How is the Protestant Bible different from the Catholic Bible and how many versions are there ?

Answer 1

The canon of the Old Testament that Catholics use is based on the text used by Alexandrian Jews, a version known as the "Septuagint" and which came into being around 280 B.C. as a translation of then existing texts from Hebrew into Greek by 72 Jewish scribes (the Torah was translated first, around 300 B.C., and the rest of Tanach was translated afterward).

The Septuagint is the Old Testament referred to in the Didache or "Doctrine of the Apostles" (first century Christian writings) and by Origen, Irenaeus of Lyons, Hippolytus, Tertullian, Cyprian of Carthage, Justin Martyr, St. Augustine and the vast majority of early Christians who referenced Scripture in their writings. The Epistle of Pope Clement, written in the first century, refers to the Books Ecclesiasticus and Wisdom, analyzed the book of Judith, and quotes sections of the book of Esther that were removed from Protestant Bibles.


In the 16th c., Luther, reacting to serious abuses and clerical corruption in the Latin Church, to his own heretical theological vision (see articles on sola scriptura and sola fide), and, frankly, to his own inner demons, removed those books from the canon that lent support to orthodox doctrine, relegating them to an appendix. Removed in this way were books that supported such things as prayers for the dead (Tobit 12:12; 2 Maccabees 12:39-45), Purgatory (Wisdom 3:1-7), intercession of dead saints (2 Maccabees 15:14), and intercession of angels as intermediaries (Tobit 12:12-15). Ultimately, the "Reformers" decided to ignore the canon determined by the Christian Councils of Hippo and Carthage.

The Latin Church in no way ignored the post-Temple rabbincal texts. Some Old Testament translations of the canon used by the Latin Church were also based in part on rabbinical translations, for example St. Jerome's 5th c. Latin translation of the Bible called the Vulgate.

The "Masoretic texts" refers to translations of the Old Testament made by rabbis between the 6th and 10th centuries; the phrase doesn't refer to ancient texts in the Hebrew language. Some people think that the Masoretic texts are the "original texts" and that, simply because they are in Hebrew, they are superior.

Some Protestants claim that the "Apocrypha" are not quoted in the New Testament so, therefore, they are not canonical.
Going by that standard of proof, we'd have to throw out Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Lamentations, Obadiah, Nahum, and Zephaniah because none of these Old Testament Books are quoted in the New Testament.


But there is a bigger lesson in all this confusion over not only the canon but proper translation of the canon , especially considering that even within the Catholic Church there have been differing opinions by individual theologians about the proper place of the deuterocanonicals (not that an individual theologian's opinions count for Magisterial teaching!).
The lesson, though, is this: relying on the "Bible alone" is a bad idea; we are not to rely solely on Sacred Scripture to understand Christ's message. While Scripture is "given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16-17), it is not sufficient for reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness.
It is the Church that is the "pillar and ground of Truth" (1 Timothy 3:15)!
Jesus did not come to write a book; He came to redeem us, and He founded a Sacramental Church through His apostles to show us the way.
It is to them, to the Church Fathers, to the Sacred Deposit of Faith, to the living Church that is guided by the Holy Spirit, and to Scripture that we must prayerfully look.

Answer 2

The New Testament canon of the Catholic Bible and the Protestant Bible are the same with 27 Books.

The difference in the Old Testaments actually goes back to the time before and during Christ’s life. At this time, there was no official Jewish canon of scripture.

The Jews in Egypt translated their choices of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek in the second century before Christ. This translation of 46 books, called the Septuagint, had wide use in the Roman world because most Jews lived far from Palestine in Greek cities. Many of these Jews spoke only Greek.

The early Christian Church was born into this world. The Church, with its bilingual Jews and more and more Greek-speaking Gentiles, used the books of the Septuagint as its Bible. Remember the early Christians were just writing the documents what would become the New Testament.

After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, with increasing persecution from the Romans and competition from the fledgling Christian Church, the Jewish leaders came together and declared its official canon of Scripture, eliminating seven books from the Septuagint.

The books removed were Tobit, Judith, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Wisdom (of Solomon), Sirach, and Baruch. Parts of existing books were also removed including Psalm 151 (from Psalms), parts of the Book of Esther, Susanna (from Daniel as chapter 13), and Bel and the Dragon (from Daniel as chapter 14).

The Christian Church did not follow suit but kept all the books in the Septuagint. 46 + 27 = 73 Books total.

1500 years later, Protestants decided to keep the Catholic New Testament but change its Old Testament from the Catholic canon to the Jewish canon. The books they dropped are sometimes called the Apocrypha.

Here is a Catholic Bible website: http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/bible/

+ Translations +

A few of the reasons that there are so many translations (not versions) of the Bible are:
+ The English language is very complicated. It changes all the time. English is different in different countries. English can be different in different neighborhoods.
+ Biblical scholarship improves every day.
+ Archeology learns more and more about biblical times every year.
+ Distrust. Protestants cannot trust a Catholic translation and Catholics cannot trust a Protestant one. One Protestant denomination cannot trust a translation from a different denomination.

The original language documents have not really changed. The Dead Sea Scrolls helped prove this. The scrolls are important because they testify to the accuracy of the people who copied and recopied the Scriptures over the centuries. Despite minor errors, they show us that the Old Testament has not changed since it was compiled.

+ With love in Christ.

Answer 3

Pastor Billy says: A Protestant bible differs from a Catholic bible in several ways,

1. it relies upon a pharasitical OT canon that was established some 70 to 80years after Christianity had separated itself from Judaism. because of this the Protestant bible lacks some 7 OT books which the Jewish council decided should not be part of the established canon as they supported Christian doctrine and belief through their interpretation.

2. Protestant bibles have been written at different times and place in a translation and with commentary (bible notes) so as to support a given doctrine which did not exist or wasn't expressed as belief from the time of Jesus and the apostles an example is the Protestant Scofield bible and rapture theology. This translation (through the biblical notes) leads readers of the text to believe rapture theology was practiced and professed by early Christians which is a total falsehood.

Both the Protestant and Catholic bible versions have a Roman Catholic NT canon although many Protestants are not knowledgable of this or like to admit to it. For some 1600 years the Roman Catholic Church protected, perserved and copied the Christian bible infact the first book reprinted on the printing press was a Catholic bible not a Protestant one, so much for the old myth of preventing the people use of it.

The Catholic bible replies upon a version of the OT called Septuagint LXX written some 300 years before the coming of Christ by Jewish scribes in Alexandria it was used most readily by the Jews in Disporia and was most often quoted from by Jesus and the apostles some 350 times hence the inclusion of what is called the 7 detero-canonal books there is no apocrypha in a Catholic bible as another person has implied.

An interesting examination of history will reveal the Catholic version of the Christian bible is supported by antiquity as there are no Protestant version prior to the 16th century.

In the oldest know original text that can be found (the Dead Sea scrolls) what do we find? we find fragments of Maccabees II a detero-canonal book found in Roman Catholic versions of the bible ;) food for thought

addendum: the original King James Protestant bible contained the same canon as Catholic bibles today, why have future revisions been changed???

Also not all Judaic canon match perfectly a Protestant OT canon, Jews in disporia in Africa, Ethophian Jews still to this day imbrace a canon which more closely resemble the Catholic version.

Answer 4

The Catholic Cannon still have some apocryphal books in it. They clearly contradict other scripture in the Old & New Testaments.

Like an apocryphal writes that women who go to heaven, Jesus changes them into men. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that doesn't go with the rest of the bible. Or that women are evil.

There are many different versions of both the Catholic & King James. But they basically still have the same message. If you read the Catholic Cannon, you need the Holy Spirit to help you discern the error in the apocryphal books in them. They are the books between the Old & New Testaments of the Catholic Cannon. Or you could get a King James & purchase a book of the Apocraphal books. I did that, but the Lord had me toss the Apocraphal into the garbage, because it was too unsettling for me.

Answer 5

The Protestants REMOVED 7 books ( or parts of them ) from the Old Testament.

The Catholic Church decided on the canon of scripture under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

There are many different translations.

Answer 6

Protestant Fundamentalists choose to cite Rev 22:18 to denounce the Catholic Bible by way of fact Catholics "further" the Deuterocanonical books. in fact, it become Luther who bumped off them interior the Reformation and violated Rev 22:19. hence, all Protestant Bibles are heretical and incomplete. you are able to undergo in techniques that the Bible become a modern-day of the early Catholics. the only, holy, apostolic Church actually pre-dates the Bible. Paul become the main important single contributor to the NT and the Church pre-dates his conversion. See Acts a million:5, Acts 2:38-40-one, Acts 4:4 and Acts 5:11 for the only Church that Jesus created in action in the previous Paul (Saul) become a member and wrote on the topic of the Church. Jesus observed 1 Church, no longer 30,000 diverse church homes. Protestants choose to create a "diverse" church daily to met the incorrect philosophies of even if the community "minister" believes in. maximum sects lack theology education and individuals that have bigger non secular education could gloss over the clean contraindications that factors out their blunders. undergo in techniques, there is no longer something interior the Bible it fairly is in blunders with Catholic doctrine. The Catholic Bible is thoroughly real.

Answer 7

Pastor Billy explains it well. In addition, some of the 7 books excluded by Protestant reformers were originally written in Greek. The superficial reasoning by the reformers was since those books were not written in Hebrew, as the other OT books were, then they cannot be divinely inspired. However, at the time and region where those supposed apocryphal books were written, the Jews spoke Greek, as Greek was the dominant language of the world.

Answer 8

100+ versions
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