Dear Catholic Exchange:
It's been a long time since I've actually picked up a Bible, but I did go to private Catholic schools in my country.
I've been trying to remember what the difference between the Catholic Bible and the normal Christian Bible is. We did study this in high school, but that was 11 years ago. I was wondering if you can help me with this one.
Thank you very much for your time
Mirela
Hi Mirela:
There is no difference between the Catholic Bible and the normal Christian Bible because the Catholic Bible is the normal Christian Bible and has been since the 4th century. However, about 400 years ago a minority of Christians decided to subtract several books from the normal Christian Bible. Initially, the books which were pulled out by figures in the Protestant Reformation were the Old Testament books of Sirach, Tobit, Wisdom, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and Baruch, as well as longer versions of Daniel and Esther. In addition, many Protestants yanked Hebrews, James, 2 Peter and Revelation from the New Testament, too. However, the edits on the New Testament were not as well received and so the books were restored.
The original King James Version included the Old Testament books mentioned above (you can see them here), but the Puritant-dominated Long Parliament removed them in the 17th century.
For more information on the problems with the removal of the Old Testament deuterocanonical books see my article Five Myths About Seven Books.
Regards,
Mark Shea
Senior Content Editor
Catholic Exchange
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