I have been informed (hopefully correctly) by a Mormon (who I love to tease in another forum) that in 1615 Abbott "forbade anyone to issue a Bible without the Apocrypha on pain of one year's imprisonment". I'm sure this has more to do with petty "copyright" issues than any big doctrinal issue, does anyone have a more fuller explanation?
I am not fully-versed in that history yet, myself. It would be interesting to learn what's behind the story. It is repeated on many websites, including: http://www.handsonapologetics.com/King_James_Bible.htm http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~dchriste/faithfulmen/ChristensenDavid_CanonOT.html There's an interesting quote in the box at the top of the first site, and some conjectures about puritans in the second site. I tend to think Abbott might have made the ordinance because the Puritans were opposed to the fact that Apocrypha were read in Morning & Evening prayer along with the genuine inspired Word of God. He probably just wanted the readings to be available to all?