Grace Thompson
The Catholic Bible includes 73 books, seven more than the Protestant Bible. These seven books are Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, and Baruch. The Catholic Church believes these books to be inspired by the Holy Spirit. The deuterocanonical books, or apocrypha, are included in the Greek Septuagint collection but not in the Hebrew Masoretic Text collection. The Catholic Bible's Old Testament is therefore larger than the Protestant version, which is based on the shorter Hebrew and Aramaic Masoretic Text.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of books in the Catholic Bible | 73 |
| Number of books in the Protestant Bible | 66 |
| Number of books in the Old Testament | 46 |
| Number of books in the New Testament | 27 |
| Books unique to the Catholic Bible | Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch |
| Deuterocanonical books | Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, sections in Esther and Daniel |
| Books whose canonicity was questioned | 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras, Prayer of Manasseh |
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What You'll Learn
The Catholic Bible has 73 books
The deuterocanonical books have a long history, dating back to the early Christians and the Council of Florence. They were also included in the Septuagint, the translation of the Old Testament used by Christians in the early Church. The Septuagint included the deuterocanonical books as well as the books found in the Hebrew Canon of the Old Testament. However, in the 16th century, the Protestant Reformers, including Luther and Calvin, questioned the canonicity of these books and they were eventually removed from Protestant Bibles.
The Catholic Church, on the other hand, has consistently affirmed the canonicity of the deuterocanonical books. The Council of Rome in 382, the Synod of Hippo in 393, and the Council of Carthage in 397 all contributed to the formation of the Catholic Bible's canon, which includes the deuterocanonical books. The current official version of the Catholic Bible is the Nova Vulgata, which was published in accordance with Catholic canon law.
In addition to the 73-book canon, the term "Catholic Bible" can also refer to any Bible published with the approval of the Catholic Church, which may include translations into different languages and editions with additional material such as photographs, maps, and prayers. These Bibles are published in accordance with Catholic canon law, which requires approval from the Apostolic See or the conference of bishops.
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Protestant Bibles have 66 books
The Protestant Bible is a Christian Bible translated or revised by Protestant Christians. Protestant Bibles typically comprise 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament, for a total of 66 books.
The 39 Old Testament books are according to the Hebrew Bible canon, which is known to non-Protestants as the protocanonical books. The 27 New Testament books are identical to those in the Catholic Bible.
Some Protestant Bibles, such as the original King James Version, include 14 additional books known as the Apocrypha, which are not considered canonical. The Apocrypha are useful as a historical and theological background to the events of the New Testament. The inclusion of these 14 books brings the total number of books in some Protestant Bibles to 80.
The Apocrypha was included in early Protestant Bibles, such as the German-language Luther Bible of 1534. However, unlike Catholic Bibles, which interspersed the deuterocanonical books throughout the Old Testament, Martin Luther placed the Apocrypha in a separate section after the Old Testament. This set a precedent for the placement of these books in Protestant Bibles.
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The Catholic Bible includes deuterocanonical books
The Catholic Bible includes 73 books in total, 46 of which are in the Old Testament. This is in contrast to the 66 books found in the Protestant Bible, which does not include the deuterocanonical books.
Deuterocanonical books refer to the books written between the Old and New Testament periods. They are considered canonical by the Catholic Church, but their recognition is considered “secondary". The term was coined in 1566 by the theologian Sixtus of Siena, who had converted to Catholicism from Judaism. The deuterocanonical books are also known as the Apocrypha.
There are 12 deuterocanonical books: Tobit, Judith, Baruch, Sirach (or the writings of Ben Sirah), 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, Wisdom (Ecclesiasticus), Prayer of Manasseh, 1 Esdras, and 2 Esdras. These books are also included in the canons of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Church.
The deuterocanonical books were included in the earliest Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, known as the Septuagint, which was used by early Christians as their Old Testament. The Septuagint included all of the deuterocanonical books, distinguishing them from the protocanonical books of the Hebrew canon and the biblical apocrypha. The deuterocanonical books were also included in the first King James Version of the Bible in 1611 and in the first printed Bible, the Gutenberg Bible.
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The Septuagint translation has more books than the Hebrew Canon
The Catholic Bible includes 73 books in its canon, seven of which are considered non-canonical by Protestants. The Catholic Church's canon includes some of the deuterocanonical books (and parts of books) of the Old Testament from the Greek Septuagint collection, which are absent in the Hebrew Masoretic Text collection. The Septuagint is the earliest Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, also known as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy. It is derived from the story that 72 Hebrew translators, six from each of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek. The Septuagint became the most widely used translation at the time, with a lot of history and tradition behind it.
The Hebrew Canon of the Old Testament has three divisions: the Torah (Law), the Nevi'im (Prophets), and the Ketuvim (Writings). In addition to all the books of the Hebrew canon, the Septuagint separates the minor prophets and some other books and adds extra books known as the Apocrypha. The Septuagint has four divisions: law, history, poetry, and prophets, with the books of the Apocrypha inserted where appropriate. The Septuagint version of some books, such as Daniel and Esther, is longer than those in the Masoretic Text, which was affirmed as canonical in Rabbinic Judaism.
The Septuagint was presumably made for the Jewish community in Egypt when Greek was the common language in the region. It was translated in the Ptolemaic Kingdom, centred on the large community in Alexandria, between the 2nd century BC and the 1st century AD. Manuscripts of the Septuagint have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, and they were thought to have been used by various Jewish sects at the time. However, several factors led most Jews to abandon the Septuagint around the 2nd century AD. The association of the Septuagint with Christianity may have made it suspect in the eyes of the newer generation of Jews.
The Catholic Church formally affirmed its canon of scripture with the Synod of Hippo in 393, followed by a Council of Carthage in 397. The current official version of the Catholic Church is the Nova Vulgata.
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The Catholic Bible has 46 Old Testament books
The Catholic Bible is composed of 73 books in total, 46 of which are from the Old Testament. The Old Testament books include seven deuterocanonical books and additional deuterocanonical content in two other books. These seven books are Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, and Baruch. These books were written by Jews during the late Second Temple Period (c. 250 BCE - 70 CE).
The number of books included in the Bible varies depending on the version. For instance, the Hebrew Bible has 22 or 24 books, while the English Old Testament has 39. The Catholic Bible retains in its canon seven books that are regarded as non-canonical in Protestant Bibles. However, many Protestant Bibles include these seven books and others in an intertestamental section known as the Apocrypha, resulting in 80 books.
The discrepancy in the number of books in the Old Testament across different Bibles is partly due to differences in numbering. For example, in English, the Minor Prophets are counted as twelve individual books, whereas in the Hebrew Bible, they are counted as one book in twelve parts. Similarly, books such as 1 & 2 Kings, Ezra-Nehemiah, and 1 & 2 Chronicles are single books in Hebrew but are divided into two books in English translations.
The Catholic Church formally affirmed its canon of scripture, including the 46 books of the Old Testament, through several councils and synods. The Council of Rome (382), the Synod of Hippo (393), the Council of Carthage (397), another Council of Carthage (419), and the Council of Florence are some of the significant gatherings that contributed to the establishment of the Catholic Bible's canon.
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Frequently asked questions
There are 73 books in the Catholic Bible.
Catholic Bibles include seven books that are regarded as non-canonical in Protestant Bibles. These books are Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, and Baruch.
There are 46 books in the Catholic Old Testament.
