The books called Apocrypha by Protestants, some of which are called Deuterocanonical (while the rest of the OT is called "protocanonical") by Catholics, are as follows:
Tobit, Judith, the Greek version of the Book of Esther, The Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus (or the Book of Sirach), Baruch, The Letter of Jeremiah, The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Jews, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras, 3 Esdras, The Prayer of Manasseh, and Psalm 151. 4 Maccabees is not, canonized by any present Christian church, but was included in the appendix of many of the first Bibles because of inspirational value.
The only Catholic doctrine I know of at this time which is founded on Deuterocanonical writings is Purgatory, with all the associated practices of offering prayers, masses, and sacraments for the dead. I will not offer my current, personal view on that here right now, because I am not sure if I even have one.
The word "Apocrypha" means "hidden things," and scholars only speculate at why this term was used. The early church included all of these works in the Septuagint. Early scholars, who usually did not know any Hebrew, quoted from the disputed works and the works found in the original Hebrew Bible without differentiation. This may, or may not, be solely because they did not know any Hebrew and the Greek Bible was the only one they had. Over time, people started questioning the parts that Protestants now call the Apocrypha. Perhaps this is because of exposure to the Hebrew, which it was all supposed to be based on, but I do not know at this time.
All of these works were included in the Latin Vulgate, which was complied in the fourth century. However, there were prefaces noting that these disputed writings were, despite being very valuable teachings, not to be treated as authoritative scripture. Over time, translators and scribes started skipping the prefaces for whatever reason(s), and the whole thing was again treated as infallible, doctrinal scripture. This was the status through most of the middle ages.
So when were these books written? What is in them and what was going on? Evidently, after the Perisan exile and the Jews' return to their homeland, Alexander the Great's campaigns took a lot of territory where Jews lived as ethnic minorities, and also took Israel itself. Later, control of Israel went back and forth between tyrants from Greece and from Egypt. In Israel, Jewish culture stayed pretty strong, but Greek and other polytheistic influences started to take root and create controversy among the diaspora. There were also intermittent attempts at deliberate ethnocide (that means the dominant culture actively forcing an end to the minority culture - or at leas trying to. This is like genocide except the people's genetics and physical presence is not destroyed) by some Greek rulers.
During this time, some new books were written and the established Hebrew Canonical texts were translated into Greek. Some of these translations contain parts that have never been found in any discovered Hebrew texts, including the Dead Sea Scrolls. For example, the Hebrew Bible version of Esther that Protestants use never mentions God's name at all, and it records no prayers or songs of worship. The Greek version contains prayers and songs of praise and does mention God's name several times. Other than than, the story is the same. The additions in the Greek versions of ancient Jewish canonical books, plus the books written about the trials and deeds of God's people in the Hellenistic age, compose the Protestant "Apocrypha". Major recurring themes in these Greek writings are the folly of idolatry, being faithful to the true God instead of mixing religious practice with popular pagan and unholy activities, and maintaining acceptable practices of worship and doctrine regardless of personal cost. These themes are becoming increasingly relevant today, and regardless of whether one views these writings as canonical or apocryphal, it is probably a good idea to at least look over many of them. I might add that these themes were probably very helpful/relevant to persecuted Christians in the Pagan Roman Empire, just as they were to persecuted Jews under the Greek empire.
Some of the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical works contain serious historical errors, like the book of Judith. The book of Judith has Nebuchadnezzar as king of Assyria, and his invasion taking place after the Jews' return from exile, so pretty extreme historical flaws. In theology class at SLU, I was taught that the book of Job is a work of fiction, but it is still viewed by all Christians and by Jews as inspired. The lessons of the book of Job are understood to come from God and to be revelatory, just like Genesis and Revelation and everything that is consistently found in between. Likewise, the Deuterocanonical works contain historical fiction: Judith, Tobit, 3 Maccabees, and Bel and the Dragon. These cannot be accepted as fact, and cannot be treated the way my fundamentalist family, and church acquaintances over the years, read the Bible. If you cannot adjust to hearing historical fiction stories that present precepts and truths to you, sort of like parables, then it is probably best for you to leave these works alone - at least for your study of Scripture.
Many of these writings have quite disputable authorship. The Wisdom of Solomon is not written in the Hebrew style, but with the Greek style and also is perceived to have some Greek philosophy mixed in with it. That would indicate pretty strongly that Solomon did not write it. The Song of the Three Jews records the story of Daniel's three friends being delivered out of the furnace with more detail, and consists mostly of a worship song sung by them as they went through the trial and came out of it. Scholars believe it could have been written during the time of the Persian empire. The Catholic Bible has this writing in between Daniel 3:23 and 3:24. For some reason, scholars doubt that Daniel actually wrote it, perhaps because they think it was written too late. Psalm 151 is clearly supposed to be David writing about Shepherding his flock and how God gave him victory over Goliath. Copies of it were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, however, scholars think it was written during the time of the Persian empire, or possibly as late as 3 B.C. If that is the case, David couldn't have written it.
May of the Greek texts contain noticeable Hellenistic influence. Tobit even includes a popular Greek fictional character in the narrative. 4 Maccabees is not really connected to the family of the Maccabees, and neither is 3 Maccabees. 3 Maccabees is about the dispersed Jews suffering extreme persecution under the Ptolemies and, I believe, being delivered from genocide (I have not read it yet, just a synopsis). All of the Orthodox Churches canonize 3 Maccabees, but the Catholic and Protestant churches do not. 4 Maccabees is a Greek philosophical diatribe aimed at Jews, citing from the stories of 1 and 2 Maccabees, and trying to convince them of the supremacy of reason over the body and soul. The trouble with this is, I note, reason is also part of the soul realm, and is fallen. 4 Maccabees is not canonized in any Christian Bible now, evidently for very good reasons..
The Roman Catholic Deuterocanonical works are: all the additions to Daniel (Bel and the Dragon, Susanna, The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Jews), the Greek version of Esther, Tobit, Judith, The Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach (also called the Ecclesiasticus, not to be confused with Ecclesiastes), 1 and 2 Maccabees, Baruch, and the letter of Jeremiah (Which appears as ch.6 of Baruch).
Some of the Septuagint books were left out of both Protestant and Catholic canons, but included in others. The Eastern Orthodox churches canonized all the Deuterocanonical works of the Catholic Bible, 3 Maccabees, Psalm 151, the Prayer of Manasseh, and 1 Esdras but not 2 Esdras. The Russian orthodox churches canonized all the Catholic Deuterocanonical works, 3 Maccabees, Psalm 151, and both the books of Esdras (though they call them 2 and 3 Esdras instead of 1 and 2), but not The Prayer of Manasseh. Esdras is seen as trying to write like a prophet, using the figurative imagery and such, and his writings include an apocalypse. Nevertheless, Esdras never says,"Thus saith the Lord," not even once. No one of his time called him a prophet, and his works were not part of the Hebrew canon, nor do the Protestant and Catholic canons The Prayer of Manasseh is believed to have been written during the second temple period. It is an extremely passionate and skillful prayer and worship piece, comparable in theme to Psalm 51 but without the complaints about God's seeming inaction. I have no idea why it was rejected by both Luther and the Council of Trent.
In some ways,this is a very discouraging topic to study, because it reveals the depth of the division in God's church. Nevertheless, it is a good study and a profitable study. So many beautiful worship songs, and stories of triumph and commitment in the face of opposition and persecution are revealed - "hidden things" no more.
Godspeed
~ Mother Star
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