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This article is from the Bible FAQ, by Michael Paul Johnson mpj@ebible.org with numerous contributions by others.

05 What is the Apocrypha?

The Apocrypha is a set of books or parts of books that are found
in some Bibles, but not others. Part of these are considered to
be part of the Catholic Bible, and some aren't. The set of books
that are in the Apocrypha/Dueterocanonical books are not
universally agreed on, but the Roman Catholic definition is the
one most widely held. These books contain some "additions" to
Esther and Daniel, as well as some interesting history books. I
put "additions" in quotes, because they are found in the
Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, but
not in any existing Hebrew manuscripts.

The Apocrypha may be arranged in the traditional Catholic order,
interspersed through the Old Testament, or in a separate section
between the Old and New Testaments (like Martin Luther first did
in his Bible translation into German). The Luther order is the
more popular one for ecumenical works, now, because it is more
acceptable to more people.

The Apocrypha contains helpful additional history that helps you
to understand the Old and New Testaments, even for those who
don't regard the Apocrypha to be of the same level of
inspiration as the 66 books of the Bible that all Christians
consider to be inspired by God. There are also some wisdom books
that contain some practical advice that is at least as good as
what you may find in the works of contemporary Christian and
Jewish authors. Churches vary in their position on the
Apocrypha. Some say it is good to read, but not to build
doctrine on. Some build doctrine on it. Some avoid it. Most seem
to avoid the issue. (My personal opinion is that it is worth
reading and preserving, and that it helps us to understand the
66 books in the Bible that all Christians agree are canonical.)
Go ask your pastor or priest about this.

 

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• next: 06 What language was the Bible written in?

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