Why is it that the Catholic Bibles has more books than the Protestant Bibles?
The protestant Bibles has only a total of 66 books and the Catholics has more than this. Are these books found also in the Dead Sea as the scrolls and are these books verifiable as to its authenticity?
Well, first – MOST Protestant bibles have only 66 books. Some have *more* books than Roman Catholic bibles, particular the bibles of the very large Anglican Communion
http://www.bible-reviews.com/charts_scriptures_d.html
But – to answer your question
* Martin Luther in 1534 was the first to produce a bible with a separate section titled "Apocrypha". Though Luther considered the Scriptures of the Apocrypha to be uninspired – as also James, Esther and Revelation – he never omitted those Scriptures from any of his bibles, and claimed that they were useful for study.
* The first printed English bible (1535) followed Luther’s use of a section called "Apocrypha", including all of the Scriptures commonly found in contemporary Latin Vulgates.
* 1563 the 39 Articles established for the Anglican Communion which books belonged in the bible. Every book was named, and the Apocrypha was specifically indicated to be uninspired but useful for study.
* 1564 the council of Trent, the Roman Catholic Church established their modern biblical canon, rejecting 1 & 2 Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh. Interestingly, the contents of the Roman Catholic bible are identical with Luther’s, though Roman Catholic bibles do not have an "Apocrypha" section.
* In the 1590s, the Protestants were the first group in any language to produce a bible without the Apocrypha (source: HarperCollins Bible Dictionary). This practice caught on among other Protestant sects and in other languages afterward.
2) Are these books found also in the Dead Sea as the scrolls and are these books verifiable as to its authenticity?
3 of the Roman Catholic Deuterocanonical books have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. These are Baruch, Tobit and (I believe) Ecclesiasticus. It should be noted, though, that many of the fragments found among the Dead Sea Scrolls have yet to be identified. Also, no fragment of the book of Esther has yet been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
I know that 1 Maccabees has a historical error, disagreeing with both 2 Maccabees and with history regarding the time of death of Antiochus IV. I know of no other certain error in any of the Apocrypha.
Jim
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July 16 2009 05:45 pm | Protestant
yohanestoro on 16 Jul 2009 at 11:10 pm #
It’s truer to say that the Protestant bible has less books/writings than the Catholic one..because the Protestant edited it themselves…took out some from the complete writings…
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Steve B on 16 Jul 2009 at 11:29 pm #
there are those found in the apocrypha, sorry if I misspelt this, which have been found to be inauthentic.
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Karen on 16 Jul 2009 at 11:48 pm #
I don’t know the exact reason. But I know this: Protestants reduced the number of books to 66. The next division wanted even less and it goes. this is why non christians are confused about our religion.
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Jesus
Naresh S on 17 Jul 2009 at 12:38 am #
Because Catholics where around for a longer time. Protestants are more busy protesting against catholics rather than reading the bible.
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Believer, wife & mother on 17 Jul 2009 at 12:44 am #
Because if it isn’t in print, they don’t have to follow the rules. God bless you.
Edit: Yes, Karen and pretty soon they will only have a little pamphlet to go by. How is that for rules?
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Roman Catholic, Pray the Rosary daily.
Sivan S on 17 Jul 2009 at 1:31 am #
The book revelations actually says that no one should take books out or edit the bible, the protestants decided to ignore that rule.
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Nilbog on 17 Jul 2009 at 2:00 am #
Because those pagan Catholics added to God’s word!
Because those heretic Protestestants took away from God’s word!
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Sentinel (TRC) on 17 Jul 2009 at 2:31 am #
During the Reformation, primarily for doctrinal reasons, Protestants removed seven books from the Old Testament: 1 and 2 Maccabees, Sirach, Wisdom, Baruch, Tobit, and Judith, and parts of two others, Daniel and Esther. They did so even though these books had been regarded as canonical since the beginning of Church history.
As Protestant church historian J. N. D. Kelly writes, "It should be observed that the Old Testament thus admitted as authoritative in the Church was somewhat bulkier and more comprehensive [than the Protestant Bible]. . . . It always included, though with varying degrees of recognition, the so-called apocrypha or deuterocanonical books" (Early Christian Doctrines, 53), which are rejected by Protestants.
When examining the question of what books were originally included in the Old Testament canon, it is important to note that some of the books of the Bible have been known by more than one name. Sirach is also known as Ecclesiasticus, 1 and 2 Chronicles as 1 and 2 Paralipomenon, Ezra and Nehemiah as 1 and 2 Esdras, and 1 and 2 Samuel with 1 and 2 Kings as 1, 2, 3, and 4 Kings—that is, 1 and 2 Samuel are named 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Kings are named 3 and 4 Kings.
God bless.
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Ed H on 17 Jul 2009 at 3:07 am #
Those Catholic books have always been in the canon. Martin Luther didn’t like teachings like the primacy of Peter, the need for works as well as faith, and purgatory. Some were removed (like Maccabees), others were not (like James). But I’m not sure if people realize this was decided by a group of people just as the Catholic bible took a council to make it finalized. The typical response is that the Holy Spirit tells them this is right. But this is much like accepting a tradition that in principle, they believe they reject altogether. But it isn’t in the bible that those books should be in the bible. So the tradition of Sola Scriptura is also not being followed. By the way, Sola Scriptura isn’t in the bible either.
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Marian T on 17 Jul 2009 at 3:44 am #
Because Luther, Calvin, Wycliffe, et al. decided during the Reformation that some of the Books included in our Bible (the Latin Vulgate and the English Douay-Rheims) were "good history" or "useful for information and instruction" but not Divinely inspired… so they threw them out along with the Mass and the Sacraments. They do not have the fullness of Truth – and the sad thing is, they don’t know it and won’t hear the Church. "And if any refuse to hear even the Church, let him be to you as the heathen and the publican."
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BibleChooser on 17 Jul 2009 at 4:31 am #
Well, first – MOST Protestant bibles have only 66 books. Some have *more* books than Roman Catholic bibles, particular the bibles of the very large Anglican Communion
http://www.bible-reviews.com/charts_scriptures_d.html
But – to answer your question
* Martin Luther in 1534 was the first to produce a bible with a separate section titled "Apocrypha". Though Luther considered the Scriptures of the Apocrypha to be uninspired – as also James, Esther and Revelation – he never omitted those Scriptures from any of his bibles, and claimed that they were useful for study.
* The first printed English bible (1535) followed Luther’s use of a section called "Apocrypha", including all of the Scriptures commonly found in contemporary Latin Vulgates.
* 1563 the 39 Articles established for the Anglican Communion which books belonged in the bible. Every book was named, and the Apocrypha was specifically indicated to be uninspired but useful for study.
* 1564 the council of Trent, the Roman Catholic Church established their modern biblical canon, rejecting 1 & 2 Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh. Interestingly, the contents of the Roman Catholic bible are identical with Luther’s, though Roman Catholic bibles do not have an "Apocrypha" section.
* In the 1590s, the Protestants were the first group in any language to produce a bible without the Apocrypha (source: HarperCollins Bible Dictionary). This practice caught on among other Protestant sects and in other languages afterward.
2) Are these books found also in the Dead Sea as the scrolls and are these books verifiable as to its authenticity?
3 of the Roman Catholic Deuterocanonical books have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. These are Baruch, Tobit and (I believe) Ecclesiasticus. It should be noted, though, that many of the fragments found among the Dead Sea Scrolls have yet to be identified. Also, no fragment of the book of Esther has yet been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
I know that 1 Maccabees has a historical error, disagreeing with both 2 Maccabees and with history regarding the time of death of Antiochus IV. I know of no other certain error in any of the Apocrypha.
Jim
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imacatholic2 on 17 Jul 2009 at 4:40 am #
Protestants have fully accepted each and every one of the 27 books that the Catholics selected for the New Testament over 1,500 years ago.
The difference in the Old Testaments actually goes back to the time before and during Christ’s life. At this time, there was no official Jewish canon of scripture.
The Jews in Egypt translated their choices of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek in the second century before Christ. This translation of 46 books, called the Septuagint, had wide use in the Roman world because most Jews lived far from Palestine in Greek cities. Many of these Jews spoke only Greek.
The early Christian Church was born into this world. The Church, with its bilingual Jews and more and more Greek-speaking Gentiles, used the books of the Septuagint as its Bible. Remember the early Christians were just writing the documents what would become the New Testament.
After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, with increasing persecution from the Romans and competition from the fledgling Christian Church, the Jewish leaders came together and declared its official canon of Scripture, eliminating seven books from the Septuagint.
The books removed were Tobit, Judith, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Wisdom (of Solomon), Sirach, and Baruch. Parts of existing books were also removed including Psalm 151 (from Psalms), parts of the Book of Esther, Susanna (from Daniel as chapter 13), and Bel and the Dragon (from Daniel as chapter 14).
The Christian Church filled with the Holy Spirit did not follow suit but kept all the books in the Septuagint. 46 + 27 = 73 Books total.
1500 years later, Protestants decided to keep the Catholic New Testament but change its Old Testament from the Catholic canon to the Jewish canon.
The books that were removed supported such things as
• Prayers for the dead (Tobit 12:12; 2 Maccabees 12:39-45)
• Purgatory (Wisdom 3:1-7)
• Intercession of saints in heaven (2 Maccabees 15:14)
• Intercession of angels (Tobit 12:12-15)
The books they dropped are sometimes called the Apocrypha.
Here is a Catholic Bible website: http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/bible/
With love in Christ.
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