What is the Apocrypha? | World Religion Overview

What is the Apocrypha? These are Bible books (or sections) removed from canon at some point, for various reasons. We'll dive into some examples, why certain churches might or might not consider these books apocryphal, and more! Protestant Christianity, Catholicism, and many other forms of Christianity disagree on this, so this should be interesting!

Stock footage courtesy of:

IAYTD (I Am Your Target Demographic) is a place for educational videos on a variety of topics, ranging from comics and entertainment to things like religion and literature. You might be looking to differentiate the term 'religion' from 'cult,' or maybe you're trying to prepare for the next season of The Witcher, we've got you covered.

INSTAGRAM: @iaytd

[IAYTD]

There are over 30 books that are considered apocryphal, I couldn't cover them all here, but hopefully you found this brief overview interesting!

[IAYTD]

Hi all! I'm open to revisions on videos, so if you do believe I got something wrong, give me specifics. This was a tough issue to both research and summarize, since it varies wildly across religions, so it'd also be useful if you reference what Bible or religion you're referring to when you give feedback!

[ajmittendorf]

"Apocrypha" is not a phrase. It's a word.

[MrPjw]

How about a video about what Heathenry/Asatru is? Or any neopagan movement, for that matter?

[anthonychukwuemekaezediuno]

Can I get more information about apocryphal writings?

[SNS-fg]

I suggest you read Sirach 28 compared to one of the petitions of the Lord's Prayer. Or how about 2 Maccabees 7 compared to Hebrews 11:35 ? or Tobit 3:8 compared to Mark 12:18-22? or Wisdom 2:18 compared to Matthew 27:39-43?

Early Christians read the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint. It included the seven deuterocanonical books. For this reason, the Protestant historian J.N.D. Kelly writes, “It should be observed that the Old Testament thus admitted as authoritative in the Church was somewhat bulkier and more comprehensive [than the Protestant Bible]. . . . It always included, though with varying degrees of recognition, the so-called apocrypha or deuterocanonical books.” The authors of the New Testament quoted freely from the Septuagint—over 300 times. In fact. the Septuagint canon is used more than 80% of the times in the New Testament over the Masoretic canon.

Without an authoritative Church they can trust, how do Protestants know what's in the canon and what isn't? The Protestant theologian R.C. Sproul famously suggested that the best we can say is that the canon of Scripture is "a fallible list of infallible books." It's fallible because, from Sproul's point of view, the Church that pronounced the canon had no real authority. But if a non-authoritative group of Christians in the third and fourth centuries could decide what the canon of Scripture was, then why couldn't another non-authoritative group of Christians do the same today? For example, in 2013, Hal Taussig, a member of a group of skeptical scholars called the Jesus Seminar, published a collection called A New New Testament. Added to the traditional New Testament were second-century apocryphal gospels such as "The Gospel of Truth, " as well as texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls like "The Thunder: Perfect Mind." Most Protestants would never accept such books as part of the Bible, but what authority do they have to say someone like Taussig is wrong?

After all, 500 years ago, Martin Luther and other reformers made their own tweaks to the canon. Luther called the letter of James "an epistle of straw" because it contradicted his theology of justification by faith alone (James 2:24 says, for example, that we are not justified by faith alone). Although that letter remained in the Bible, Luther and the other Reformers did remove the deuterocanonical books from the Old Testament, and they are still absent from Protestant bibles. How can Protestants denounce Taussig's alteration of the canon without undermining the Reformers' decision to alter the canon in the sixteenth century? The deuterocanonical books were considered inspired Scripture for centuries until Protestant Reformers such as Martin Luther jettisoned them because they taught doctrines that conflicted with their novel theology. (The most famous example would be 2 Maccabees 12:46, which teaches the efficacy of praying for the dead in order to atone for their sins.)

If protestants want to follow the canon of the Jews who rejected Jesus as the Messiah, then why do they even bother to either accept the canonical Gospels rejected by the jews, or even accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior?

[daytwaqua]

Apocrypha is Hermaus Mora's realm of Oblivion. Bam, there, done.

[devonmunn]

Interesting cause i have never learned about this

[eliglassman]

Let the word of God and the Holy Spirit lead you. The holy spirit will lead you to trueth. The truth will set you free. Seek truth not a feeling or a belief backed up by someone's interpretation of the Bible. Read the book of acts and see what happens when the holy is given to us.

[theforgottenotsutsuki]

Can you do a video about Hinduism? I love to know more about Hinduism

[TheMastersHarvest]

IAYTD, you may find this useful in your ministry:

The time, two times, and half a time of Daniel 7:25 began on February 9, 2025. Trump is the Little Horn of Daniel 7:8.

We can know "when" we are on God's prophetic calendar. It is written in the book of 2nd Esdras. Chapter 11 contains a prophecy that describes a line of American presidents, four of whom are still alive, and two of them are being kept until "the end." All of them are old men. "The end" is fast approaching.

Ezra wrote Second Esdras, chapters 11, 12, and 13 many centuries ago, long before the United States existed, yet he accurately describes a line of 15 US presidents starting with Hoover. This 100-year-long prophecy began fulfilling on March 4, 1929. It is now 96% complete. Its perfect fulfillment to this point has established its credibility. Ezra was not guessing.

I have condensed the prophecy into a series of short lessons - my gift to you. Please allow me to guide you through them, step by step, and into understanding. Blessings to you and your loved ones.

[VirginMostPowerfull]

The book of Tobit is literally present in all Christian Bibles including Orthodox Bibles, most Bibles have Tobit, only Protestants removed it.

How can you say it contradicts and is irreconcilable if you're supposed to be neutral?
Man what ridiculousness.

[ryverstixx]

I do not know enough about this so hopefully you can teach me and aren't doing stack gaming

[ryverstixx]

I do good because planet dies if you don't. Demons are just old deities from ancient cultures.

[swoopnscore]

This is actually the middle of the Bible. When the scriptures were first translated in Old English, the 1611 KJV Bible had the apocrypha in it.