Why are Christians so afraid of the word 'Apocrypha'?

What? I was raised reading the Apocrypha, and have read a number of non-canonical gospels. There is nothing "evil" about them. They're books.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Enoch talk about reincarnation? That is antithetical to Christian teaching and is probably why, among other reasons unknown to me, that it was rejected from inclusion in the canon. The canon established in 397 included the "apocrypha", because the Church deemed it proper to include it. Protestants accept the declaration of NT canon from the Catholic Church.

Catholics decided because for the first 1500 years of Christianity, there were no other "denominations". There simply weren't. If you were a Christian, you were Catholic.

If you so believe in the Book of Enoch, feel free to start your own church and make up whatever canon you'd like.

Edit: Don't get me wrong, I think there is tremendous value in other ancient texts. Have you read the Didache or Justin Martyr?

The books of Enoch may have been part of the Jew's apocryphal literature, but were never included in Christian Bibles' Apocrypha, except for the Copts, maybe. The technical name for Enoch is psuedoepigraphical.

Yours in Christ, Nick

I LOVE the word! I am fascinated by the hidden Gospels, and the Book of Enoch is very interesting.

The story of how Hanukkah came to be is contained in the books of 1 and 2 Maccabees, which are not part of the Jewish canon of the Hebrew Bible.

Who says we're afraid of it? I've read it. I still have my copy of the Catholic bible. It's not frightening at all.

We're not afraid of the word, we just dislike the blasphemous addition (called the Apocrypha) to the real gospel.

Because Christians want to make their own bible all the time.

It's a hard word to pronounce :'(

Because they are taught to feel that way by their parents and their pastors.