The Apocrypha

       There are a number of sacred books not accepted by Protestants as authorized parts of the Bible, and to these the name Apocrypha has been applied. They are, however, accepted by the Roman Catholic Church. These books were written during the two centuries preceding the birth of Christ: The first and the second books of Esdras, Tobit, Judith, the rest of the book of Esther, the Wisdom of Solomon, the Wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus, Baruch the Prophet, the Song of the Three Children, Susanna and the Elders, Bel and the Dragon, the Prayer of Manasses and the first  and second books of Maccabees.