2007-12-05 14:16:31 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
What books were 'removed'? From my study, there were books not added because they were not deemed legitimate, but this is not the same as books being removed.
2007-12-05 14:22:11 · answer #1 · answered by Antioch 5 · 2⤊ 4⤋
It is really embarrassing to see that there are Protestants that do not have a clue about the history of the Bible. I was a Protestant for almost 50 years, 25 as a minister, and got advanced degrees from two top Protestant seminaries before becoming a Catholic priest. The original Old Testament Canon used by Jesus, the apostles and all Christians was the Septuagint which contained the deuterocanonicals. We know this because it was the Bible quoted by Jesus, the apostles and the ante-Nicene fathers.
Protestants adopted the Pharisaical Canon produced 90 years after the fall of the Temple to slow the converts to Christianity because the deuterocanonical books supported the prophecy of the Savior. The Protestants also tried to remove som of the New Testament books from the Christian Canon.
In Christ
Fr. Joseph
2007-12-05 22:31:03 · answer #2 · answered by cristoiglesia 7 · 5⤊ 1⤋
"Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ." - St. Jerome (4th century A.D.)
Which books of the Old Testament did the Apostles accept as Scripture? Did they accept the 46 books as in the Catholic Douay-Rheims Bible or the 39 books as in the King James version? The Septuagint was accepted among the Hellenistic sect of Judaism (of which St. Paul was a member) and this canon did indeed include the same books as the present-day Catholic Bible. In addition, the entire New Testament was written in Greek (Hellenist) with the exception of the Gospel of St. Matthew, which was written in Aramaic (the language spoken by Christ). Over 85% of the quotes from the Old Testament that are used in the New Testament are from the Septuagint. The Palestinian Old Testament canon was not compiled until between 70-90 A.D. and then, it was done so by the non-Christian Jews in violent reaction to early Judeo-Christianity. The Palestinian canon was the one chosen by Martin Luther based on the acceptance of it by the 16th century German Jewish community of Luther's time. This canon excludes the seven books that were accepted by the Apostles as Scripture. Why was the canon of the Protestant Old Testament decided by Jews and not Christians? In addition, why did Luther attempt to eliminate the Book of St. James and the Book of Revelation? Is it because they contradicted his dogma of "faith alone?"
2007-12-06 03:28:19 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
Fr. Joseph is right. The Deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament were removed by protestants to reduce some of the incongruity of protestant dogma with actual Christianity. Maccabees, for example, teaches the importance of praying for the dead, which implies purgatory is real.
The big question is why protestants adopted books written by Catholics, adopted by the the Catholic Church, and read almost exclusively by Catholics for the first 1500 years of Christianity.
If they were going to trash some of the books, why not get rid of James ("Faith without works is dead") and John ("I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day").
Those are the books that directly refute the protestant heresies.
Note that Jesus read and quoted the Deuterocanonical books. Wouldn't that be a sign that they really are part of sacred scripture?
Cheers,
Bruce
2007-12-05 23:15:21 · answer #4 · answered by Bruce 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋
I love it when a bunch of people get on here and act like they know everything because of a couple books they read
2007-12-06 17:33:40 · answer #5 · answered by tatereatinmic 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
There were no books removed from the original canon of Scripture. The Apocrypha was added to the Catholic Bible many years after the canon was established.
2007-12-05 22:21:32 · answer #6 · answered by BrotherMichael 6 · 1⤊ 6⤋
its kinda like police work if you take reports from say 50 witnesses 45 of those witnesses agree on the events that happened and 5 disagree then you can get rid of the five because they are either lying or misunderstood what they saw.
2007-12-05 22:32:32 · answer #7 · answered by 777 6 · 1⤊ 4⤋
To hide the "Truth", and control the masses!
2007-12-05 22:24:55 · answer #8 · answered by WillRogerswannabe 7 · 2⤊ 5⤋
Because they couldn't be verified as authentic.
2007-12-05 22:19:35 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 4⤋