Thursday

Whats the difference between Catholic and Protestant Bibles?

Catholics and Protestants share the same New Testament. For a while Luther considered Hebrew, James, Jude and Revelation as inferior and put them at the end of his New Testament translation. Calvin seems to have had reservations about 2 and 3 John. Eventually all differences were reconciled and the Protestants and Catholics agreed with the fourth-century church councils which established the approved listing of books of the New Testament as we have them today.

The Catholic version of the Old Testament differs from the Protestants. The Catholics have a Greek version called the Septuagint which was used by Hellenistic Jews in Alexandria in North Africa before the time of Christ. This was the version used by the early Church. Luther chose another version, the Hebrew version, which was used by Jews in Palestine.

The Protestant version does not include the books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Baruch, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and that part of Daniel called the book of Susannah. Certain editions of the Bible will include these books under the title "Aprocryphical books of the Bible." Catholics consider these books as part of the inspired word of God.

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