Apocrypha

Apocrypha (from the Greek 'hidden, secret') are works of religious content on biblical themes that are not recognized by the Church as canonical and are not included in the official composition of Scripture. Apocrypha recount the life of Christ, the Mother of God, the apostles, and Old Testament figures, the creation of the world, and the end of the world (eschatological apocrypha), supplementing or reinterpreting canonical plots with folk-poetic fantasy. In the Middle Ages, apocrypha were extremely popular, widely copied, and influential on iconography, preaching, and folk culture, although the Church entered them into 'indices' of forbidden books. Apocrypha are an important link between book and oral verbal art, a source of many folk legends. A foundational five-volume collection, 'Apocrypha and Legends from Ukrainian Manuscripts,' was compiled and studied by Ivan Franko (1896–1910). In a figurative sense, 'apocryphal' means doubtful in authenticity, unrecognized.