Why did martin luther take 7 books out of the bible. The old testament abbreviated ot is the first part of the christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the twentyfour books of the hebrew bible or tanakh, a collection of ancient religious hebrew writings by the israelites believed by most christians and religious jews to be the sacred word of god. These are books which are not held equal to the sacred. The roman catholic canon also includes the deuterocanonical books as part of the old testament these are considered apocryphal by most protestants. The protestant old testament includes exactly the same information, but organized into 39 books. What protestants dont realize is the theologians who didnt accept these books were antichristian theologians, not believing in the prophecies in the books of the apocrypha and for some reason protestant christians follow these antichristian theologians in selecting the books for the old testament when the majority of their christian.
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. Catholic old testaments include 1st and 2nd maccabees, baruch, tobit, judith, the wisdom of solomon, sirach ecclesiasticus, additions to esther, and the stories of susanna and bel and the dragon which are included in daniel. Both jews and christians believe these texts to be holy. The old testament is made up of several collections of books that are found in the jewish bible. The protestant bible consists of 66 books which are considered to be divinely inspired. The additional books in the catholic bible are found in the old testament and include. 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.
Since the 16th century, most protestant churches have accepted only works in the masoretic text of the hebrew bible as canonical books of the old testament. Each book has its own separate chapter index, because waiting for all the chapter links of the old testament books to appear on one page can take a while. Such bibles comprise 39 books of the old testament according to the jewish hebrew bible canon, known especially to nonprotestants as the protocanonical books and 27 books of the new testament for a total of 66 books. Protestantisms old testament problem catholic answers. In this short essay we will briefly cover the differences between the catholic and protestant bibles and the reasons behind those differences. The books of the canon are not obvious merely from reading them. The books of the old testament are listed below, each of them linked to their chapter index. The old testament books in chronological order list.
Among contemporary christians, the roman catholic church recognizes as deuterocanonical several books that are consigned to the old testament apocrypha by most protestant bodies, whose canon conforms to that of the contemporary hebrew bible. A difference is the order of the books a hebrew bible is as you know often referred to as a tanach. By comparison, the books of the catholic bible include all 66 in the previous list plus seven extra books. 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 old testament of the roman catholic tradition, and also the eastern orthodox tradition includes a several writings more than in the hebrew jewish bible or the protestant old testament. Why did martin luther remove seven 7 books from the. The hebrew bible recognizes the books referred to as the old testament in the protestant bible, but not the apocryphaldeuterocanonical. The protestant bible has 66 books in total and catholic bible has 73 books.
Exodus enslavement, moses, ten plagues, passover, leave egypt, red sea crossing, mt. Some christians use a few extra books, which are called deuterocanonical or apocrypha, by those who reject them. The hebrew bible recognizes the books referred to as the old testament in the protestant bible, but not the apocryphal. 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. The method in general was the same as that followed by the authors of the first and third gospels in their use of matthews sayings of jesus and the original mark narrative, or by the authors of samuel, kings, and chronicles in their citations from the older sources. In christianity, the old testament is the name of the first part of the bible, the one written before jesus christ. Why catholic bibles have more books than protestant bibles. Perhaps no area in catholicprotestant apologetics involves as many outright falsehoods as the history of the bible. Where does the tanakh differ from the christian old testament. The protestants reject these books as holy scripture for the following reasons.
The basic reason is that the protestant leaders chose to accept only the books of the old testament accepted as canonical in judaism, which they assumed. Quite the contrary, many prophetical books contain much poetry. He grouped the seven deuterocanonical books of the old testament under the title apocrypha, declaring. These include the book of proverbs many of them credited to solomon, whom the bible extols for his wisdom and ecclesiastes. In general the tanakh is the same as the christian old testament. 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.
Below is the protestant canon of the bible new revised standard version. Catholics have fortysix 46 books in the old testament, while protestants have only thirtynine 39. Theyre listed in the order they show up in protestant bibles. The old testament apocrypha consists of eleven or twelve books, depending upon how they are divided, that the roman catholic church adds to the old testament. Their omission in protestant bibles leaves a chronological gap in salvation history.
As you may know, the catholic and protestant bibles differ in the number of books that each considers to be divinely inspired. These books are found in the earliest greek translation of the tanakh, but were later rejected by the rabbis the books of the tanakh are usually printed in a different order than. The protestant reformation, which began in germany in 1517 with the 95 theses of martin luther, gave rise to a new canon of the old testament. How many books are in the new testament of the protestant. The difference between the catholic and protestant bibles specifically centers around the old testament and the old testament alone. The old testament or jewish tanakh is the first book of the bible. The second part is the greek new testament, containing 27 books. The septuagint is a greek translation of the old testament which dates at least to the 2nd century bc, the masoretic text is the modern hebrew version of the old. The most noticeable differences occur in the number of books included and the order in which they have been arranged.
If a table cell has an asterisk, it means that a book is used, but in a different order. Just click any books name, and get a highlevel idea of what its about. It contains the origin and creation of the universe, the exodus from egypt, the formation of israel the prophets and the wisdom books. The roman catholic ot and easter orthodox ot include books that protestants consider apocryphal.
Why do catholics have 2 books in their bible that protestants do not have. While all christians have the same twentyseven new testament books, they disagree regarding the number of books in the old testament canon. They both consist of exactly twentyseven 27 books, matthew through revelation, with no distinction whatsoever. While protestant and jewish bibles have thirtynine old testament books, the bible used by roman catholic and eastern orthodox christians include the thirtynine books and several additional writings. The word apocrypha was used by protestants to name books which were included in the old testament of the septuagint but not found in the old testament of the masoretic text. This list, or canon, was affirmed at the councils of jamnia in a. These books are not held equal to the sacred scriptures, and yet. But when it comes to the old testament, catholic and protestant bibles differ. The law torah in hebrew comprises the first five books. Old testament books table of the 39 books of the old. So instead of the original 22 books which became 24 books in current hebrew bible versions by separating several books into two and combining others, now christians had 39 separate books that we call the old testament and we also had a new. The books of the old testament enter your search terms. The protocanonical books of the old testament correspond with those of the bible of the. The 24 books of the hebrew bible are the same as the 39 books of the protestant old testament, only divided and ordered differently.
What are the 12 history books in the old testament answers. These were the last books of the old testament written, composed in the last two centuries b. The curious case of the protestant bible catholic answers. For example, the hebrew bible has one book of samuel, while the protestant bible has i. Tobias, judith, wisdom, ecclesiasticus sirach, baruch, and 1 maccabees and 2 maccabees bringing the total to 73 books. Martin luther should prove that to protestants, since he was the founder of the protestant reformation, and yet he tried to jettison four books from the new testament. These books are also written in poetic style, hence the category. Why were the books of the old testament apocrypha rejected. This does not mean that other parts of the old testament are devoid of poetry. In 1534, martin luther translated the bible into german. Both the jewish bible and the hebrew canon in a protestant bible aka old testament contain 39 books, whereas a catholic bible contains 46. How is the hebrew bible different from the christian old. Tobit, judith, baruch, wisdom, sirach, 1 and 2 maccabees, and parts of esther and daniel.
Books of the bible simple english wikipedia, the free. The numbers differ only because the jews reckoned certain groups of books as one, such as the two books of samuel, the two books of kings, and the twelve minor prophets which were originally written. What differs between catholic bibles and protestant bibles is the old testament. These twentytwo books correspond exactly to the thirtynine books of the christian old testament see the christian ot versus the jewish tanakh. Why do catholic bibles have a longer old testament than protestant bibles. I have written a short article on this subject if you wish to study it further catholic vs. The formation of the old testament canon bible hub. This results in 46 old testament books in catholic bibles and 39 old testament books in protestant bibles. The result is that these versions of the bible have more old testament books than most protestant versions. The old testament contains 39 protestant, 46 catholic, or more orthodox and other books, divided, very broadly, into the pentateuch torah, the historical books, the wisdom books and the prophets. The quran calls the first five books of the old testament the tawrat in judaism, the collection of inspired books is known as tanakh.
The following table contains a list of the 39 old testament books as listed in a typical protestant bible. Why are the books of the bible placed in a particular. The old testament has 39 books total, which consist of. 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. There are 66 books in the canon of the protestant bible 39 in the old testament and 27 in the new testament and 73 books in the canon of the catholic bible 46. 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. With this background, we can now address why the protestant versions of the bible have less books than the catholic versions. A list of books with brief descriptions of contents.
Thus the first six old testament books were given their final form. What is the difference between protestant and catholic bibles. The version of the bible in use at the time of jesus was the septuagint abbreviated lxx, for the 70 men who translated it from hebrew into greek by the beginning. Genesis creation, the fall, the flood, the spread of the nations, abraham, isaac, jacob, and joseph. A protestant bible is a christian bible whose translation or revision was produced by protestants. Order of the old testament books new testament bible class. Protestant bibles comprise 39 books of the old testament according to the jewish hebrew bible canon, known especially to nonprotestants as the protocanonical books and the 27 books of the new testament for a total of 66 books. Protestants and catholics use the masoretic text of the jewish tanakh as the textual basis for their translations of the protocanonical books those accepted as. What are the differences between the hebrew bible and the. The protestant bible and catholic bible are not the same book. Christians traditionally divide the old testament into four sections. The catholic church based its bible off the expanded greek translation and early on shifted which books were included. How many books are in the old testament catholic bible. Why are there 39 books and 46 books in the old testament.