At The Gardens assisted living community in Springfield, MO, older adults of faith can turn to a variety of resources to continue growing their relationship with God. An onsite chaplain provides spiritual care and can offer advice about matters of faith or help understanding Bible passages. And you'll find group Bible study and worship opportunities on the community activity calendar.

But many Christians of all ages find personal reading and study to be important to spiritual growth. If you've been a long-time reader of Scripture, you might wonder if branching out into the apocryphal books would have a positive impact on your understanding of God's Word. Digging deeper into this topic can help you decide what's right for you.

What Are the Apocryphal Books?

For the most part, the Apocrypha is a collection of historic texts believed to be written by Jewish authors either during Old Testament times or around the time that the New Testament books were written. In the past, these texts were read by many Jews and Christians. But the authorship and origin of many of these texts were considered questionable.

And when authorship was not a question, the texts may not have been considered divinely inspired. Some of the books that are considered apocryphal, for example, provide good historical accounts but aren't seen as the inerrant Word of God told through man.  

Who Decided Which Books Weren't in the Bible?

The evolution of the Bible that many people use today is long and complicated. It's also not exactly the same across all faith denominations. That's because each tradition recognizes different sets of books as canonical and divinely inspired by God. Typically, these traditions rely on historical decisions related to books to include; those decisions were made by religions councils and other authorities.

For example, while the first five books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch) appear in the Hebrew Bible as well as Bibles associated with Western, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Church of the East tradition, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah (and many others) are not represented so consistently.

In some Bibles, Nehemiah is listed as 2 Ezra. Some traditions also have a 3 and 4 Ezra. Many traditions include the Books of Maccabees, though Lutheran, Anglican and Protestant Bibles in western traditions do not.

You can find these types of inconsistencies across much of the Old Testament. Interestingly, all of the books of OT prophecy show up in Bibles across every tradition — though some traditions have books that others don't, such as Ascension of Isaiah and Baruch.

Can the Apocryphal Books Hurt Your Spiritual Growth?

If a historical leadership council of learned spiritual teachers sought God's advice and decided which books should go into your Bible, is reading books that weren't chosen dangerous?

The answer to this question is complex. Reading anything that isn't the divinely inspired Word of God can be dangerous. Seniors of faith know that the world is not ideal and that there are many ways to be tempted from the path God sets before them.

If someone has not already studied the Bible and isn't steeping themselves in prayer and understanding of God's story told through the Scriptures, digging into the Apocrypha might cause them to go astray. However, if someone is developing their knowledge of the Bible and approaching other books with a prayerful heart and a submission to what God might have them learn from and do with the information, the activity is not dangerous.

Potential Reasons to Read Books of the Apocrypha

First, if your faith tradition considers a book to be apocryphal, chances are that it's part of the Scripture of another faith tradition. There can be value in reading these books to better understand the spiritual context of other Christians.

And not all historical church leaders thought the apocryphal books were without value. Martin Luther included translations of some of these texts in a section of his German Bible between the Old and New Testaments, and the first two decades of King James Bibles also included apocryphal translations.

Many times these church leaders didn't put the books on the same level as the agreed-upon canonical books. Some books were the Word of God. Other books (the apocryphal books) were historical texts that were helpful in understanding the context of the stories playing out in Scripture.

This is still a reason to read these books today. They provide important content that helps modern readers understand the culture and events important to the history of Israel and the stories recorded in the Old and New Testaments. For example, 1 and 2 Maccabees tells the story of a Maccabean Revolt that fueled existing tensions between Gentiles and Jews. Those tensions can be seen throughout the New Testament as Jewish converts to Christianity struggle with Gentile converts and what level of adherence to the law is appropriate.

If you're interested in exploring books of the Apocrypha or want to add some context to a Bible study in with fellow assisted living residents, you can find free digital copies by starting with Apocrypha.org.

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