What makes a Bible Catholic?
I knew that Catholics have their own bible, but I never wondered what made a Bible Catholic until I received this assignment. I found my answer through Wikipedia, where else? Aside from differences of translation, the catholic bible differs from our Protestant Bible in that the catholic Old Testament contains seven more books than the Protestant Bible. These additional books are Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, and 1 and 2 Maccabees. These books are what we Protestants refer to as the Apocrypha. Catholics consider these books to be just as inspired as the rest of Scripture. For an in-depth explanation of the catholic reasoning (from a catholic point of view), visit StayCatholic.com. We should be aware of other's beliefs, for it is that knowledge which enables us to have a ready answer when others question us regarding our faith.
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5 comments:
Greetings! Found your post via Google...
Perhaps the better question to have asked is what makes a Bible Protestant, since Protestantism came after the Catholic Church, the Bible, and the canon of scripture.
In truth, there is little difference in Bibles, except that "Catholic" Bibles are translations that have the official approval of the Catholic Church.
The King James Bible, when publsihed in 1611, had the exact same canon as the Vulgate and the Gutenburg Bibles, both approved Catholic translations. My copy of e-Sword shipped with a complete copy of the KJV. Thus, this copy of the KJV would be a Catholic Bible by your definition, but not by the Catholic Church's.
Generally, when asked why my Bible has more books in it, I usually refer folks to the publisher of their Bible. I tell them to "Ask your Bible's publisher why he sold you an incomplete Bible and by what authority were they authorized to omit portions of the Bible."
I don't know the quality of the wikipedia info, but here are some additional King James Bible links of interest:
http://www.cambridge.org/uk/bibles/kjv/camrefap.htm
http://www.catholicapologetics.net/books_still_in.htm
God bless...
- Timothy
Wow! You've been getting a lot of work lately! :)
Hi, Timothy, and welcome to my blog. I'm glad you took the time to leave a comment. Thank you for providing additional information and links. I really appreciate it. Have a great day, and I hope you come by again.
Hey, Karen! Yes, I'm staying busy, which I absolutely wonderful. Now I just hope I can keep things interesting...
There is a reason these books are not found in a Protestant Bible. The books that were included had to meet a certain criteria. Great caution was used to make sure all books in the Bible were authentic and reliable sources.
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