DEUTEROCANONICAL/APOCRYPHAL BOOKS AND NON-CANONICAL BOOKS
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The Bible had different number of books, the Catholic side had 73, Protestants had 66, and Orthodox had sometimes 76 to 81. Why it had adding the books and subtract by Protestants, even they cite Revelation 22:18-19?
Deuterocanonical
Deuterocanonical books are Old Testament texts considered fully canonical by the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, but are categorized as apocrypha (non-canonical for doctrine) by Protestants and Jews. Non-canonical books, in a broader sense, refer to any religious texts not accepted as authoritative scripture by a particular faith tradition.
List
The following books and additions are recognized as canonical by the Catholic Church and/or the Eastern Orthodox Church:
Tobit, Judith, Baruch, including the Letter of Jeremiah (Baruch chapter 6), Sirach (also known as Ecclesiasticus or the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach), Wisdom (also known as the Wisdom of Solomon), 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Additions to Esther: Includes the fulfillment and interpretation of Mordecai's dream, the conspiracy of the two eunuchs, and the prayers of Mordecai and Esther. Additions to Daniel: Includes the Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children, the story of Susanna, and the story of Bel and the Dragon.
Some Orthodox traditions also include: 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras, 3 Maccabees, Psalm 151 (an additional psalm), 4 Maccabees (often as an appendix). Eastern Orthodox uses the term Anagignoskomena, where the status as "Things to be read"; canonical but sometimes viewed as a secondary class.
Non-Canonical
"Non-canonical" is a broader term for books not included in the official Bible canon of a particular religious group. These include the deuterocanonical books from a Protestant perspective and other texts often referred to as the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha or New Testament Apocrypha. Examples of other non-canonical texts include: Book of Enoch, Book of Jubilees, Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Mary, Assumption of Moses, The Shepherd of Hermas, and Didache.
Initial Removal vs. Copycat
Rather than a direct "copycat," Protestant reformers like Martin Luther specifically rejected parts of the Catholic Old Testament. Catholic apologists often claim that Protestants "copycat" or rely on the Catholic Church's historical authority for the New Testament canon while rejecting its authority regarding the Old Testament. In Protestant tradition, the term Apocrypha (from the Greek apokryphos, meaning "hidden") refers to a specific collection of books that Protestants consider useful for edification but not part of the divinely inspired canon of Scripture.
Protestants use "Apocrypha" to categorize books they exclude from the 66-book canon. They distinguish these from the "Deuterocanonical" books accepted by the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. Historically, these books were printed in a separate section between the Old and New Testaments. Martin Luther popularized this by labeling them "Apocrypha: books which are not regarded as equal to the holy Scriptures, and yet are profitable and good to read".
The core of the catholic apologist's claim is an epistemological challenge: If a Protestant believes the Bible is the sole infallible authority (Sola Scriptura), but the list of books in that Bible was determined by the Catholic Church's authority, then the Protestant is using a Catholic "table of contents" while denying the authority that created it. Many Protestants argue that the Church did not create the canon but merely recognized books that were already divinely inspired and widely used by the early Christian community.
Most modern Bibles in these traditions (e.g., NIV, ESV) omit the Apocrypha entirely. The Westminster Confession of Faith explicitly states they are "no part of the canon" and should be treated like any other human writing. The Revised Common Lectionary used by many Methodists includes Apocryphal readings, and some Anabaptist groups like the Amish still use the Luther Bible which contains these books. Lutherans and Anglicans maintain a higher view of the Apocrypha, including readings from it in their lectionaries and liturgies for moral instruction, though still denying its use for establishing doctrine.
Apocryha Controversy and revival
In the 1820s, the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) underwent a major shift in its publishing policy regarding Protestant Bibles, specifically concerning the inclusion of the Apocrypha. While the BFBS was founded in 1804 to distribute Bibles "without note or comment," it initially followed a flexible policy of including the Apocrypha in non-English Bibles (such as German Luther Bibles) to aid distribution in Catholic and Orthodox regions. This sparked a fierce debate known as the Apocrypha Controversy during the early 1820s.
Beginning in 1821, figures like Robert Haldane campaigned against using British funds to print Bibles that included the Apocrypha, arguing it was uninspired and misleading. In May 1826, the BFBS officially resolved that its funds would only be used for the 66 canonical books of the Protestant Bible, strictly excluding the Apocrypha from all future publications. This decision led to a significant schism, with major Scottish branches (including Edinburgh and Glasgow) seceding to form what eventually became the Scottish Bible Society.
The Society increasingly used stereotyped plates, which allowed for high-volume, lower-cost printing of complete Bibles. Despite the controversies, it remained an interdenominational Protestant society involving Anglicans, Methodists, Baptists, and Quakers. One of the secondary reasons cited for removing the Apocrypha in 1826 was to reduce the weight and cost of printing and shipping, allowing more Bibles to reach a wider audience.
Interconfessional Editions
In the 20th century, a significant ecumenical shift led many Protestant churches to reincorporate the deuterocanonical books into special "interconfessional" Bible editions. The primary catalyst for this return was the 1973 RSV Common Bible, a landmark ecumenical edition of the Revised Standard Version. To satisfy diverse traditions, the books were placed in a separate section between the Old and New Testaments. They were further organized into two categories(as seen in List Section). This movement aimed to create a shared scriptural foundation for Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants. '
While most Protestant denominations still do not consider these books divinely inspired on par with the 66-book canon, many have integrated them for historical and liturgical use. Major groups that use versions containing these books (such as the NRSV with Apocrypha) include the Episcopal Church, United Methodist Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church (USA), and the United Church of Canada. These churches recognize the books' "immense historical value" in bridging the 400-year gap between the Testaments and providing context for the New Testament. Many modern Protestant lectionaries, such as the Revised Common Lectionary, now include optional readings from the deuterocanonical books for Sunday services.
Reference
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Apocrypha controversy - Wikiwand. (2019). Wikiwand.com. https://www.wikiwand.com/en/articles/Apocrypha_controversy
Julien. (2022). “In partibus fidelium”. Missions du Levant et connaissance de l’Orient chrétien (XIXe-XXIe siècles). HAL (Le Centre Pour La Communication Scientifique Directe). https://doi.org/10.4000/books.efr.45768
Making a Bible Enterprise: James Thomson and the British and Foreign Bible Society in British North America, 1838–1842 – Mémoires du livre / Studies in Book Culture. (2026). Érudit. https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/memoires/2015-v6-n2-memoires02039/1032708ar/
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Lénart de Regt. (2006). Canon and Modern Bible Translation in Interconfessional Perspective (edited by Lénart de Regt). Canon and Modern Bible Translation in Interconfessional Perspective (Edited by Lénart de Regt). https://www.academia.edu/66084011/Canon_and_Modern_Bible_Translation_in_Interconfessional_Perspective_edited_by_L%C3%A9nart_de_Regt_
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