SPSA Church Giving (opens in a new tab)

Questions & Answers

Holy Bible

Faith Q&A › Metropolitan Youssef › Holy Scripture › Holy Bible

The question

Why were some of the books removed from the Bible? (Ex: Tobit)
Why we never read them in church? What are the names of all those books? Is John the Beloved same as St. John who wrote one of the 4 Books in the Bible? Is he the same as the one who wrote the Book of Revelation?

The answer

These holy books were never removed from Holy Bible, but only in the Protestant books, which they did not deem as canonical, but rather referred to them as Apocrypha. Readings from the so-called Deuterocanonical Books are certainly used in our Coptic Orthodox Church. Many readings and prophecies from these books are read during the Holy Great Fast and Holy Week. These Books are:
  • Tobit
  • Judith
  • Wisdom
  • Sirach
  • 1 Maccabees
  • 2 Maccabees
  • Prayer of Manasseh
  • Baruch
  • Esther [Prologue/Introduction chapter 1 and Epilogue/remaining of chapter 10]
  • Daniel [Song of the 3 Saintly Youth following in chapter 3 from vs. 51-90], chapters 13, 14]
  • Psalm 151
St John the Beloved wrote 5 books of the New Testament:
  1. Holy Gospel according to St. John
  2. First Epistle of John
  3. Second Epistle of John
  4. Third Epistle of John
  5. Book of Revelation

Answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab)

Related questions

Questions answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab) of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Question 2243 on the Diocese’s Q&A site. Questions and answers © Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. All rights reserved.