the books containing the creeds, beliefs, or doctrine of religious groups that have emerged since the Reformation
symbolical books in American English
plural noun
Ecclesiast
the books of a religion containing the creeds, beliefs, etc
Also: symbolic books
Word origin
[1735–45]This word is first recorded in the period 1735–45. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: boxer, editorial, influenza, stasis, tutorial