Deuterocanonical books

Deuterocanonical books is a term used since the 16th century in the Catholic Church and Eastern Christianity to describe certain books and passages of the Christian Old Testament that are not part of the current Hebrew Bible. The term is used in contrast to the protocanonical books, which are contained in the Hebrew Bible. This distinction had previously contributed to debate in the early Church about whether they should be classified as canonical texts. The term is used as a matter of convenience by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and other Churches to refer to books of their Old Testament which are not part of the Masoretic Text.

The deuterocanonical books are considered canonical by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and the Church of the East, but are considered non-canonical by most Protestants. The word deuterocanonical comes from the Greek meaning 'belonging to the second canon'.

The original usage of the term distinguished these scriptures both from those considered non-canonical and from those considered protocanonical. However, some editions of the Bible include text from both deuterocanonical and non-canonical scriptures in a single section designated "Apocrypha". This arrangement can lead to conflation between the otherwise distinct terms "deuterocanonical" and "apocryphal".

Catholic Answers

Catholic Answers, based in El Cajon, California, is the largest lay-run apostolate of Catholic apologetics and evangelization in the United States. It publishes Catholic Answers Magazine, a bimonthly magazine focusing on Catholic evangelization and apologetics, as well as the website Catholic.com. It also produces Catholic Answers Live, a radio show answering callers' questions on a variety of topics related to the Catholic Church. Catholic Answers Live is syndicated on the EWTN radio network.

Catholic Answers operates with the permission of the Diocese of San Diego. It is listed in the current edition of The Official Catholic Directory, the authoritative listing of U.S. Catholic organizations, priests, and bishops.

History

Catholic Answers was founded in 1979 by Karl Keating in response to a fundamentalist Protestant church in San Diego that was distributing anti-Catholic propaganda in the form of tracts placed on the cars of Catholics attending Mass. Its mission statement explains its purpose:

Ben Sira

Ben Sira (flourished in the 2nd century BCE) a Hellenistic Jewish scribe, sage, and allegorist from Jerusalem. He is the author of the Wisdom of Sirach, also known as the Book of Ecclesiasticus.

Ben Sira is also known as Joshua ben Sirach, Shim`on ben Yeshu`a ben Sira, Jesus son of Sirach, or Jesus Siracides. He wrote his work in Hebrew, possibly in Alexandria, Egypt ca. 180–175 BCE, where he is thought to have established a school. This text had later been translated into Greek by his grandson. He also wrote about manners.

Some commentators claim Ben Sira was a contemporary of Simon the Just (Shim`on HaTzadik), although it is more likely that his contemporary was Simon II (High Priest) (219–199 BCE).

A medieval text, the Alphabet of Sirach, has been attributed to Ben Sira.

Name

The surname Sira may mean 'thorn' [Hebrew (Ecclesiastes 7:6, Hosea 2:6)], 'white of the eye' (Mishnaic Hebrew), or 'boat' [Hebrew, according to one reading of Amos 4:2]. Sira could also be an Aramaicized form of a family name ha-qots "the thorn" (Ezra 2:51).