New Testament apocrypha New Testament apocrypha The New Testament apocrypha (singular apocryphon) are a number of writings by early Christians that give accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. Some of these writings have been cited as scripture by early Christians, but since the fifth century a widespread consensus has emerged limiting the New Testament to the 27 books of the modern canon. Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant churches generally do not view these New Testament apocrypha as part of the Bible. The word "apocrypha" means "things put away"
Development of the Old Testament canon the New Testament) rather than upon Jerome's translation into Latin, which at the time was the Bible of the Catholic Church. The reformers saw the Apocrypha at variance with the rest of Scripture. The Roman Catholic Church uses them to support the doctrine of Purgatory, for prayers and Masses for the dead (), and for the efficacy of good works in attaining salvation (; ), things that Protestants then and today deem to be blatantly contradicting other parts of the Bible. Luther did remove the deuterocanonical books from the Old Testament of his translation of the Bible, placing them in