Apocrypha

The word “apocryphal” is derived from the Greek word apokryphos, meaning “hidden”. The idea was that most books in the Bible were meant for everyone, but the content of some books was “hidden”, and only meant for the initiated. These books were called “apocryphal”. The apocrypha were said to contain secret knowledge. This knowledge was not intended for the masses, but for a selected group of those initiated in the lore.
Originally, the term “apocryphal” was a positive label. Later, the term was used to indicate the books that were not part of the canon, and so “apocryphal” became the opposite of “canonical”.

In the Protestant tradition, the Old Testament contains the same books as the Hebrew Bible. The books that were restricted to the Septuagint were named “apocryphal” in Protestant circles. These books, such as Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and Sirach, were not given official status: they were not authoritative, however it was felt that they were useful to read.
In the Catholic tradition, most of these books do have official status and they are called the Deuterocanonical books.

The Apocryphal books of the New Testament are less well-known than those in the Old Testament. All sorts of Old Testament apocrypha are part of the Bible in some traditions, but this is not the case for New Testament apocrypha.