Appendix 3: Extra Canonical Books

Appendix 3: EXTRA CANONICAL BOOKS.

In addition to the books that have been generally recognized among Protestants as worthy of a place in the Canon, or collection of Sacred books, which taken as a whole makes up the Bible, there are certain other books which had their origin in the period beginning after the time of Malachi, and closing with the Christian century. They are called the apocryphal books of the Old Testament, and while regarded by the Roman Catholic Church as having a place in the Canon, and by many Protestants as containing much profitable reading, their value is clearly below that of the books included in our Canon. They are as follows:

First Maccabees.

Second Maccabees.

Judith.

Tobit.

Psalms of Solomon.

Esdras.

Baruch.

Ecclesiasticus, or the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach.

Prayer of the Three Children, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon, apocryphal additions to the Book of Daniel.

The Prayer of Manasseh.

The Wisdom of Solomon.

The Epistle of Jeremiah.

A similar class of literature grew up subsequently to the writings of the New Testament and connected with it. Among books of this class may be named the following:

The Apocryphal Gospels.

The Shepherd of Hermes.

The Epistles of Clement to the Corinthians.

Epistle of Barnabas.

Paul and Thecala.