THE APOCRYPHA


Apocrypha is a Greek word, signifying "secret" or "hidden,"
but in the sixteenth century it came to be applied to a list
of books contained in the Septuagint, or Greek translation of
the Old Testament, but not in the Palestinian, or Hebrew
Canon. Hence, by theological or bibliographic purists, these
books were not regarded as genuine Scripture. That view was
adopted by the early Greek Church, though the Western Church
was divided in opinion. They appeared as a separate section in
Coverdale's English Bible in 1538, and in Luther's German
Bible in 1537. The Council of Trent in 1546 admitted them as
canonical, except the First and Second Esdras and the Prayer
of Manasses--a view rejected after the Reformation by
Protestants, who recognised only the Palestinian Record as
canonical. The Westminster Confession declared that they were
only to be made use of as "human writings," and the Sixth
Article of the Church of England states that they are "to be
read for example of life and instruction of manners, but not
to establish doctrine." As the result of a violent controversy
in Scotland and America between 1825 and 1827, the Apocrypha
was deleted from the copies of the Holy Scriptures issued by
the British and Foreign Bible Society. The controversy was
revived in 1862 when a quotation was engraved on the Prince
Consort's Memorial in Kensington Gardens from the Wisdom of
Solomon: "He, being made perfect in a short time, fulfilled a
long time. For his soul pleased the Lord: Therefore hasted He