What are the deuterocanonical books?
They are seven Old Testament books, plus additions to Esther and Daniel, received by Catholics as inspired Scripture.
The deuterocanonical books are parts of the Old Testament recognized as inspired and canonical by the Catholic Church, but omitted from most Protestant Bibles. They belong fully to Sacred Scripture and have the same authority as the other biblical books.
Which books they are. The seven deuterocanonical books are:
- Tobit
- Judith
- Wisdom of Solomon
- Sirach, also called Ecclesiasticus
- Baruch
- First Maccabees
- Second Maccabees
Catholic Bibles also include longer forms of Esther and Daniel. The additions to Daniel contain the Prayer of Azariah, the Song of the Three Young Men, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon. Together with the other Old Testament books, these form the Catholic canon of forty-six Old Testament books (CCC 120).
Why they have a different name. Deuterocanonical means belonging to the second canon, in the sense that their status was disputed in some places before being definitively confirmed. The term does not mean that they are secondary, less inspired, or optional. Protestants commonly call them the Apocrypha, although Catholics use apocryphal for writings that are outside the biblical canon.
How the Church received them. These books were part of the ancient Greek biblical tradition widely used by early Christians. Early Christian writers quoted them, and they were read in the Church's worship. Regional councils at Hippo in 393 and Carthage in 397 and 419 listed them among the canonical Scriptures. The Council of Trent solemnly reaffirmed the same canon in 1546 when the Reformers rejected these books. The Church did not make uninspired books inspired. Guided by the Holy Spirit, she recognized the books God had entrusted to the apostolic Tradition (CCC 105, 120).
Why they matter. The deuterocanonical books contain powerful teaching about creation, martyrdom, prayer, virtue, almsgiving, resurrection, and God's care for His people. Second Maccabees describes prayer for the dead in the hope of resurrection (2 Mac 12:43-46). Wisdom foretells the suffering of the righteous man in language that Christians recognize as pointing toward Christ (Wis 2:12-20).
Read them as Scripture, preferably in a Catholic translation such as the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition or the New American Bible Revised Edition. Tobit, Wisdom, Sirach, and the Maccabees are especially good places to begin.
- CCC 105-120
- 2 Mac 12:43-46
- Wis 2:12-20
- Council of Carthage, 397
- Council of Trent, Session IV