Catholic and Protestant Bibles: What is the Difference?

Catholic Exchange.com ^ | 02-06-07 | Mary Harwell Sayler

[Salvation]

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Catholic and Protestant Bibles: What is the Difference?

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March 6, 2007

Question: What's the difference between a Catholic Bible and a Protestant one? Is our Old Testament the same as a Jewish Bible? If not, why?

Answer: The most noticeable differences occur in the number of books included and the order in which they have been arranged. 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. In addition, the Greek Orthodox, or Eastern Orthodox, Church accepts a few more books as canonized scripture.

To give you a quick overview of a complicated subject, here's what happened: Several hundred years before the birth of Christ, Babylonian conquerors forced the Jews to leave Jerusalem. Away from their Temple and, often, from their priests, the exiled people forgot how to read, write, and speak Hebrew. After a while, Jewish scholars wanted to make the Bible accessible again, so they translated Hebrew scriptures into the Greek language commonly spoken. Books of wisdom and histories about the period were added, too, eventually becoming so well known that Jesus and the earliest Christian writers were familiar with them. Like the original Hebrew scriptures, the Greek texts, which were known as the Septuagint, were not in a codex or book form as we're accustomed to now but were handwritten on leather or parchment scrolls and rolled up for ease in storage.

Eventually, the Jewish exiles were allowed to return to Jerusalem where they renovated the Temple. Then, in A.D. 70, warring peoples almost completely destroyed the sacred structure, which has never been rebuilt. Without this central place of worship, the Jews began looking to the Bible as their focal point of faith, but to assure the purity of that faith, only Hebrew scriptures were allowed into the Jewish canon. By then, however, the earliest Christians spoke and read Greek, so they continued to use the Septuagint or Greek version of the Bible for many centuries. After the Reformation though, some Christians decided to accept translations into Latin then English only from the Hebrew texts that the Jewish Bible contained, so the seven additional books in the Greek translation became known as the Apocrypha, meaning "hidden." Since the books themselves were no secret, the word seemed ironic or, perhaps, prophetic because, in 1947, an Arab boy searching for a lost goat found, instead, the Dead Sea scrolls, hidden in a hillside cave.

Interestingly, the leather scrolls had been carefully wrapped in linen cloth, coated in pitch, and placed in airtight pottery jars about ten inches across and two feet high where, well-preserved, they remained for many centuries. Later, other caves in the same area yielded similar finds with hundreds of manuscripts no longer hidden. Indeed, the oldest copies of the Bible now known to exist are the Dead Sea scrolls of the Septuagint.

Because of this authentic find from antiquity, many publishers in the twentieth century added back the books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, First and Second Maccabees, as well as additions to Esther and Daniel. So now, when an edition of the Bible says "with Apocrypha" on the cover, the extra books from the Septuagint will usually be placed between the Old and New Testaments or at the end of the Bible. Catholic Bibles already contained those books, however, so you'll find them interwoven with other Old Testament books of history and wisdom writings. 

For the New Testament, it's a different story — and short. All of the books were written in Greek or Aramaic from the start. Although some debate occurred about which Gospels or Epistles should be included, all Christians eventually accepted all of the same 27 books in the same order. So, as long as you choose an edition that does not add explanatory notes opposed to a Catholic perspective, any reputable translation of the New Testament is fine.

 

© Copyright 2007 Catholic Exchange

[kosta50]

"This is the Lord's doing, and it is sho' 'nuff something marvellous in my eyes."

No, the way we are is not the way God made us. Otherwise, Christ would have come for no reason whatsoever. We are a poor apporximation at best what God made us. A fallen, tarnished figure of a once glorious creation.

Back in the '70s the new wave of 'improving self-image' through self-congratulatory folly came into vogue (and persists to this day). I remember a cartoon in one of the newspapers that said "God don't make no junk." God doesn't. WE do.

[markomalley]

Cute.

w/no clue about my heart, goals and priorities

You're right. I don't know your goals or priorities. However...

for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. - Matt 12:34b

I don't know your heart, but I have seen your words.

[Kolokotronis]

FK, what kosta has written at #597 is right on the money. The only thing I would add is our Orthopraxis, which is the dogma and doctrine in action. It expresses in our liturgies, devotions, prayer and daily lives the dogmas and doctrines of The Church. The actual forms of these things can, to a small degree, change, for example fasting practices have changed a number of times throughout history as have the liturgies around the edges; at one point in time there were canons which forbade Christians from going to a Jewish doctor or riding in public conveyances with Jews but these are no longer even remotely viable.

The only other thing I would say is that Orthodoxy does not define things to the extent the Latin Church, or the West in general I suppose, does. We don't have a specific corpus of canon law, for example, the way the Latin Church does. For this reason Orthodoxy often looks rather "loosey-goosey" to Western Christian eyes, but in fact we tend to be rather more firm on dogma, doctrine and praxis across all elements of The Church than even the Latin Church is.

[hosepipe]

Ah! visions.. are possible.. I used not to believe so until I had 0ne..
Very unique and suited just for the reciever.. to enhance his awareness I suppose..
Much real'er than a dream and hard to put in words.. but visions are possible..

In my experience, snippets of it could be shared, rarely too close confidants...
Because many/most people could care less about what You believe..
And the experience was specially constructed for YOU.. anyway..

[Quix]

In this case, it was more than a vision or a dream.

As he came back to his body at his desk, he realized he had a sheet of vellum like substance in his hands with the 120 predicted events/situations/items written on it in a beautiful hand written script.

He was quite tired so he just laid it down on his desk and went up to bed for the night. The next morning, the vellum like sheet had started to disintegrate. He scooped the pieces into an envelope and showed them to a number of people over a week or so, by which time they had 'evaporated' away.

Normally, I think dreams and visions are likely to be primarily for the person having them. But in these end times, I believe they will be increasingly for the Body of Christ and for the world, even.

[Quix]

I suspect being a parent has something to do with it, but I now find each and nearly every individual quirk or trait charming and endearing.
= = =

Increasingly the last 20 years or so . . . some from Scripture and some from anecdotal experiences of others . . .

THAT IS THE PICTURE I HAVE GROWN TO APPRECIATE OF FATHER, DADDY, ALMIGHTY GOD. Our "quirks" are no accident. Somehow, they will end up being, indeed already are--for HIS GLORY and will become more so.

This has been and remains a growing edge thing for me because of the tortured relationship I've had with blood dad and stepdad.

And one of the reasons such an understanding has been burned so deeply and vividly into my consciousness is that God has gone to great lengths to . . . VERY FIERCELY do two things repeatedly.

1. Very severely discipline me or anyone else who tried to meld, overwhelm, minimize, obliterate another individual's personhood, unique personality etc.

2. Very emphatically affirm sometimes the smallest detail of the personhood HE CREATED . . . even when I'd gone to great lengths to minimize or ignore or especially to trash such.

I have learned the very hard way that DADDY has intensely strong feelings about our individual personhood, personalities. But then, we are His. He made us AS HE MADE US FOR HIS GLORY AND PURPOSES. Why shouldn't He have strong feelings about such?

[FourtySeven]

"3. Anglican - Believe baptism is an effectual means of salvation"

I'd be curious where you get this because it isn't even true for TEC, which is probably the least orthodox arm of Anglicanism. It is universally held by Anglicans that at least Baptism and the repeated reception of the Eucharist are required of all to have the opportunity of salvation.

Ok, I'm not sure how your statement differs from mine, IOW, "required for salvation", "effectual means of salvation", to me, say the same thing. But I'll agree with your sentence, it still doesn't affect my list in any way that I can see.

To answer your question directly, here is where I got my info on that particular topic.

By baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, a person is made one with Christ and received into the fellowship of the Church. This sacrament of initiation is open to children as well as to adults.

Source

[Quix]

But that means we will concentrate on something other than God, i.e. self; and that's when sin begins.
= = =

The closest Biblical anything I can find to an image of all the saints sitting around chanting OOOMMMMMM eternally [NOT!]

is that the martyrs are always before The Father. I used to think--what a prison. Then it came to me--God has given them the most supremely wonderful existence. So it has to BE THE OPPOSITE OF A PRISON.

I have come to believe that it is likely that the martyrs standing eternally before The Father can somehow have access to the consciousness of any individual or creature in all creation as though they were that person. That would be opposite to a prison.

Further, that tuning in to ALL GOD IS INCLUDING ALL THAT HE IS IN AND THROUGH ALL HIS CREATION is not an affront or distraction from their adoration of DADDY. It is an eternal EXPLORATION OF DADDY'S GLORY AND LUXURIATING

IN

DADDY'S GLORY.

[jacknhoo]

Luke Chapter 1
1:26. And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth,
In mense autem sexto missus est angelus Gabrihel a Deo in civitatem Galilaeae cui nomen Nazareth

1:27. To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David: and the virgin's name was Mary.
Ad virginem desponsatam viro cui nomen erat Ioseph de domo David et nomen virginis Maria

1:28. And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
Et ingressus angelus ad eam dixit have gratia plena Dominus tecum benedicta tu in mulieribus

1:29. Who having heard, was troubled at his saying and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be.
Quae cum vidisset turbata est in sermone eius et cogitabat qualis esset ista salutatio

1:30. And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.
Et ait angelus ei ne timeas Maria invenisti enim gratiam apud Deum

1:31. Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Jesus.
Ecce concipies in utero et paries filium et vocabis nomen eius Iesum

1:32. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father: and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever.
Hic erit magnus et Filius Altissimi vocabitur et dabit illi Dominus Deus sedem David patris eius

1:33. And of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Et regnabit in domo Iacob in aeternum et regni eius non erit finis

1:34. And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man?
Dixit autem Maria ad angelum quomodo fiet istud quoniam virum non cognosco

1:35. And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
Et respondens angelus dixit ei Spiritus Sanctus superveniet in te et virtus Altissimi obumbrabit tibi ideoque et quod nascetur sanctum vocabitur Filius Dei

1:36. And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren.
Et ecce Elisabeth cognata tua et ipsa concepit filium in senecta sua et hic mensis est sextus illi quae vocatur sterilis

1:37. Because no word shall be impossible with God.
Quia non erit inpossibile apud Deum omne verbum



.........................................................
Luke Chapter 1


1:43. And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
Et unde hoc mihi ut veniat mater Domini mei ad me

1:44. For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Ecce enim ut facta est vox salutationis tuae in auribus meis exultavit in gaudio infans in utero meo

1:45. And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord.
Et beata quae credidit quoniam perficientur ea quae dicta sunt ei a Domino

1:46. And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord.
Et ait Maria magnificat anima mea Dominum

1:47. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
Et exultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari meo

1:48. Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid: for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes

(Shall call me blessed... These words are a prediction of that honour which the church in all ages should pay to the Blessed Virgin. Let Protestants examine whether they are any way concerned in this prophecy.)

1:49. Because he that is mighty hath done great things to me: and holy is his name.
Quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est et sanctum nomen eius

1:50. And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him.
Et misericordia eius in progenies et progenies timentibus eum

1:51. He hath showed might in his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
Fecit potentiam in brachio suo dispersit superbos mente cordis sui

...........................................................




Educate and enlighten yourself here:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15464b.htm

[FourtySeven]

The INVISIBLE CHURCH of all believers who believe Jesus The Christ came in the flesh; was born of a virgin; died for our sins; rose again; is coming again . . . the basics

I'm interested in exploring the concept of this "invisible church" more, if you two (or anyone) is so inclined.

Is the statement above an acceptable definition for it? I ask because I wish to know how it's defined, and also, since, for JW's, that statement would fit their beliefs as well. But JW's don't believe Jesus is God.

So what I'm really asking is, what is the statement of faith that everyone who is a member of the "invisible church" must believe? What doctrines are non-negotiable?

Thanks.

[Quix]

Dying unto yourself and letting only God shine through you is becoming invisible, transparent, angelic, never drawing attention to yourself, as to who you are. Individual differences retain their role and function for God's purpose only.

NO!

NOT ANGELIC!

Scripture is quite clear. We shall JUDGE ANGELS.

Which is an interesting point . . . angels are to be lower than us as Scripture clearly states. And, evidently they have some sort of more 'automatic' obedience built-in--perhaps some sort of 'more transparent nature' for God's glory to shine through less impeded than we in our current earthly state.

YET, there are evidently even in eternity going to be DIFFERENCES sufficiently amongst them and their choices and actions that we shall judge them? What a mystery.

So, then, we have more than a couple more than transparent brain cells working together with which to judge them, evidently.

Sure we give God The Glory for all we are and do--increasingly even in this time/space dimension and wholesale in eternity. But Holy Spirit is the invisible wind, BREATH OF GOD--not humans. Not even redeemed humans.

Somehow, I'm reminded of the joke product--the invisible dog harnesses. It seems to me that God gets much more Glory out of the diversity of all us VISIBLE dogs than he ever would out of an infinite number of invisible dogs. LOL.

[Salvation]

Perhaps many non-Catholics are unaware of the role that St. Jerome played in giving them the Bible:

Saint Jerome - Doctor Of Biblical Studies

Saint Jerome: Doctor Of Biblical Studies

St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church

St. Jerome — Feminist?

[Mad Dawg]

I don't know your heart, but I have seen your words.

Yeah, well, often Quix's words are hard to miss.

[Mad Dawg]

I don't know your heart, but I have seen your words.

Yeah, well, often Quix's words are hard to miss.

[Quix]

GOD CREATED US WITH INDIVIDUAL NEEDS

No, the only thing the Bible tells us is that man was created in the Image and Likeness of God. There is only one image and only one likeness of the eternal and unchanging God. Anything that detracts from that image and likness is un-godly. The fall occurred when man started to mind himselflikeness of God, not enhancing our personal differences.

That God created us with each our own unique gifts and needs is self-evident. It's also clear in Apostle Paul's writings. He's rather clear about being sensitive to the individual-ness of each person's personality, Christian maturity, constructions on reality and not eating meat or doing anything else to unnecessarily cause a brother to stumble.

Further, in 100% of the accounts I've read of folks being welcomed into Heaven and coming back to tell about it . . . God clearly arranges very tailored welcoming parties specifically tailored to each individual by those individuals who were closest to each person on earth etc. And, according to one report, most folks are not much use in Heaven for the equivalent of an earth year or 3 they are so overwhelmed with the majesty of Heaven it takes them that long to get used to it and acclimated, calmed down enough to fill their roles there.

And if folks think that we do not have INDIVIDUALIZED ROLES to play in eternity--then they must think that God is a very inadequate God. I'm reminded of JB Philip's book: YOUR GOD IS TOO SMALL . . . that He only knows how to make clones for cloned jobs? NOT!

The beauty and diversity we see here is evidently a microscopic hint of that we will enjoy in Heaven.

BEING THE INDIVIDUALS WASHED IN CHRIST'S BLOOD THAT DADDY DESIGNED AND CHRIST CREATED US TO BE

COULD NOT

BY DESIGN detract from God's Glory but only enhance it. God is not stupid. God is not clumsy. God is not limited in the diversity He can create and manage. Sheesh!

[Mad Dawg]

Ahuoling out the "Mah Nishtanah " machine ...

No, the way we are is not the way God made us.

Okay, most absolutely affirmative. We are fallen.

Does that necessarily mean that every difference between humans is a result of the Fall?

Would Adam and Eve have not been different had they not fallen?

You call that Paradise?

[Quix]

Our personalities are of this world

Actually, to me, that idea approaches BLASPHEMY.

1. MY HEAVENLY DADDY DESIGNED MY PERSONALITY.
2. My Lord and Savior Jesus The Christ created me and REDEEMED ME.
3. HOLY SPIRIT HAS BEEN BUSY MATURING AND OVERHAULING ME.

My personality is WHOLESALE FROM GOD, FROM HEAVEN. He not only designed and created me--He very carefully conditioned me with carefully arraged relationships, events, situations, experiences all resulting in precisely the eternal gem He had in mind to begin with.

There will not be anything left infecting my Heavenly personality which will be earthbound or which will detract from God's Glory.

[DungeonMaster]

I'm not seeing the part where the RC bible says that Mary can:

Hear prayers, provide special intercession as the Mother of the Son of God, that she is the Mother of God, that she is the mother of the church, that she is the Queen of Heaven, that she was immaculately conceived, that she was ever virgin, or that she is our co-redeemer, that she appears to people with messages, that she makes statues bleed, that she performs miracles from heaven,

[Quix]

WELL PUT.

Thx.

Happy healing feet to you.

[Quix]

AMEN. INDEED. AGREED!