What are apocryphal books?

Answer 1

The Apocrypha is a collection of books that were not canonized (that is, they were not included in the standardized list of books) in the Hebrew Bible (or Protestant Old Testament). The Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church call these books Deuterocanonical and include them in their versions of the Old Testament. The books include Tobit, Judith, Additions to Esther, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, Additions to Daniel, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 1 Esdras, and 2 Esdras.

Some editions of the Revised Standard Version (RSV) Bible include not only the Apocrypha listed above, but also the third and fourth books of Maccabees, Psalm 151, and the Letter of Jeremiah.

Answer 2

A:The book now known as Acts of the Apostles, written around the end of the first century or early in the second century, was the first of a new literary genre known as Acts. Acts of the Apostles was the only book of this genre to be included in the canon of the New Testament, so the later books of Acts are known as apocryphal Acts. Two examples are the Acts of Thomas and Acts of Peter.

Answer 3

A:There are hundreds of books that were considered, or could have been considered, for inclusion in the New Testament canon. They include a large number of gospels and books such as 1 Clement and the Didache.

Scholars regard the most important of the extracanonical, or apocryphal, books to be the 'Q' document and the Gospel of Thomas.