A Canonical History of the Old Testament Apocrypha

From ancient times, those Jewish religious writings now regularly identified as “Apocrypha” have had a varied history of meaning and function in the churches and in their scope and presence in Bibles. The term itself has ranges in meaning from hidden and sacred to spurious and rejected. McDonald focuses on history of the recognition of the emergence and change of the meaning of the Apocrypha as well as how these religious texts functioned in the communities that welcomed them as Scripture, or as valued and readable texts for church (“ecclesiastical”) use, but not as sacred Scripture. Their history of use and rejection is best reflected in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the New Testament, Josephus, the Early Church Fathers, ancient canon lists, major manuscripts, translations, and church council decisions.