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

[kawaii]

Our attention must be on worshipping Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and living like Christ showed us we should.

[ZULU]

Here the laughing? They are laughing in Tehran, Damascus, Cairo, Jakarta, Londistan, etc., over Christians arguing over diffrerent interpretations of the same BASIC FACTS.

Grow up!!!

We all face a common enemy - Islam and moral relativism.

[kawaii]

Interesting since the Orthodox Christians have converted more Muslims in 15 years than the west has in 200+ years.

[kosta50]

I can only testify to what I know to be true in my walk with the Lord. Your walk with Him may be different, but that is to be expected. We are not “cookie cutter” Christians

Agreed. We should not fault each other; we can express different opinions. I respect yours, although they seem far fetched as, I am sure, mine does to you, or even to my fellow Orthodox.

However, if we both know truth we would agree regardless. The fact that there is no unity in Christ on earth is a sign of our own shortcomings, no matter how holy we may consider our churches and bibles, or how advanced we may think we have become.

We are still short of the likeness of God and our first priority should be to spend more time on becoming like God then arguing over something we all know only imperfectly.

kosta50, I am not at all like the person I was before Christ “knew” me

I am sure that is true of all of us. I can certainly attest to that. But Christ knew me from all eternity. We, on the other had, will have to wait for full vision: "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." [1 Cor 13:12]

Salvation occurred in an instant for me, kosta50 – but sanctification has been a very long walk

Salvation is a moment of relaization that Christ is real. We have yet to be judged for what we have done with that realization. Salvation has a beginning and an ending. It's a process.

Over the years I have learned that I am in control and can choose to reject the urgings of the natural me. Pride, ego and vanity are the “cross-eyed bears” of the natural me - but they are no longer the boss of me, the living me, the spiritual me

Your statement is as Orthodox as it could be. Self-denial is the backbone of repentance. Attaining qualities expressed in the Beatitudes is what God wants us to become — poor in spirit, pure in heart.

I do experience the mind of Christ as described above

Sometimes. Sometimes we confuse our own self-righteousness with the mind of Christ. It's easy to be fooled. Remember that Satan can appear as the Angel of Light [cf. 2 Cor 11:14].

It saddens me that you reject Paul

I do not reject Paul. I do not judge him either.

And since you reject Paul, I’m certain that will figure into your personal scales but how I cannot say

It will depend on my intent, I suppose. Fear is not what draws me to God. Fire and brimstones don't work on me. I recognize Paul for his role, his mission and his achievement of saving the Church.

I am sure he was fulfilling God's will, even if he didn't say it as clearly as he might have. We really dion't know what he really wrote. We have only fragments, and even they are copies.

If someone you love creates a work of art, surely you’d be interested in seeing it because you love him/her

I am interested even now, giving glory to God at everything I see, the beauty of His Creation, unlike anything we would even imagine, from tiniest ants to billions of galaxies containing more starts than there are grains of sand on all the beaches and in all the deserts on earth (27 hexatrillion visible stars — and that is only the visible part; the other half hasn't reached us yet!) :)

[kawaii]

Interesting since the Orthodox Christians in the FSU have converted more Muslims in 15 years than the west has in 200+ years.

[kawaii]

Agreed. We should not fault each other; we can express different opinions. I respect yours

Frankly I do not respect opinions which contradict either or both Holy Tradition and Holy Scripture especially when it comes to folks who espouse 'scripture alone' yet invent rationales to bypass what scripture demands.

[ZULU]

I am NOT going to be baited into an argument attacking fellow Christians.

As for Converting Muslims - Vlad Dracul, Ivan the Terrible, Charles Martel and Andrea Doria had the most effective techniques.

[ZULU]

See my response.

[Quix]

THANKS TONS for your kind reply, A-G.

Terms courtesy of Merium Webster:

MERIUM WEBSTER PAGE: http://209.161.33.50/dictionary/PERSONALITY

Main Entry: personality
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -ties
Etymology: Middle English personalite, from Anglo-French personalit, from Late Latin personalitat-, personalitas, from personalis

Date: 15th century

1 a: the quality or state of being a person
b: personal existence

2 a: the condition or fact of relating to a particular person; specifically : the condition of referring directly to or being aimed disparagingly or hostilely at an individual b: an offensively personal remark

3 a: the complex of characteristics that distinguishes an individual or a nation or group; especially : the totality of an individual's behavioral and emotional characteristics
b: a set of distinctive traits and characteristics
4 a: distinction or excellence of personal and social traits; also : a person having such quality

IDENTITY:

Main Entry: identity
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -ties
Etymology: Middle French identité, from Late Latin identitat-, identitas, probably from Latin identidem repeatedly, contraction of idem et idem, literally, same and same

Date: 1570

1 a: sameness of essential or generic character in different instances

b: sameness in all that constitutes the objective reality of a thing : oneness
2 a: the distinguishing character or personality of an individual : individuality
b: the relation established by psychological identification
3: the condition of being the same with something described or asserted establish the identity of stolen goods

4: an equation that is satisfied for all values of the symbols

PERSON

One entry found.

person

Main Entry: person
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French persone, from Latin persona actor's mask, character in a play, person, probably from Etruscan phersu mask, from Greek prosôpa, plural of prospon face, mask — more at prosopopoeia

Date: 13th century

1: human, individual sometimes used in combination especially by those who prefer to avoid man in compounds applicable to both sexes [chairperson] [spokesperson]

2: a character or part in or as if in a play : guise

3 a: one of the three modes of being in the Trinitarian Godhead as understood by Christians
b: the unitary personality of Christ that unites the divine and human natures

4 a: archaic : bodily appearance
b: the body of a human being; also : the body and clothing

5: the personality of a human being : self

6: one (as a human being, a partnership, or a corporation) that is recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties

7: reference of a segment of discourse to the speaker, to one spoken to, or to one spoken of as indicated by means of certain pronouns or in many languages by verb inflection

personhood

in person : in one's bodily presence

# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

QX: PERSONALITY: All those traits, qualities, attributes, natures, drives, values, habits, preferences, inclinations, components which make up an INDIVIDUAL PERSON and their unique IDENTITY (as uniquely distinguished from all other persons, identities).

QX: PERSON: A unique individual human made in God's image as a flesh/blood human being and an eternal soul/spirit with a unique personality--a unique individual set of qualities, attributes, traits, inclinations, preferences, etc. . . . .

QX: IDENTITY: An INDIVIDUAL PERSON'S UNIQUE attributes, traits, qualities, inclinations, preferences, features--particularly those which distinguish him from all other persons, identities, creatures . . .

% % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % %

Certainly after the fall, and at least until satan et al are locked up for the millenial reign of Christ, all humans have included in their personalities, identities, personhood, deplorable traits, sins, inclinations etc.

But we were not designed FOR sin. We were designed FOR DADDY; FOR DADDY'S PLEASURE; FOR FELLOWSHIP WITH DADDY.

Sin and the law are evidently instructive exercises, features of this bootcamp . . . which have infected our natures, persons, identities, personalities since the fall and will have influence until we are translated/resurrected/die and are transferred into our Heavenly states/bodies; our RESURRECTED, GLORIFIED states, identities, bodies.

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING of the sin nature will remain a part of our identities in our Heavenly, glorified state.

EVERYTHING GOD, DADDY DESIGNED INTO, AS PART OF OUR PERSONALITIES, IDENTITIES, PERSONHOODS AS INDIVIDUALS AT OUR CREATION [which was--IN TERMS OF IDENTITY--was before the world began--at least before our conception in our mothers--some verses speak of our being KNOWN before then--we must be KNOWN as distinguishable from other identities, personalities, persons even in that earliest time of our existence as persons] . . .

EVERYTHING GOD DESIGNED INTO AND AS PART OF OUR PERSONALITIES, our unique IDENTITY, WILL ENDURE AS THE UNIQUE INDIVIDUAL US IN HEAVEN AND ETERNITY.

Nothing else is Biblical to me. Nothing else makes sense to me. Nothing else is congruent with the many reports of Heaven, to me.

For some reason, IN CONTRAST TO EASTERN RELIGION, where the body is considered not only inconsequential but even also an illusion hindering IDENTITY OBLITERATING merging with the ONE-- CHRISTIANITY includes God's plan and demonstrated ability and purpose to even RESURRECT our bodies and transform them into similar APPEARING HEAVENLY VERSIONS, BODIES.

I do not believe we will be 100% devoid of will in Heaven. But with His law written on our hearts, our wills WILL BE IN CONFORMITY WITH HIS WILL. Had DADDY WANTED puppets on a string or robots, HE WOULD HAVE MADE SUCH. HE DID NOT, MAKE SUCH, WHEN HE MADE MAN. What is this boot camp for, if not to train us and our awareness in experiential ways what perverse rebellious willfulness results in--DEATH.

Daddy's not about to have another rebellion in Heaven. But evidently about AS important is the wisdom and compassion such will bring to our ruling and reigning with Christ over countless ages and galaxies/universes/dimensions.

I don't think we handle well as mortals eternal constructs and realities. We are too finite. The idea of having a will and that will being in any sense uniquely ours AND AT THE SAME TIME BEING IN HEART CONFORMITY WITH DADDY--just tends to fry our circuits. So, I think the inclination is to obliterate part of that reality in our minds and pretend we have the right reality understood after we've obliterated half of it--for our comfort of our finite understanding.

To me, God says and demonstrates--I WANT YOUR PURIFIED, REDEEMED, GLORIFIED WILLS AT MY LOVE-SLAVE SERVICE. I don't want you as robots or puppets on a string. I want you as friends, children, cherished sons, joint heirs with Jesus working along-side Him, Us in concert, IN SYMPHONY--NOT IN "OOOOOOMMMMMMMMM."

And our finiteness hears that and frizzes out and says--right--we'll be robots for Jesus. NOT!

CERTAINLY, we will be devoid of self-centeredness [and all the other sinful, less than God's best] there.

Even though the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are One - and there are no bright lines to separate them - they each are Persons.

I don't think I know enough from a lofty enough, comprehensive enough perspective to make that statement. I suppose it depends on what's meant by "bright lines." There's plenty of mystery about THE TRINITY.

Nevertheless, imho, there is plenty of evidence to at least SUGGEST that DADDY, SON AND SPIRIT have distinct personalities, identities. They are not (to me) different bumps of the same AMORPHOUS-GOD-AMOEBA. Yet, they are One in ways we have too little info to articulate well, imho.

We were created for FELLOWSHIP. That requires at least some sort of unique FELLOWS to SHIP!

FELLOWSHIP IN ETERNITY WILL BE ENHANCED, NOT LESSENED. All the Scripture and data I can detect and consider convinces me that our VERY PERSONALITIES WILL BE ENHANCED vs diminished in Heaven. Why would DADDY going to such great lengths to create and train, condition our PERSONALITIES then throw all that unique information and training, shaping in the toilet? Makes absolutely no sense to me that He would even remotely consider doing such a thing.

And, interestingly, when folks go to Heaven and report back, they do NOT meet this galactic sized amorphous-JABBA-THE-HUT-mass of a GODBLOB with pokey outy points wearing personality masks of folks they have known.

NO!!!!

INSTEAD, they meet individuals—PERSONALITIES they have known on earth running to greet them. The individuals who greet them, including sometimes Biblical characters are full fledged individuals with individual identities and personalities expressively demonstrating all the Godly personality traits and redeemed personality traits that might have been manifested in microscopic degree on earth.

One of the elder characters in my teen A of G church used to muse about whether when we died, we as we—all the info about us—was entered into God’s computer and that was all the we that was left. I certainly don’t think so. I don’t THINK this is just a big version of THE MATRIX.

God shows an inclination, a PERSONALITY TRAIT, as it were, throughout Scripture of PREFERRING THE REAL THING. I don’t think the pearls at the Heavenly gates will be manufactured in some Star-Trek like REPLICATOR. I believe they will be from huge oysters in some great ocean on some planet in some literal, real galaxy.

REGARDLESS, EVEN IF we were “reduced” to all the information about us in some infinite GOD COMPUTER . . . OUR PERSONALITIES, IDENTITIES, PERSONHOODS would still be preserved as unique constructs. Otherwise, imho, there would be no point. No point to our having ever been created as such for FELLOWSHIP to begin with.

Imho, of course.

[kawaii]

As for Converting Muslims - Vlad Dracul, Ivan the Terrible, Charles Martel and Andrea Doria had the most effective techniques.

If you say so >_>

[Quix]

How many would you have sources to document that to be?

How many would you guess that to be?

I think your statistics are GROSSLY out of date.

[Mr. Lucky]

I think you've conceded my point.

[kosta50]

Frankly I do not respect opinions which contradict either or both Holy Tradition and Holy Scripture especially when it comes to folks who espouse 'scripture alone' yet invent rationales to bypass what scripture demands

Then we must not have respect for ourselves either, for we are also mistaken and sin every day, every minute of our lives.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Salvation is a moment of realization that Christ is real. We have yet to be judged for what we have done with that realization. Salvation has a beginning and an ending. It's a process.

No, salvation is Jesus Christ dying on the cross and rising to heaven.

Salvation was accomplished by the one-time offering of Christ. The sacrifice was made. It is complete. All Christ's flock have been acquitted of their sins.

Knowing this and living this take a lifetime. That is sanctification. By the leading of the Holy Spirit, we become what God intends -- His children who will share eternity with Him.

Earlier you said "we do not have the mind of Christ." I don't know what your Bible says about this, but mine says...

"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ." -- 1 Corinthians 2:12-16

Have you "received the spirit which is of God," Kosta? Does the Holy Spirit teach you? Are you able to "spiritually discern?"

If not, then perhaps that's why you do not believe you have "the mind of Christ."

[kosta50]

Angles IN triangles or outside of triangles?

Talk to me with petty slapstick comedy when you invent spell-checker that makes correction 'in context.'

[Quix]

Here the laughing? They are laughing in Tehran, Damascus, Cairo, Jakarta, Londistan, etc., over Christians arguing over diffrerent interpretations of the same BASIC FACTS.

Grow up!!!

We all face a common enemy - Islam and moral relativism.
= = =

INDEED.

Thanks for your humbling exhortation.

There is, however, possibility of your excellent exhortations being given more often without striving against one another. Takes maybe more prayer, patience and wisdom than I'm often up to . . . but it is possible.

And I'd certainly cherish each line you wrote.

[Quix]

THANKS THANKS.

[Quix]

When we are born again, our personalities become more what God intended them to be from the beginning. We corrupt them as we sin, for sure, and when we're born again, God redeems us from our sin and we begin to change, giving up the alcohol, drugs, smoking, lusting, etc., at least those who are truly repentent and have given themselves over to Christ.


= = =

INDEED.

[kosta50]

All Christ's flock have been acquitted of their sins.

Your Anslem's doctrine of redemption is night-and-fay from the one that the Church taught from the beginning; yours was unknown to the Church for 1100 years.

If not, then perhaps that's why you do not believe you have "the mind of Christ."

No, it's because claiming to know the mind of Christ is presimptous beyond compare.

Again, we don't know what Paul really wrote. We have fragments which are copies.