The Apocrypha: Its Place and Value

Abstract

"The fourteen ancient Jewish books commonly called Apocrypha have had a singular history. The Palestinian Jews never admitted them tu a place within the sacred canon. They we1 ~ 1ncluded, however, in the Septuagint, and hence became a part of the Bible of the Christian Church, maintaining that position for many centuries. Early Fathers like Clemens Alexandrinus and Tertullian freely quoted them as Books of Scripture, and their rank was not challenged until Jerome arose"