Deuterocanonical books facts for kids

Deuterocanonical books means "second canon" in Greek. It usually means the parts of the Bible that are only used by some Christian churches (mostly Roman Catholic and Orthodox). The books were originally written in Greek language and they were written between 250 and 50 BC.

The books are not part of the Jewish Tanakh (also called the Hebrew Bible) since their original language is Greek and not Hebrew. Some books considered deuterocanonical by Catholics are:

• The Book of Tobit
• The Book of Judith
• The First Book of Maccabees, also called 1 Maccabees
• The Second Book of Maccabees, also called 2 Maccabees
• The Wisdom of Solomon, also called The Book of Wisdom
• The Book of Sirach, also called Ecclesiasticus
• The Book of Baruch, with the Letter of Jeremiah as its last chapter

The Book of Daniel and the Book of Esther are longer in Catholic Bibles than in Protestant Bibles because they have more stories.

Most Protestant Christian churches do not think that the deuterocanonical books were inspired by God. They call these books Apocrypha. Martin Luther considered these books good to read while John Calvin read and studied them but did not think they should be part of the Bible.

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  Copies of the Luther Bible include the deuterocanonical books as an intertestamental section between the Old Testament and New Testament; they are termed the "Apocrypha" in Christian Churches having their origins in the Reformation.

See also

In Spanish: Deuterocanónicos para niños