80 Books Or 66?

Q

I have a question about the bible in print. The KJV Bible of 1611 contained many books that were removed before the 1625 reprint. I do under stand that some of the books may not have been from the Holy Spirit and pertained more to the time they were written as a history book would. I have been told that the Jews still follow some of these books today. As Christians are we to stay away from these books that were removed or is it OK to read them if we understand they may not have been from the Holy Spirit?

A

The earliest King James edition contained the so-called Books of the Apocrypha for a total of 80, instead of the 66 of today’s Bible. For various reasons these extra books were deemed not to have been inspired by the Holy Spirit and were removed from later editions. They do contain valuable historical information and are useful to supplement our understanding of Biblical times, but are not reliable in theological matters. There’s no harm in reading them, if one does so purely from an interest in their historical content.