If the Apocrypha was supposedly taken out of the Bible by the church councils ,then...?

Question

why wasn't it in the oldest manuscripts from 2500 years ago like ,Sinaiaticus,Alexandrina ,Vaticanus or any of the Qumran texts.The Church Councils were at least 800 years after the completion of these texts.Where was Enoch,Sussana,Tobit ,etc etc.?

Your still not answering the Ques. In the Torah,the Jewish Bible ,none of those books were included so how could the Catholics put them in?These were written in O.T times,Bel and the Dragon,Sussana,Tobit ,I and II Macabees(Which I enjoy as a history)II Esdras etc were not in the Jewish Bible that's why the reformers rejected them.How then were they "canon"?

Answer 1

You have to remember. To get people to believe in your religion and to make it more realistic for the times, you will have to change or delete certain sections that would possibly offend some or possibly fanatically raise your religion. Chrisitianity is one such religion. The only true gospels ever reported were those of the apostiles - not saints, not angels, but true living, breathing, people. Because Christianity, in its early stages, was a radical and outlawed belief that many of the stories were changed or exaggerated to help the cause or the "one true" God. Remember too, in ancient Rome that there were some many deities and gods that it was hard to keep track of. Organizing all beliefs into one God or Energy was easier, but to get people to believe and change their beliefs to yours is a little harder. To compete with the Gods of Olympus you had to prove that your God was as powerful as all the Gods combined. This is where people believe why these books were left out of the Bible. Exaggerated stories or information taken out of context to get people to sway to your belief was commen practice back then. After Jesus died there was no more proof left alive in 300 AD to prove that he existed or that his powers on earth were true but by that time Christianity had a large following. The simplicity of Christianity was considered an intelligent religion and that some many documents were written by people they could prove had lived at Jesus' time why not deem it plausible. Now, with such a strong follower base they did not need the "stranger than fiction" scenario of the old books and old ways. A good example of this is when the Europeans started to settle in Central America and tried to convert the natives. Since they believed in a mother Godess - the use of Mary was more prodominant in many of the natives homes rather than a "dead man" on a stick. So, with the change of religious beliefs and a believable plus that we had a "Mother Godess" seemed easier to convert. Needless to say, more Catholics have the Virgin Mary at their alter rather than Jesus in their homes. Mary, was never really considered a saint or deity in the Christian religion until 1400 to 1600's when more Europeans were crossing to the Americas and came upon natives that worshipped a Mother Goddess and it only took a few smart priests to figure out how to convert thousands by using her as their "bait" so to speak.
I am not bashing Christianity - I am merely stating a fact on religions as a whole. Look at all of them that have a "bible" of sorts and look at it's climb through out history. You have to have an open mind to see the evolution of any religion. It changes to reflect the age that it lives in. From chanting at the alter to singing Gospel high spirited ballads to rockin' the church. We change. It is just a fact. But the belief stays the same but how we pray always changes.

Answer 2

If you are talking about the 7 books removed from the Holy Bible by Luther, these were not and are not Apocrypha. Neither are the 3 books of the New Testament Luther intended to remove, but fortunately was prevented from doing so by his followers. If you are talking about truly apocryphal books, none of these were ever part of the Bible - that's what apocryphal means - so how could they have been removed from the Bible?? The Canon of the Christian Bible was finalized once and for all time in 394 AD at the Council of Carthage, and included precisely the same 73 divinely inspired texts that constitute the Christian Bible today. Nothing has been added or removed, except by unauthorized manmade denominational churches, who have no authority over Scripture anyway.

Answer 3

The Quran tells of Jesus’ speaking as an infant. This account is likewise found in the apocryphal Gospel of the Infant. It also tells that as a small child Jesus made birds out of clay and caused them to become alive. The same story is found in the Gospel of Thomas, the Israelite, as well as in the Gospel of the Infant. The Quran claims that Jesus was not nailed to a stake, “crucified,” and was not put to death at the instance of the Jews (and at the hand of the Romans). This belief was also held by the sect of the “Manichaeans” and others, and is found in certain apocryphal writings, such as the Travels of the Apostles.
No wonder they Not in the Bible, they dont harmonize with the Scriptures. Books such as Bel & the Dragon sound like Arabian Nights. The council saw fit to leave such out.

Answer 4

Nothing was ever taken out of the Catholic bible. You must be referring to the Reformers it was placed in their appendix. and they have no church councils. It was later removed from the appendix by the Scottish bible society because of their hate of Catholics.

Answer 5

I completely agree with Conundrum. The apocryphal books do not harmonise with scripture at all. But don't take my word for it. Read it yourself and judge accordingly. Everyone ultimately believes what they in their heart of hearts agree with.