Don Stewart does a masterful job in describing why the Apocryphal books were rejected.
There are doctrines and practices contained in the Apocrypha that are contrary to what the Scripture teaches. They include the following.
They Teach A Person Is Saved By Works
In the Apocrypha proof texts can be found to support the Roman Catholic doctrine of justification by human works and not faith alone. The Apocrypha contains the following verses.
For almsgiving saves from death and purges away every sin. Those who give alms will enjoy a full life (Tobit 12:9).
In another place in Tobit it says.
So now, my children see what almsgiving accomplishes, and what injustice does it brings death! (Tobit 14:11).
In the Book of First Maccabees it says.
Was not Abraham found faithful when tested, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness (First Maccabees 2:52).
The Bible, on the other hand, says that a person is saved by grace through faith. It is not based upon our good works.
For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God - not the result of works, so that no one may boast (
Ephesians 2:8,
9).
The Non-biblical Doctrine Of Purgatory Is Taught In The Apocrypha
The doctrine of purgatory - a place of purging between heaven and hell - is taught in the Apocrypha. It says.
So they all blessed the ways of the Lord, the righteous judge, who reveals the things that are hidden; and they turned to supplication, praying that the sin that had been committed might be wholly blotted out. The noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened as the result of the sin of those who had fallen. He also took up a collection, man by man, to the amount of two thousand drachmas of silver, and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering. In doing this he acted very well and honorably, taking account of the resurrection. For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, so that they might be delivered from their sin (Second Maccabees 12:41-45).
The Bible teaches that, upon death, one either goes to be with the Lord or is sent away from Him - there is no middle place. The writer to the Hebrews stated.
Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment (
Hebrews 9:27).
According To The Apocrypha God Hears The Prayers Of The Dead
We find the Book of Baruch teaching that God hears the prayers of those who have died.
O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, hear now the prayer of the dead of Israel, the children of those who sinned before you, who did not heed the voice of the Lord their God, so that calamities have clung to us (Baruch 3:4).
The dead do not pray for the living. Only the living upon the earth pray for the other living ones on the earth.
The Apocrypha Teaches The Pre-existence Of Souls
The doctrine of the pre-existence of souls is found in the Apocrypha.
As a child I was naturally gifted, and a good soul fell to my lot; or rather, being good, I entered an undefiled body (Wisdom 8:19,20).
Scripture does not teach that souls have any existence before they are united into a body.
It Teaches Creation Out Of Pre-Existent Matter
The doctrine of creation out of pre-existent matter is taught in the Apocrypha.
For your all-powerful hand, which created the world out of formless matter, did not lack the means to send upon them a multitude of bears, or bold lions (Wisdom 11:17).
The Bible says that God's creation was out of nothing.
By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible (
Hebrews 11:3).
The Apocrypha Say The Body Weighs Down The Soul
The idea of the body as a weight upon the soul is found in the Apocrypha.
For a perishable body weighs down the soul, and this earthy tent burdens the thoughtful mind (Wisdom 9:15).
The idea that the body weighs down the soul is not biblical - the body is not evil.
All of these doctrines are contrary to the teaching of Holy Scripture.
