Apocrpyha vs Deuterocanonical (2)

According to Loraine Boettner, author of the book Roman Catholicism:

The word Apocrypha is from the Greek apokrupha, meaning hidden things, and is used by ecclesiastcal writers for matters which are, (1) secret or mysterious; or (2) unknown in origin, forged, or spurious; or (3) unrecognized, or uncanonical. It is primarily in the sense of spurious or uncanonical that we use the term. The [deuterocanonical] books had this name before they were officially approved by the Council of Trent, and so it is not a name given them by Protestants.
(Roman Catholicism, by Loraine Boettner, p80; ISBN: 0-87552-130-4; The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company)

An article in Wikipedia, the free online encylopedia,suggests the following:

Deuterocanonical is a term first coined in 1566 by the theologian Sixtus of Siena, who had converted to Catholicism from Judaism, to describe scriptural texts of the Old Testament whose canonicity was explicitly defined for Catholics by the Council of Trent, but which had been omitted by some early canon lists, especially in the East. Their acceptance among early Christians was not universal, but regional councils in the West published official canons that included these books as early as the fourth and fifth centuries. The canon of Trent confirmed these early western canons. ^{(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deuterocanonical_books#cite_note-cathenOT-1)}

This would confirm the statement of Boettner concerning the use of the word Apocrypha.

Another source which backs up the statement of Boettner and the Wiki article concerning the use of the term Deuterocanonical is found in the online Catholic Encyclopedia where we read :

It should be noted that protocanonical and deuterocanonical are modern terms, not having been used before the sixteenth century . . . Protocanonical (protos, "first") is a conventional word denoting those sacred writings which have been always received by Christendom without dispute. The protocanonical books of the Old Testament correspond with those of the Bible of the Hebrews, and the Old Testament as received by Protestants. The deuterocanonical (deuteros, "second") are those whose Scriptural character was contested in some quarters, but which long ago gained a secure footing in the Bible of the Catholic Church . . . (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03267a.htm)

The article raises a number of points.

1. The suggestion by Roman Catholicism that Protestants use the term Apocrpyha as a perjorative term to describe the additional books, instead of the correct terminology of Deuterocanonical books is wrong. The term Apocrypha seems to be the historical term used for these books. Therefore there is nothing perjorative nor disrespectful in using this term. It is the term Deuterocanonical which is misleading, this term adding force to the idea that these books have always belonged to some sort of canon, which is evidently not the case.

2. The article also points out that some books in the Old Testament have always been received by Christendom as a whole, whereas other books (the Apocrpyhal or Deuterocanonical books) have continued to inspire debate.

3. This suggests that the Protestants accept only those books of which they are sure of the authenticity, which have always been accepted as canon, where there has been no disagreement; whereas Roman Catholics accept also those books which have been continuallly treated with significant doubt and incited debate and uncertainty.

So the term Apocrypha is a historical term used to describe those books not belonging to the Hebrew canon, or the original canon. The term Deuterocanonical is a Roman Catholic term used to describe the same books, and that only since the 16th century.

What I find interesting is that the very fact that the Roman Catholic Church uses the terms Protocanonical and Deuterocanonical is an admission of a distinction between the books which are referred to by each term.

P.S. I want to include here a quotation in French which states the same thing regarding these terms protocanonical and deuterocanonical :

C'est en 1556 que Sixte de Sienne a le premier utilisé les mots protocanonique et deutércanonique pour distinguer deux catéogries d'écrits de l'Ancien et du Nouveau Testament. C'est dans cette affirmation : "La première est formée par les livres que l'on peut appeler protocanoniques et au sujet desquels il n'y a jamais eu doute ni discussion dans l'Eglise catholique ; la seconde contient les livres qu'on déignait jadis sous le nom d'ecclésiastiques et qui maintenant sont appelés deutérocanoniques" (Bibliotheca sancta, I, 1).
(Cahiers Evangile : L'inspiration et le canon des ecritures, Histoire et théologie, Editions du Cerf, p46)