Throckmorton column: Which 14 books were removed from the Bible and why?

In 325 AD, the Council of Nicaea debated and decided on 27 books for the New Testament and 39 books for the Old Testament.

There were 14 other books that they didn’t omit from the Bible. These books included 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, The Rest of Ester, The Wisdom of Solomon, Esslesiasticus (also known as Sirach), Baruch with the Epistle Jeremiah, The Songs of the 3 Holy Children, The History of Susana, Bel and the Dragon, The Prayer of Manasseh, 1 Maccabees, and 2 Maccabees.

The Bible was translated from Latin to English in 1611. At that time, the Bible contained 80 books, including 14 that would be removed from some versions.

In 1684, under the direction of Pope Innocent XI, those 14 books were removed from most versions of the Bible except the 1611 edition, which was first translated into English. The books are referred to as “the Apocrypha,” meaning “to hide away” and were written in Greek. It applies to all books that were removed from the Bible. There is much speculations about why these 14 books were omitted.

The King James version of the Bible first created the term “Apocrypha” and separated these 14 books from the rest. These books are still contained in the Old Testament of the Bibles of Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox, and the Assyrian Church of the East. They are not called Apocrypha, but they are called deuterocanonical. These books belong to the second list of sacred books, accepted as the word of God. Jews and Protestants regard them as Apocrypha.

The reasons for these 14 books’ removal from the Bible remain a mystery. There are many conspiracy theories, but no one knows the exact cause. One theory is that the books were omitted because they were known to only a few people; they would not apply to the majority of people.

Some scholars believe that the 14 books did not convey the narrative of what the ancient text was trying to convey. It was not their intent to say these books were inaccurate or false; instead, they were saying the books weren’t suited for the Bible because the information was not applicable and did not have a place in the Bible’s narrative.

Some of the books were not written during the same period as the other books in the Bible, which was another reason for not including them. An assumption was made that these books were incomplete.

Most people are confident that these books remained in the Bible until 1828; however, translators say the 14 made it challenging for people to understand the word of God.

In addition, some of the teachings in these books were confusing because they went against the teachings in the accepted books of the Bible. They were difficult to read and understand.

According to the translators, the Bible’s purpose was to prepare people to accept God and understand Him. Any teachings that would have complicated or challenged that purpose would have resulted in contention.

These 14 books were probably removed from the common Bible in the 17th century. Today, there are different versions of the Bible. The Roman Catholic denomination prefers to keep these books in their Bible to remain as accurate as possible to the original word of God.

I suggest that these books be read in their entirety, that you remember that man removed them, and allow the Holy Spirit to guide your beliefs.