Question
Dear Sir/Madam,can you please tell me if there are 73 or 66 books in the Bible? If 66 then what is the status of the other 7 and why aren’t they included?
Answer
I assume you are talking about the Apocrypha which were 14 books written between the close of the Jewish Old Testament and the New Testament. They are, in the order they appear in the English versions:
1. 1. 1 Esdras 2. 2 Esdras 3. Tobit 4. Judith 5. The Rest of Esther 6. The Wisdom of Solomon 7. Eccelsiasticus 8. Baruch, with the Epistle of Jeremiah 9. The Song of the Three Holy Children 10. The History of Susanna 11. Bel and the Dragon 12. The Prayer of Manasses 13. 1 Maccabees 14. 2 Maccabees Of these 14 books the Roman Catholic Church declares 11 canonical, omitting Prayer of Manasses, 1 and 2 Esdras. SEVEN of these are enumerated: Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, 1 and 2 Maccabees. The Rest of Esther is added to the canonical Esther and the Three Holy Children, Susanna and Bel and the Dragon are combined with canonical Daniel.
Reasons for rejecting these books:
1. The Jews all over the world accept the same Canon and this is found without variation in all copies of the Hebrew Bible and has been from the beginning. No apocryphal book has ever been in the Jewish Canon.
2. The Septuagint Version which was completed in 180 B. C., was a translation of the entire Old Testament into Greek. We do not know when the Apocryphal books were written, nor when they were put into the Septuagint version, but it is doubtful if they were in the original Septuagint version. Jesus often quoted form the Septuagint version, but never from the Apocrypha. Neither did any New Testament writer ever quote from them.
3. They are not found in any catalogue of canonical books made during the first four centuries.
4. None of the writers claim to be divinely inspired, but some do claim not to be.
5. None of the writes write with a message from Jehovah and are without the true prophetic element.
6. It contains many historical, geographical and chronological errors and distortions of the Old Testament, contradicting itself and secular history.
7. It teaches doctrines and upholds practices contrary to the canonical Scriptures such as lying, suicide and assassination are justified. Salvation by works, magic, prayers for the dead, etc. are taught and approved.
8. The so-called miracles and the description of the deeds and supernatural beings are silly and unbelievable.
9. They were not considered canonical and authoritative for doctrine until the Roman Catholic Council of Trent in 1546 A. D.
10. Just to read the Old Testament and then the Apocryphal one can see a vast difference in the spiritual and moral content.
So there are 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament.
By Danny Stanford
