The Apocrypha are a set of writings in the Old and New Testament that were included in the canon by the Catholic Church in the mid 1500’s. The name itself means ‘hidden or concealed’. The Old Testament Apocrypha appeared in the Alexandrian canon but was excluded in the Palestinian canon. Alexandria was a city in Egypt known in biblical times as a place where scripture was routinely edited, deleted, or added to. The Palestinian canon arose in Israel and was recognized by the Jews and Jesus.
There are significant contrasts between the Alexandrian and Palestinian canons. The Alexandrian canon is never quoted by Jesus, and never referred to as scripture in the New Testament. During the first 400 years of the church, where major councils were sorting out major doctrines and finalizing the recognition of the canon, the Apocrypha is not favored. It was not until the Council of Trent (1545-1563) that the Catholic Church accepted the Apocrypha as canonical in reaction to the Reformation that sought to establish church doctrine solely on the Bible. The Catholic Church was teaching doctrines contrary to the Bible (prayers for the dead and salvation by works) so the Church dubbed the writings of the Apocrypha as scripture to remove the criticism from the Reformation. Even Cardinal Cajetan (1532) in his commentary on all the historical books of the Old Testament excluded the Apocrypha.
By contrast, the Palestinian Canon was accepted by the Jews before Jesus’ first advent and by Jesus Himself. In Luke 11:51, Jesus is pronouncing woes upon the lawyers and indirectly recognizes the Palestinian Canon by stating, “From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the Temple: verily I say unto you, it shall be required of this generation.” To better understand what Jesus is implying, a little background is necessary.
The Palestinian Canon (what we refer to as the Old Testament without the Apocrypha) contained the same content of today’s Old Testament but the books are grouped slightly different and they are in different order. The first book is Genesis, but the last book is 2 Chronicles. So when Jesus cited Abel and Zacharias, He was in effect saying, “From Genesis to Malachi”. In other words, the entire Old Testament without the Apocrypha, setting the limits of accepted scripture to match the already recognized Palestinian Canon. In addition, in Luke 24:44, Jesus reminds the apostles after His resurrection that “all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the Law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me.” Here Jesus cites the three sections commonly denoting the Palestinian Canon (Old Testament) Further, Jesus never quoted from the Apocrypha. So it can be demonstrated that the Apocrypha was not accepted by Jesus or the Jews prior to and contemporary with His first Advent.
The primary reasons why the Apocrypha was rejected by Jesus and the Jews of the first century, it contained an abundance of historical and geographical inaccuracies and anachronisms. So according to our test, the Apocrypha fails to meet historical criteria for divine origin of the text. In addition, Jesus never quoted from the Apocrypha, the Apostles and disciples of Jesus never accepted it as God’s Word. Furthermore, the Apocrypha was not recognized as Canonical (accepted scripture) until the early 1500’s as a way of justifying unbiblical beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church. In light of the problems with the Apocrypha and conversely, the acceptance of the Palestinian Canon, it must be concluded that the Apocrypha did not originate from God.