Joshua Bennett
The Catholic Bible is said to contain 73 books, including 46 Old Testament books and 27 New Testament books. The number of books in the Bible has been a topic of debate and disagreement among different religious groups. Catholics refer to the additional books as deuterocanonical, meaning second canon, while Protestants refer to them as apocryphal, meaning hidden or unknown. These seven extra books in the Catholic Bible include Baruch, Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom (or Wisdom of Solomon), and Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus). The deuterocanonical books were included in the Septuagint, an early Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, which was used by the early Christian church as its Old Testament.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of books in Catholic Scripture | 73 |
| Number of books in the Old Testament | 46 |
| Number of books in the New Testament | 27 |
| Books found in Catholic Bibles but not Protestant Bibles | Baruch, Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom (or Wisdom of Solomon), and Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus) |
| Number of additional passages in the books of Esther and Daniel | 7 |
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What You'll Learn
The Catholic Church's 73-book Bible
The Catholic Church's Bible consists of 73 books, including 46 Old Testament books and 27 New Testament books. The Old Testament consists of seven deuterocanonical books and two books with additional deuterocanonical content. The deuterocanonical books include:
- Tobit
- Judith
- Wisdom (also called the Wisdom of Solomon)
- Sirach (also called Ecclesiasticus)
- Baruch
- 1 Maccabees
- 2 Maccabees
The Catholic Bible also contains additional passages in the books of Esther and Daniel. These deuterocanonical books are found in the Greek Septuagint collection but are absent from the Hebrew Masoretic Text collection.
The term "Catholic Bible" has two meanings. Firstly, it refers to a Christian Bible that includes the 73-book canon recognised by the Catholic Church. Secondly, it can refer to a version or translation of the Bible published with the Catholic Church's approval, according to Catholic canon law. The current official version is the Nova Vulgata, a revision of the Vulgate, which was declared the official translation for the Latin Church by the Council of Trent.
The Catholic Bible differs from the Protestant Bible, which has 66 books. The Catholic Bible retains seven books that are regarded as non-canonical in Protestantism, although many Protestant Bibles include these books in an intertestamental section called the Apocrypha, resulting in an 80-book Bible. The Catholic Bible's Old Testament canon is larger than the Protestant version, which is based on the Hebrew and Aramaic Masoretic Text. However, the Catholic canon is shorter than that of some Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, which recognise more books as sacred scripture.
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Deuterocanonical books
The deuterocanonical books, meaning 'of, pertaining to, or constituting a second canon', are collectively known as the Deuterocanon (DC). They refer to the books written between the Old and New Testament periods, which are considered canonical by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Church, and the Church of the East. These books are not viewed as divinely inspired by Jews or most Protestants.
The deuterocanonical books are included in the Septuagint, the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. They date from 300 BC to 100 AD, before the separation of the Christian church from Judaism, and they are regularly found in old manuscripts and cited frequently by the Church Fathers, such as Clement of Rome, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Irenaeus, and Tertullian, among others. According to the Gelasian Decree, the Council of Rome (382 AD) defined a list of books of scripture as canonical, which included most of the deuterocanonical books.
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. They also involve additions to three books accepted in the biblical canon: Esther, Daniel, and the Book of Tobit.
The deuterocanonical books were accepted by the Jews of the intertestamental period, particularly the Pharisees, who saw them as valuable to Jewish history but not divinely inspired. This view was held because they were written between the completion of the book of Malachi and the beginning of John the Baptist’s ministry. The deuterocanonical books were also accepted by early Christians, who used the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, as their Old Testament.
The deuterocanonical books are not considered divinely inspired by all Christians. For example, Luther and the rest of the Protestants rejected their status as divinely inspired, citing they did not meet the specifications of 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
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The Bible's Old Testament
The Bible used by Catholics is different from the one used by Protestants in terms of the number and order of books. The Catholic Bible comprises 73 books in total, including 46 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament. The Old Testament of the Catholic Bible is larger than the translations used by Protestants, which are based on the Hebrew and Aramaic Masoretic Text.
The Old Testament of the Catholic Bible includes seven deuterocanonical books, which are not present in the Hebrew Masoretic Text collection. These deuterocanonical books are Baruch, Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom (or Wisdom of Solomon), and Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus). They were included in the Septuagint, a third-century BC Greek translation of the Old Testament. The deuterocanonical books were added to the Catholic church's official list of Scripture by the Council of Trent.
The number of books in the Old Testament varies depending on the version of the Bible being read. The Hebrew Bible has 22 or 24 books, while the English Old Testament typically has 39. In contrast, Eastern and Russian Orthodox Bibles have even more books than the Catholic Bible.
The books of the Old Testament are primarily a collection of speeches and biographies of Israelite prophets. These prophets spoke for God, condemning idolatry and injustice, and delivering words of comfort and promise to the Israelites during their suffering. The Old Testament also includes historical, biographical, and prophetic books, such as Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel.
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The Vulgate
- Versio Romana (384): A revision of the earlier Vetus Latina, which is still sung in Catholic Latin liturgies.
- Versio Gallicana (386-389): A translation of the Psalms from the Greek Hexapla, which became the most common version in Bibles.
- Versio juxta Hebraicum (c.390-398): A translation of the Psalms from Hebrew, which was kept in Spanish manuscripts of the Vulgate long after the Gallican psalter had supplanted it elsewhere.
The revised text of the New Testament outside the Gospels is deemed the work of other scholars, such as Rufinus of Aquileia, Rufinus the Syrian, or Pelagius. In Jerome's Vulgate, the Hebrew Book of Ezra-Nehemiah is translated as the single book of "Ezra".
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Catholic canon law
Canon, derived from the Greek word for rule, norm, standard, or measure, forms the basis of Catholic canon law. This body of religious laws and principles is used by the Catholic Church to govern and regulate its organisation and the activities of its members. It is the oldest continuously functioning legal system in the West, predating modern European civil law traditions.
The canon law of the Catholic Church has all the typical elements of a mature legal system, including laws, courts, lawyers, and judges. It also has its own legal code, principles of interpretation, and coercive penalties. Those skilled in interpreting and applying these laws are called canonists or canon lawyers. The jurisprudence of canon law refers to the complex of legal principles and traditions within which it operates, while the philosophy, theology, and fundamental theory of Catholic canon law aim to provide a theoretical basis for canon law as a legal system.
The history of Latin canon law can be divided into four periods: the ius antiquum, the ius novum, the ius novissimum, and the Codex Iuris Canonici. The Eastern Catholic canon law of the Eastern Catholic Churches, which developed different disciplines and practices, was codified in the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches promulgated in 1990 by Pope John Paul II.
The term "canon law" (ius canonicum) came into regular use from the 12th century onwards. The term ius ecclesiasticum was used to refer to secular law dealing with relations between the state and the Catholic Church. The term corpus iuris canonici denoted canon law as a legal system from the 13th century onwards. The term source or fountain of canon law (fons iuris canonici) can be understood in two ways: as the formal cause of a law's existence or the material channel through which laws are handed down and made known.
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Frequently asked questions
There are 73 books in the Catholic Scripture, with 46 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament.
Deuterocanonical books are texts considered canonical by the Catholic Church but are seen as "secondary". They include Baruch, Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom (or Wisdom of Solomon), and Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus).
The Catholic Bible has seven more books than the Protestant Bible because the deuterocanonical books were rejected by Protestants, specifically by Protestant Reformer Martin Luther.
