Christianity / Bible / Bible

Canon and Apocrypha

Apocrypha
(greek ἀπόκρῠφος — hidden, secret)
Books that are not included in the biblical canon. It is not necessary to confuse the Apocrypha with the Gospel of Thomas and other forgery. Apocrypha are historical books, but not inspired, therefore do not enter into the canon.

Canon
(greek κανών — lit. the straight pole is any measure that determines the direct direction: spirit level, ruler, square)
A set of requirements for books to be included in the Bible. The books themselves are called canonical.

To date, the Bible is completed, the canon is finally adopted, books can not be added.

It is important to note that there is no discrepancy among Christian denominations regarding the canon of the Bible. There is also no discrepancy regarding the Old Testament among the Jews with Christians.

There may be a difference in the order of the books or the title. In the Jewish holy scripture, there are fewer books just because some books are united, for example, the 1st and 2nd books of kingdoms are the book of kings, the 3rd and 4th books of kingdoms are the book of annals. But the psalter in the original was broken up into 5 books, because it did not fit in 1 scroll.

It is believed that the canonical books of the Old Testament were gathered together by the "inspired" writer, the scribe Ezra, who lived around 450 BC. E., And both of the Covenants were first brought to the canonical form at the cathedral, which took place in Carthage in 397 AD (According to other sources, Laodicea Cathedral 363 AD). The documents of these cathedrals did not survive, but it is for certain known that in the 5th century the Bible was divided into Old and New Testament.

The first documented canon was established only from the time of the new Trident Cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church, convened during the Reformation in 1545 and lasted until 1563 year. According to the decision of this cathedral, the Canon of the Holy Scriptures includes 45 books of the Old and 27 New Testaments.

The Canon defines books that are included in the Bible, and not the translation of these books.
There are many translations, some of them are accepted by the church, unsuccessful translations are not accepted by the church. There are translations that are accepted by one denomination and rejected by another.

Today in Russia is the generally accepted confession - synodal translation.

Apocrypha is included in some Bibles, for example, in the Russian Orthodox Bible. But they are included, as apocrypha, as additional literature.