Why should/shouldn't the Apocrypha be included in the Bible canon?

Question

What are your opinions on the Bible's canon concerning the Apocrypha/deuterocanon? Should they be in the Bible?

Answer 1

The Catholic Bible has extra books, called the Deuteronomical books. Like Deuteronomy, Deutero means second... so these are a secondary set of books that are helpful, but not authoritative in Judaism. Then there are the gnostic gospels, the Assentation of Mary, and others from the time of the early church. Those books are called Apocryphal (books that were never canonized in the Christian Bible). None of the Apocryphal books have ever been in any Bible, due to the late dating and dubious authorship. It's the Deuteronomic books that have been fought over in Catholic and Protestant churches