A term used by Greek Orthodox Christians for what others call the apocryphal or deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament. The word (which means ‘worth reading' or ‘those which are to be read') was first used by a bishop called Athanasius in the fourth century CE. The anagignoskomena also include some books not included in the apocrypha or listed as deuterocanonical. Sometimes, the anagignoskomena are referred to by Greek Orthodox Christians as the ‘ecclesiastical books'.