Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun plurale tantum Certain writings which are received by some Christians as an authentic part of the Holy Scriptures, but are rejected by others.
  • noun obsolete Something, as a writing, that is of doubtful authorship or authority; -- formerly used also adjectively. - John Locke.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin apocryphus "apocryphal", from Ancient Greek ἀπόκρυφος (apocruphos, "hidden, obscure").

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Examples

  • Little did these people know that apocrypha is apocryphal for a good reason, and not because it's dangerous (though I'm sure the Catholic Church saw it as such).

    Blind Faith? 2009

  • Thus, in the first Christian centuries, the so-called apocrypha (q.v.) above all other books appeared to the faithful as libri non recipiendi, books which were on no account to be used.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 3: Brownson-Clairvaux 1840-1916 1913

  • These writings are called apocrypha because their divine origin is in doubt.

    Luther Examined and Reexamined A Review of Catholic Criticism and a Plea for Revaluation 1904

  • Notwithstanding that we have taken so much pains to show that the books called apocrypha, are not canonical, we wish to avoid the opposite extreme of regarding them as useless, or injurious.

    The Canon of the Old and New Testaments Ascertained, or The Bible Complete without the Apocrypha and Unwritten Traditions. 1772-1851 1851

  • We can form anonymous collectives that work after the manner of what Kent refers to as apocrypha (feneon, Edgar Allen Poe, etc.).

    PoetryFoundation.org 2009

  • We can form anonymous collectives that work after the manner of what Kent refers to as apocrypha (feneon, Edgar Allen Poe, etc.).

    PoetryFoundation.org 2009

  • just so you know, people of the world, the "apocrypha" is not a catholic thing. it's not in the catholic bible. it's not catholic. in fact, the apocrypha is the very definition of "not catholic". nothing could be less catholic than the apocrypha.

    in response to info overheard constantly at the museum... 2008

  • just so you know, people of the world, the "apocrypha" is not a catholic thing. it's not in the catholic bible. it's not catholic. in fact, the apocrypha is the very definition of "not catholic". nothing could be less catholic than the apocrypha.

    Archive 2008-03-01 2008

  • Hell, I'd argue that I'm looking at a meta-narrative which is of a * still larger* scope anyway, including non-canonical monotheist texts such as apocrypha or the writings of Christian apologists, and even external material like Sumerian myth; these provide historical, philosophical, sociological and mythological context (s) which can (and should) have a major impact on our reading of the text.

    Wisdom, Justice And Mercy Hal Duncan 2006

  • These dreams form a kind of apocrypha to my main myth.

    The Skrayling Tree Moorcock, Michael, 1939- 2003

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