Deuterocanonical Books — "Tobit, Wisdom, Sirach, Maccabees"

Disciples affirm the 66-book Protestant canon and do not include the deuterocanonical books as Scripture. This decision reflects the Disciples of Christ's heritage within the Restoration Movement and Protestant Christianity. The deuterocanonical texts (Tobit, Wisdom, Sirach, 1 and 2 Maccabees, portions of Daniel and Esther) are recognized as valuable ancient Jewish literature but not as biblical authority for doctrine and practice.

The Disciples of Christ, like other Protestant bodies, distinguish between books included in the Hebrew Bible (the 39-book Old Testament) and later texts added in the Septuagint and subsequent traditions. While the Disciples respect the Catholic and Orthodox inclusion of these texts, the Protestant canon—rooted in the principle of sola scriptura and fidelity to the original language sources—remains the Disciples' standard. The decision reflects both historical continuity with the Reformation and a commitment to the biblical text as originally transmitted.