The sixth and last company of King James’s Bible-translators met at Cambridge. To this company was assigned all the Apocryphal books, which, in those times, were more read and accounted of than now, though by no means placed on a level with the canonical books of Scripture. * Still this part of the Translators had as much to do as either of the others, in the repeated revision of the version of the canonical books.

* The reasons assigned for not admitting the apocryphal books into the canon, or list, of inspired Scriptures are briefly the following.

1. Not one of them is in the Hebrew language, which was alone used by the inspired historians and poets of the Old Testament.

2. Not one of the writers lays any claim to inspiration.

3. These books were never acknowledged as sacred Scriptures by the Jewish Church, and therefore were never sanctioned by our Lord.

4. They were not allowed a place among the sacred books, during the first four centuries of the Christian Church.

5. The contain fabulous statement, and statments which contradict not only the canonical Scriptures, but themselves; as when, in the two Books of Maccabees, Antiochus Epiphanes is made to die three different deaths in as many different places.

6. It inculcates doctrines at variance with the Bible, such as prayers for the dead and sinless perfection.

7. It teaches immoral practices, such as lying, suicide, assassination and magical incantation.

For these and other reasons, the Apocryphal books, which are all in Greek, except one is extant only in Latin, are valuable only as ancient documents, illustrative of the manners, language, opinions and history of the East.