original_query: What is the biblical apocrypha?
query: What is the biblical apocrypha?
answer: The biblical apocrypha is a collection of ancient books thought to have been written between 200 BC and AD 400.  Some Christian churches include some or all of these texts in their Old Testament (calling them deuterocanonical), while others, like Protestants, place them in a separate section, considering them useful for instruction but not canonical.