It has already been mentioned that the Apocrypha was included in many editions of the Authorised Version issued by the University Presses in the 1820’s, when the British and Foreign Bible Society decided to exclude it from their foreign versions. The Society did not circulate the A.V. with the Apocrypha, but for several years the Society had sanctioned the inclusion of the Apocrypha in a number of foreign versions. The exclusion of the Apocrypha was an important change in the policy of the Committee brought about by the insistence of the Edinburgh Auxiliary that the Apocrypha should not be regarded as part of the Holy Scriptures given by Divine inspiration, and that its production and circulation should constitute no part of the work of a Bible Society pledged to the distribution of God’s Word alone. The case was ably stated by Robert Haldane and his articles and correspondence on the subject were given wide publicity. Attention was drawn to the fact that in several European languages Roman Catholic versions were circulated by the Society including the books of the Apocrypha interspersed with the Canonical Books. When the controversy was at its height a number of prominent ministers published a statement approving the policy of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The list of signatories included such distinguished evangelicals as Charles Simeon, Henry Venn, and Leigh Richmond. Haldane was convinced that these men were mistaken on an important matter of principle. Many of the supporters of the Society in Scotland withdrew their support and separated from the Society on this issue. In later years the groups which had thus seceded, joined by others who held the same views, formed the National Bible Society of Scotland.
The amended rules of the British and Foreign Bible Society
The whole issue came to a head in 1826 and 1827 and the B.F.B.S. was constrained to amend its rules by the addition of the following:
- I. That the fundamental law of the Society, which limits its operations to the circulation of the Holy Scriptures, be fully and distinctly recognised as excluding the circulation of the Apocrypha.
- II. That in conformity with the preceding resolution, no pecuniary aid can be granted to any Society circulating the Apocrypha; nor, except for the purpose of being applied in conformity with the said resolution, to any individual whatever.
- III. That in all cases in which grants, whether gratuitous or otherwise, of the Holy Scriptures, either in whole or in part, shall be made to any Society, the books be issued bound, and on the express condition that they shall be distributed without alteration or addition.
- IV. That all grants of the Scriptures to Societies which circulate the Apocrypha, be made under the express condition that they be sold or distributed without alteration or addition; and that the proceeds of such sales of any of such copies of the Scriptures be held at the disposal of the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Complete reversal of policy in 1967
This clear exclusion of the Apocrypha held its place in the rules of the Society for 140 years until in 1967 a change in the Society’s constitution made it possible for the Apocrypha to be included at the discretion of the Committee in any version circulated by the Society. During that long period more Bibles were circulated than in the first eighteen centuries of the Christian era — and they all went forth without the Apocrypha. The present decade has seen the birth of the “Common Bible” concept and “interconfessional co-operation on Bible translations”. The national Bible Societies are inviting Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox scholars to join hands with liberal and evangelical “Protestant” scholars with the object of producing Bibles which Protestants and Roman Catholics will use without distinction. Such a plan makes the inclusion of the Apocrypha, at least in some editions, quite inevitable. Hence the recent change in the rules.
The National Bible Society of Scotland
The Articles of Constitution of the National Bible Society of Scotland state that “The Holy Scriptures shall be circulated without the accompaniment of the books commonly called the “Apocrypha” and without note or comment; but in exceptional circumstances the Directors may approve of the addition of notes of an explanatory character.”
Notwithstanding this emphatic exclusion of the Apocrypha, the name of the National Bible Society of Scotland is to be found upon one of the title pages of the “New English Bible with the Apocrypha” published in March 1970. The list of those who planned and directed the translation includes the British and Foreign Bible Society and the National Bible Society of Scotland. A footnote states that the publication of the Apocrypha does not imply that the bodies represented on the Joint Committee hold a common opinion upon the canonical status of these books.
The American Bible Society
The American Bible Society’s policy with regard to the Apocrypha was explained in an article entitled “Evangelicals and the Bible Society” in the summer 1970 issue of the Evangelical Missions Quarterly published at Wheaton, Illinois, U.S.A. To the question, “Will the American Bible Society publish the Apocrypha?” the official answer given was as follows: “The A.B.S. has published the Apocrypha for many years . . . The first A.B.S. publication of the Apocrypha in Spanish was produced for the A.B.S. in 1824 at the request of evangelicals in Latin America because they were the only Bibles they could get the Roman Catholics to read. For much of this century A.B.S. English catalogues have listed a Bible with the Apocrypha at the request of leaders of the Episcopal Church.
“The continuing policy of the Bible Societies is to include the Apocrypha only upon the specific request of a denomination or other Christian missionary body and only on two conditions: (a) that the books of the Apocrypha are gathered between the O.T. and N.T. as distinctly separate and (b) that the full additional cost of providing the Apocrypha is carried out by the requesting group. This is exactly the same policy the A.B.S. has followed since its founding. It should be noticed that this means that only a few editions will contain the Apocrypha”.
These Bible Societies are saying in effect, “We agree that the Apocrypha is not part of the inspired Scriptures, but for reasons of expediency and to promote good inter-church relations we intend to publish it nevertheless, and evangelicals need not be unduly disturbed as there will not be very many such editions, and in any case the evangelicals will not be paying for them”.
Those who wish to obtain the Apocrypha for purposes of research and study have no need to turn to one of the Bible Societies, for the University Presses and H.M. Printers between them show in their catalogues for 1970 no less than 76 different volumes containing these books. Fifty seven of these are in the A.V., thirteen in the R.V., two in the R.S.V. and four in the N.E.B. The Bible Societies would do well to regard this field of study as already more than adequately provided for, and concentrate their efforts on circulating the inspired Word of God.
The Trinitarian Bible Society
The laws and Regulations of the Trinitarian Bible Society explicitly reject the Apocrypha in Law III which begins, “This Society shall circulate the Holy Scriptures, as comprised in the Canonical books of the Old and New Testaments, without note or comment, to the exclusion of the Apocrypha; the copies in the English language shall be those of the Authorised Version”. The Society has not circulated a single copy of the Bible containing the Apocrypha, and has no intention of doing so. The object of the Society is “to promote the glory of God, and the salvation of man, by circulating at home and abroad, in dependence upon the Divine blessing, the HOLY SCRIPTURES, which are given by inspiration of God, and are able to make men wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” The Apocryphal books are not “Holy Scriptures given by inspiration of God”, and it is no part of the work of a Protestant Bible Society to promote their publication and circulation. God has promised to bless and prosper His own Word, not the uninspired writings of men —
“So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth; it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it”. Isaiah 55.11.