Some Things I Didn't Know About the Apocrypha

1. The New Testament reflects the thought of the Apocrypha, and even refers to events contained in it (cf. Heb 11:35 with 2 Macc 7, 12).

2. The New Testament quotes mostly from the Septuagint, which contained the Apocrypha. This gives tacit approval of the whole text, including the Apocrypha, from which they quoted.

3. Some of the early church fathers quoted and used the Apocrypha as Scripture in public worship.

4. Some of the early church fathers - Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Clement of Alexandria - accepted all the books of the Apocrypha as canonical.

5. Early Christian catacomb scenes depict episodes from the Apocrypha, showing it was part of the early Christian's religious life. If not their inspiration, this at least reveals a great regard for the Apocrypha.

6. The early Greek manuscripts (Aleph, A, and B) interpose the Apocrypha among the Old Testament books. This reveals that they were part of the Jewish-Greek translation of the Old Testament.

7. Several of the early church councils accepted the Apocrypha: the Council of Rome (AD 382), the Council of Hippo (AD 393), and the Council of Carthage (AD 397).

8. The Eastern Orthodox Church accepts the Apocrypha, revealing that it is not simply a Roman Catholic dogma.

9. The Roman Catholic Church proclaimed the Apocrypha canoical at the Council of Trent (AD 1546). This was in accord with the pronouncements at early councils (see point 7 above) and the Council of Florence not long before the Reformation (AD 1442).

10. The apocryphal books were included in the Protestant Bible as late as the nineteenth century. This indicates that even Protestants accepted the Apocrypha until very recently.

11. Some apocryphal books written in Hebrew have been found among other Old Testament canonical books in the Dead Sea community at Qumran. This shows that they wedre part of the Hebrew cannon.

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Taken from Roman Catholics and Evangelicals by Geisler and MacKenzie