do catholics have a different Bible than the rest of us?

Question

the reason i ask this is b/c, a few years ago, a catholic friend of mine said that there was a story in the bible that said "there were soilders looking for all the baby boys unedr 2 years old, when mary encountered a soilder, he asked her what she was carrying in her arms. knowing that she has her son, Jesus in her arms, Mary was afraid...as she lifted the blanket, all that was there was a bundle of roses"

now i have studied the Bible all my life, and NEVER have heard this story!

also i na question posted in this forum earlier, someone asked "why do catholics pray to Mary?" a catholic repsonded:
"check these out if you have a bible:

apocalypse 12, 1

judith 15, 10-11

both of those talk about her coronation when she reached heaven"


again, i have read and studied the Bible all my life and have never heard the books of the Bible called "Judith" and "apocalypse"

i found this for those of you that mentioned the "apocrypha"
http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/apocryph.htm

Answer 1

Somebody ad-libbed. That story is not in any Bible, Catholic or Protestant.

The fact that Herod sent to kill all male children under 2 is true (Matthew 2:16). But the rest is fantasy.

As for the other question:
Apocalypse is what the Catholics call the book of Revelation (or at least they used to). The words 'apocalypse' and 'revelation' mean the same thing.

Judith is one of the books included in the Catholic Bible but not in the Hebrew canon or the "Protestant" Bible. These extra books are called the "Apocrypha." There are other differences in the Catholic Bible also. So, yes, the Catholic Bible is different.

As for Mary worship:
Revelation (or Apoc) 12:1 is not a picture of Mary. It is a symbol of the Church of God. Just read a little further to find that the woman in Rev 12:1 had other children. The Catholics insist that Jesus was Mary's only child.

Rev 12:17 -- And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with THE REST OF HER OFFSPRING, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

And Judith 15:10-11 is written of Judith, not Mary.

Mary is dead. There is no support in the Bible for what Catholics teach about her.

The Bible does, however, reveal that she was a follower of Christ toward the end of her life. And therefore, she will rise from the dead with the rest of the saints upon Christ's return.

Jesus taught his disciples to pray to GOD!, not anyone else.

Answer 2

The story of Mary and the roses never happened.
The Bible was originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. When you buy a Bible, you buy a translation and not all translations are the same.
When the Books of the Old Testament were gathered together the Protestants followed the Jewish or Hebrew Old Testament in recognizing which texts should be included.
The Catholics decided upon 7 more books to be included into the Old Testament: Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom,
Sirach and Baruch. The Apocalypse is another name for the Book of Revelation.

Answer 3

There are many different Bibles. The smallest, I believe, is the Samaritan Bible, which contains only the first five books. Then there is the Jewish Bible, which contains only the Old Testament. The first Christian Bible was what the Catholics have, and later, the protestants chose to remove a number of books from this Bible, and thus they have a slightly different Bible than do the Catholics. The largest, so I've heard, is the Egyptian Orthodox Bible.

In any event, the Catholics didn't start with the Protestant Bible and add things; rather, the opposite seems to have occurred. Each church though had their own criterion as to which books were to be included. Orthodoxy, provenance, etc.

Answer 4

Yes they do. It is called the Douey version and it contains several books that are not considered by most bible scholors to be inspired but only for stories and such. those you mentioned are some of them. Apocalypse is really the book of Revelation, just under a different name but some of the things in it are even more than in the normally accepted bible. I would chalenge anyone to show even one passage that says Mary is in Heaven now or ever went there from the normal King James or New King James bible or even the NIV. You will not find it, nor will you find that anyone but just a few that were a chosen lot were ever taken to Heaven or are there now. Otherwise, what would be the point of Jesus coming back to get His people as He promised in John 14:1-3?

Answer 5

The catholic Bible contains the Apocrypha. which is a set of books that they believe to belong in the Bible. I do not believe this belongs in it because Jesus references to the stories or prophecies of all the old testament books except for those that are in the Apocrypha. That is how the Bible was written and no the Catholic Bible is not the original. The Books of the Apocrypha are Christian books and I don't believe them to condemn Catholics but also don't believe they should dictate the doctrine they teach.

Answer 6

That's not in the Catholic Bible. The Catholic Bible contains 7 books found in the Septuagint or the Greek translation of the Scriptures that were in use at the time of Jesus. The Protestants thought they could do better without these books

Answer 7

The Catholics use the same Bible (Old Testament) that both Christians and Jews used for hundreds of years. It wasn't until the Jews felt they needed to distinguish themselves from the Christians that they decided to authorize which books of the Bible they'd accept. They removed 7 books from the Old Testament, because they found them to be "helpful to Christians."

Christians continued to use the Old Testament and New Testament with the additional 7 books in the old.

When Martin Luther brought about the Reformation, he decided on his own to remove the same 7 books from the old testament claiming that the Jewish council was his authority to do so.

So, if you pick up the so-called "Catholic Bible" you'll find the origianl 7 books that were there for centuries and considered inspired and sacred scripture.

Answer 8

None of those books are in the Catholic Bible. It is the same Bible as the Protestant Bible, the books are just in a different order. There is no "Judith" and no "Apocalypse" book in the Bible, Catholic or otherwise. I think your friend was confused.

Answer 9

Yes, they have 12 books that are in between the Old & New Testements. They were added after the Nicean Creed. Well after the original books were gathered and ordained as The Bible as we know it today. The praying to mary is just plain idolotry. The Bible clearly states that we pray in the name of Jesus only!! I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Mary is dead. Jesus has Risen and resides in His children. You can become one also (St. John 3:5) and by following what is written in Acts 2:38 and by speaking in an unknown language. This is the earnest of our inheritance. Experience Him today, He's waiting.

Answer 10

The guy who said "Apocalypse is another name for Revelation" is correct. Revelation 12:1 says, "And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars" (RSV).

As for the bundle of roses story, that is not in the Bible. I've never heard it before, but I suspect your friend heard it as a child and just assumed it was from the Bible.