot be said of the apocryphal books, and they are solely the work of men. This weakness is even mentioned in II Maccabbees 15:39 – "but if I have done this poor and incomplete, this is what I could do." (translation). God's Word contains the pure doctrine of salvation, but the apocryphal books are full of fables, foolishness, errors and superstition. We are commanded to read the canonical books, "Search the scriptures" (John 5:36), but this is not in force for the apocryphal books. We must unconditionally obey God's Word, but the apocryphal books lack the authority to bind our conscience.

In order to acquaint you with the contents of these books, we will discuss them briefly. First is mentioned the Third Book of Esdras (the Greek form of Ezra). Sometimes the book of Nehemiah is called the second book of Ezra. This book of Esdras is a rewriting of our Bible book Ezra, and tells about the temple service from Josiah to Ezra. The end of the book is missing. It was probably written in the second century before Christ.

The Fourth Book of Ezra is full of false prophecies. Ezra is very concerned about the situation of Israel and in visions the angel Uriel tells him about the coming judgments, showing him the last times when the kingdoms of the earth will be destroyed and the Messiah will set up His kingdom. He then receives the commandment to rewrite parts of God's Word which had become lost and in forty days the angel dictates 204 books to him They are an imitation of the visions of Daniel and the contents of them are full of foolish fables. It was probably written by a Greek Jew about a hundred years before Christ.

In the Book Tobias is written the account of the downfall of Israel (2 Kings 17). The book is a fictitious history of a Jew named Tobias of the tribe of Naphtali, who had been taken into custody by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria. Although there were many mishaps in the life of Tobias, he was gladdened by the marriage of his son and by the curing of his blindness. There are many errors in this book – geographical, historical, arithmetical, and in computing the time of events. Superstition, self-righteousness and lies are encouraged, and it states that our good works and prayers are meritorious. It was probably written in the second century before Christ by a Palestinian Jew.

The Book of Judith is a history of a period in the Babylonian era, when Israel was in exile. It tells of a campaign by one of the generals of Nebuchadnezzar's army against the Jews and how he besieged the city Bethulia. It was through the courage and slyness of a widow named Judith that the city was saved. The author warns the people against apostasy and idolatry, and to trust in the Lord. But the morality of this book is completely against God's Word. Its history is no more than a myth and Judith is a sly dog, trying to make us believe that God blesses treachery. The book must also have been written about 200 B.C.

The Book of Wisdom begins by warning judges to be honest. Then the author, who calls himself Solomon, warns the people who have forgotten the law of the Lord and have oppressed the righteous. He praises wisdom and its fruits, but also tells of the consequences of foolishness. The purpose of the author is to bring the people to the obedience of God's Commandments and to warn against idolatry. The author was probably a proud Jew of the city of Alexandria, because his wisdom is similar to the philosophy of that city.

The Book of Jesus Syrach is also called Ecclesiasticus, and it was written about 280 B.C. The author mentions that he lived in Jerusalem. He gave many proverbs which show practical, worldly wisdom. Later in his book he describes the works of the Lord in creation and in His care for Israel; he closes with thanksgiving. The wisdom which is praised in this book is worldly and devilish, and we miss the true practical wisdom taught by the administration of the Spirit.

The name of the Book of Baruch gives the impression that it is written by Baruch, the helper and writer for Jeremiah. It is specifically for the Jews in Babylon and concludes with pro­mises of deliverance. However, this book is doctrinally against God's Word. Rome acknowledges it as a canonical book.

The Appendix of The Book of Esther is an arbitrary extension of the canonical book Ester, and must fill in the imaginary gaps in the original. Often it is in contradiction with the book Esther.

The Song of The Three Children in The Furnace is an extension of Daniel 3, giving the prayer of Azariah in the furnace and afterwards the songs of these three young men.

The History of Susannah is an appendix to the book Daniel, and tells of the saving of the beautiful Susannah, who is accused of adultery. By Daniel's wisdom her innocence is proved and the guilt of the two wicked judges becomes public knowledge.

The History of Bell and The Dragon is also an extension of the book Daniel, and describes how Daniel discovers the deceit committed by the priests with Bell, their idol. Later Daniel kills the dragon, he is cast into the den of lions, and is saved by the Lord in a wonderful way. It is full of contradictions with God's Word.

The Prayer of Manasses speaks of the time that Manasses was in prison in Babylon and is a continuation of 2 Chronicles 13:33. The prayer sounds good until we arrive at verse 8, where it states that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were no sinners. This is against the Truth, which teaches us clearly that all men are sinners, except the Lord Jesus.

Last of all we find listed The Two Books of The Maccabees. The name Maccabee is derived from the nickname of Judas, the son of the priest Mattathias, who delivered Israel from their enemies. The book describes the rule of Alexander the Great and the wickedness of Antiochus Epiphanies (175-164 B.C.). Judas resisted and began a war, which ended in complete victory over the Syrians and to the High Priesthood of John Hyrcanus. It covers the years 175 to 135 B.C. and has some historical value. The second book tells about the desecration of the temple by Seleucus Philopator, and ends with the killing of Nicanor in 161 B.C. The second book contradicts the first, and has many historical shortcomings. It has Darius dying in three different ways. Some believe that Flavius Josephus was the author in the first century before Christ.

In the beginning the Synod of Dort refused to include these books in the Bible; finally it was decided to give them a place at the back of the Bible and not among the canonical books. A serious warning must be given in the cover letter explaining that these books were not trustworthy and not canonical. At the Synods of Laodicea in 364 and of Constantinople in 681, the apocryphal books were also rejected; however, the church of Rome decided the opposite at the Synod of Trent (1545-1563).

In the Word of God we can find everything necessary to salvation. May we use it continually as our guide in our life.