FACT CHECK: Were 14 Books Removed From The Bible In 1684?
A post shared on X claims that 14 books were removed from the Bible in 1684.
They removed 14 books from your Bible in 1684.
The Lost Books of the Apocrypha.
Most Christians don’t even know they existed…
But religious leaders fought to keep them hidden.
Here’s the shocking truth about the forbidden books they didn’t want you to read: pic.twitter.com/HUonDilwkj
— Nick Di Fabio (@NickDiFabio1) February 10, 2025
Verdict: False
The “apocrypha” is still present in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles. Protestant Bibles have gradually removed them since the 1800s, as Protestant denominations do not view them as divinely inspired Scripture.
Fact Check:
Social media users are claiming that the 14 books were removed from the Bible in 1684. One user wrote,”They removed 14 books from your Bible in 1684. The Lost Books of the Apocrypha. Most Christians don’t even know they existed… But religious leaders fought to keep them hidden. Here’s the shocking truth about the forbidden books they didn’t want you to read.”
This claim is false. The “apocrypha,” also known as the deuterocanonical books, is still present in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles. These books, such as –Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, Tobit, and Judith, 1st and 2nd Maccabees, additions to Esther and Daniel– have been part of the Catholic canon since the Synod of Rome in 382, according to Catholic Answers. The Orthodox Churches recognize them as canonical, per the Orthodox Church of America’s website.
In regards to Protestant Bibles, such as the King James Version of the Bible, originally had the “apocrypha,” though it is not considered Scripture by Protestants, according to Britannica. Check Your Fact previously reported: “The books were not removed in the 1611 original version of the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible, though were not considered part of the Old Testament. The British and Foreign Bible Society stopped printing the deuterocanonical books from its bibles as it would cost less to print, according to Wikipedia.”
The “apocrypha” was eventually removed from Protestant Bibles, with exception of some, with the KJV removing it in 1885, according to Bart Ehrman, a religious studies professor at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. (RELATED: Did Harper Collins Omit 64,575 Words In The NIV And ESV Versions?)
Check Your Fact, therefore, rates this claim false.