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"
Old Testament messianic prophecies quoted in the New Testament passages could not possibly be talking about Jesus. As noted above, there is some controversy about the phrase "they have pierced my hands and my feet". For modern Bible scholars, either the verses make no claim of predicting future events, or the verses make no claim of speaking about the Messiah. Jewish analysis Evangelical Christian analysis Skeptical and Critical analysis Old Testament messianic prophecies quoted in the New Testament The New Testament frequently cites Jewish scripture to support the claim of the Early Christians that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, and to support faith in Jesus as the Christ