Seven books of the Bible, all in the Old Testament, are accepted by Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, but are not accepted by Jews or Protestants. Common Misunderstanding: That since the Catholic Old Testament contains seven more books than Protestant Bibles, the Catholic Church must have added later to justify doctrines that Jesus did not teach. The seven books included in Catholic Bibles are Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, and Baruch. These books are called Deuterocanonical by Catholics and Orthodox and Apocryphal by Jews and Protestants. Here's what you need to know about the difference. In addition, the Greek Orthodox, or Eastern Orthodox, Church accepts a few more books as canonized scripture. Some books dropped out of Protestant Bibles in the early 19th century when Bible societies which were founded and supported initially by Protestants began printing Bibles for the masses. This means that in the Protestant Bible there are 66 books, in the Roman Catholic Bible 73 books, and in the Greek Orthodox Bible 78 books. Similarly, Protestants erred by adopting anti-Catholic sentiment and removing the Apocrypha from the printed Bible entirely, diverting from 1600 years of church practice and abandoning the historical, liturgical, and edifying qualities of the deuterocanon. So why does the Catholic Bible have 73 books, while the Protestant Bible has only 66 books? The Bible was translated into Greek in the fourth century before Christ, and this was the Bible that was used throughout most of the Jewish world, it was called the Septuagint. Though it is believed that Catholics and Protestants have and follow many common religious beliefs, there is a slight difference in their books of worship, which is the Holy Bible. I'll explain below. Some Protestants believe that the Catholic Church added 7 books to the Bible at the Council of Trent in response to Luther’s Reformation, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Saint Jerome translating the Bible, by Caravaggio, painted in 1606 Catholic Bibles are known to have more books than Protestant Bibles, and there is a very good reason for this. The Protestant Apocrypha contains three books (1 Esdras, 2 Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh) that are accepted by many Eastern Orthodox Churches and Oriental Orthodox Churches as canonical, but are regarded as non-canonical by the Catholic Church and are therefore not included in modern Catholic Bibles. Written and recorded by men of God and disciples of Jesus, the Bible has facts which define humanity ever since its creation. Are you wondering why? 7:00. Some protestants believe that the Catholic Church added 7 books to the Bible at the Council of Trent in response to Luther’s Reformation, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. ; Protestant Christians recognize 27 inspired books of the New Testament. In this short essay we will briefly cover the differences between the Catholic and Protestant Bibles and the reasons behind those differences. And note that Jews in other parts of the world who weren't around to hear the Council of Jamnia's decision in A.D. 100 include to this day those "extra" 7 books in their canon. To be sure, there are lots of theological topics on which Catholics and Protestants disagree, but for sheer number of popular Protestant arguments that are explicitly and undeniably false, nothing tops the question of where the Bible comes from and how many books it has. Profile Quizzes Subscribed Subscribe? The various numbers of books accepted as part of the Old Testament by the various Christian traditions derive from Christianity's roots in first century Judaism. Catholics have 73 books of the Bible; Protestants have 66. The Protestant church generally does not believe these books are inspired and therefore canonical, that is authoritative and deserving to be a part of the Bible as the Word of God. The Bible is divided into two sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament. Biblical Studies Foundation has received so many questions concerning the number of books in the Bible that we are delighted to have been given permission to use chapter 8 in Erwin Lutzer’s book, The Doctrines That Divide: A Fresh Look at the Historic Doctrines That Separate Christians (Kregel Publications: Grand Rapids, 1998). More quiz info >> First submitted: December 25, 2012: Times taken: 111,708: Rating : 4.59: Quiz and answer stats >> Friends stats >> Start Quiz . There is… Many Christians believe there is one Bible, but biblical canon has changed repeatedly over the centuries. Are these books found also in the Dead Sea as the scrolls and are these books verifiable as … A Catholic Bible has 46 books in the Old Testament versus 39 in a Protestant Bible. Why don't Protestant Bibles include the Book of Tobit? Name the books of the Protestant Bible. The Catholic Church regards as part of the Bible the books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus (Sirach), Baruch, 1 and 2 Maccabees, as well as some additional stories and verses in the books of Daniel and Esther. It has records from ancient timelines that identify the various events of world history. They called this section the “Apocrypha”, meaning “hidden”, because of the questionable canonicity of the books. First, it's important to note that the New Testament of the Bible is exactly the same between Catholics and Protestants. Protestants did not take these books out of their Bibles, but they did remove them from their traditional positions in the Old Testament and put them int a section of their own, in between the Old and New Testaments. Books of the Protestant Bible Quiz. If a table cell has an asterisk (*), it means that a book is used, but in a different order. Here, we provide an explanation and compile further resources to help you answer your questions, and the ones posed to you by non-Catholics. The protestant Bibles has only a total of 66 books and the Catholics has more than this. Empty cells mean that the book is not used. These include 1 and 2 Maccabees, Judith, Tobit, Baruch, Sirach, and Wisdom, and additions to the books of Esther and Daniel. Other chapters in this excellent book cover questions such as: After Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, there were many writings about him. The Tanakh includes only 24 books, while mainline Protestant bibles inclue 39*, Catholics include 46, and Eastern Orthodox groups include 49. Catholic vs. Protestant Bibles By Greg Witherow Catholic Bibles contain Old Testament books not found in Protestant Bibles and as such Catholics are sometimes asked to explain this discrepancy. Testament refers to a covenant between God and his people.. Jews and Protestant Christians recognize 39 inspired books of the Old Testament. Both the Jewish Bible and the Hebrew canon in a Protestant Bible (aka Old Testament) contain 39 books, whereas a Catholic Bible contains 46 books in the Old Testament. In about 367 AD, St. Athanasius came up with a list of 73 books for the Bible that he believed to be divinely inspired. The Catholic Bible has an even higher word count because it has seven books more than the protestant Bible. Last updated: August 28, 2018. Response: The Catholic Bible contains all the books that have traditionally been accepted by Christians since the Canon of Scripture was recognized by the Synod of Rome in 382. The Protestant Bible and Catholic Bible are not the same book. However, many Protestant versions of the Bible today will state, “King James version with Apocrypha.” The Council of Trent, reacting to the Protestant Reformers, repeated the canon of Florence in the Decree on Sacred Books and on Traditions to be Received (1546) and decreed that these books were to be treated “with equal devotion and reverence.” A Protestant Bible is a Christian Bible whose translation or revision was produced by Protestants.Such Bibles comprise 39 books of the Old Testament (according to the Jewish Hebrew Bible canon, known especially to non-Protestants as the protocanonical books) and 27 books of the New Testament for a total of 66 books. Perhaps no area in Catholic-Protestant apologetics involves as many outright falsehoods as the history of the Bible. Rate: Featured Quiz . These were … Quiz by Quizmaster. Most Protestant Bibles included the deuterocanonical Books until about 1815, when the British and Foreign Bible Society discontinued the practice! Protestant Bibles have only 39 books in the Old Testament, however, while Catholic Bibles have 46. Meaning that the Catholic Bible contains 73 books in total, as opposed to the Protestant’s 66 books which refuses them. The missing books you refer to in the KJV are most likely the apocryphal books which are generally not found in any Protestant translation (NASB, NAS, NIV, RSV, etc.). Old Testament. The books included in some bibles and not others are called Apocrypha or Deuterocanonical; this means either that they are not canon, or that they are less canonical than primary canon. We also have a quiz for the Catholic Bible. Catholic Bibles also include sections in the Books of Esther and Daniel which are not found in Protestant Bibles. The Hebrew Bible has 24 books. These books are Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, I and II Maccabees, and Esther. The difference, and the reasons behind it, has been cause for great confusion and controversy. There are seven 7 books in the Catholic bible that are not in the Protestant’s bible. But Protestants didn't just take out books; they used a different standard of what should be in the Bible. The book of Tobit, and the other Deuterocanonical books bridge the gap between Malachi in the Old Testament and Matthew in the New Testament. In order to print very inexpensive Bibles that everyone could afford, they dropped the books which we call the deuterocanonical books (the second canon). Martin Luther felt that seven of the books accepted as part of the Old Testament at the time were not quite up to scratch since the 90 AD Jewish Council of Jamnia had rejected them. 66 Books of the Bible . Here are 5 books that are not included in the Bible. Many Protestants have attested to the value of the deuterocanonical books and the Apocrypha. Why does the Catholic bible have more books than the Protestant bible? These books are often called apocrypha.This word is sometimes used specifically (and possibly negatively) to describe the books in the Catholic and Orthodox canon that are not in the Protestant Bible.