King Henry VIII established the basic tenets of the faith of Anglicans and published the 39 Articles of the Faith in the first Book of Common Prayer in 1549.  In the 39 Articles is spelled out the books of the Bible that are considered Canonical.  To be Canonical means that these books are considered authoritative and are the source of all of the doctrines of the Church. After he names all of the books of the Bible, Henry then says: And the other Books (as Hierome saith) the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners; but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrine; and then goes on to name the books that we call The Apocrypha.  You can find this information in the Book of Common Prayer, 1979 on pages 867 and following.

These books are different from the rest of the books of the bible, both in the language that they are written in and in their time of writing.  The Old Testament is written in the Hebrew language and the final book of the Old Testament was the book of the Prophet Malachi which was written approximately 400 years before the birth of Christ.  The books of the Apocrypha were written in that 400 year span and were written in Greek.  As such they present a remarkably different picture of Judaism as it was dramatically altered by the entering of Greek language and culture into the Holy Land.

The King James Version in its original format included the books of the Apocrypha, but in later versions it was excluded because Protestants objected quite strenuously to its inclusion.  The Roman Catholics include the writings of the Apocrypha in their bibles since the books were already included in the Latin Vulgate that has been in use for nearly 1600 years.  Anglicans recognize the value of the Apocrypha, but we offer the distinction that comes with the difference in timing and language from the rest of the books of the bible.

The books of the Apocrypha give us some rare insight into the ways that Judaism was under assault by the peoples who conquered Israel in the last few hundred years before the coming of Christ.  Jesus himself occasionally refers to historical events depicted in the Apocrypha.  The one that I especially recall is when he refers to the “Abomination that causes Desolation” which is told about in the books of the Maccabees.

The horrors of the treatment of the Jews recorded in these books foreshadow the Christian Martyrs and often provided examples and encouragement for the martyrs to be bold and fearless when faced with persecution for the faith. 

Readings are often taken from the Apocrypha in the 3 year rotation of Eucharistic readings in our current prayer book.  The Apocrypha is a part of our holy literature that is often misunderstood but is, in fact, a treasure trove well worth the discovery.