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Protestant Bible

Protestant Bible questions and answers

Find more information on the Protestant Denominations @ The Adherents Religion Website.

Q: Is the Protestant Bible the same as the Catholic Bible?
And is it true that Jehovah's Witnesses re-wrote The Bible they use?

A: Protestants have fully accepted each and every one of the 27 books that the Catholics selected for the New Testament over 1,500 years ago. 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 filled with the Holy Spirit 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 that were removed supported such things as • Prayers for the dead (Tobit 12:12; 2 Maccabees 12:39-45) • Purgatory (Wisdom 3:1-7) • Intercession of saints in heaven (2 Maccabees 15:14) • Intercession of angels (Tobit 12:12-15) The books they dropped are sometimes called the Apocrypha. Here is a Catholic Bible website: http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/bible/ With love in Christ.

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


A: 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.

Q: Can anyone show me evidence of God's mercy in a standard Protestant Bible?
Taking and then giving back doesn't count.

A: John 8:3-11.

Q: What's so different between the Catholic and Protestant Bible?
I have a friends who's Catholic, I'm Protestant, and I looked through their Bible and there's books I've never heard of.

A: There are books you have never heard of because the Protestants remove them! ( Be sure to read Wisdom- wow!) Do you know where the Bible came from? I mean, "who' decided 'which' books would make up the Bible? It was the CATHOLIC CHURCH! In doing so, the early fathers used the scriptures that were commonly used in the time immediatley preceding Christ. You see, after Christ's passion, some of the Jews who had the power removed certain books from scriptural status. Why? Because they were too Christian. For example, in the Books of Maccabees ( one of which contains the story of Hanukkah), we hear of the Maccabees going into battle- I think against the Philistines. After the battle, Judas Maccabee- the leader- took his surviving men to gather the dead. In the process, they discovered the dead men were wearing amulets- lucky charms of other Gods. Judas instructed his men to pray for the souls of the dead, that God might not judge them for having the amulets. So? This clearly shows there is a reason to pray for the dead. Again, SO? SO---if there is only heaven or hell.....if a soul is in Heaven, there is no need for prayer. If it is in Hell, no amount of prayer will do any good.... Then there must be an in between, or it would be a waste of time to pray!. Catholics have dubbed this Purgatory- a place where those who have been faithful, but die with some imperfection on their soul, may be cleansed by the refiners fire.....so they may be perfect and holy and enter heaven. As Catholics, we believe our prayers on behalf of those being purified is a plea in their favor before God. Protestants removed those books from the Bible for the same reason the 1st century Jews did. They support the Catholic teachings too much for their comfort.

Q: What man gave the authorization to take out some books in order to make the Protestant Bible?
I always found it weird that us protestants have a different bible than the Catholics. Why was some of the stories taken out and by whom?

A: 1) Not all Protestants use a bible significantly different from the Roman Catholics. The Anglican Communion, for example, retains the Apocrypha (which includes not only the complete Roman Catholic canon, but two additional books as well). 2) "Authorization" is not really pertinent. According to the HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, the Apocrypha was first omitted from editions of the bible in the late 1590s by the Puritans in England. Since that time, the practice has spread to other sects and other countries. Apparently, Puritan book binders simply bound the bibles without those pages (intentionally). 3) Martin Luther was the first to place the books of the "Apocrypha" into a separate section with that title. He never omitted those books from any edition of his bible, however, nor any of the other books (such as James and Revelation) which he also considered uninspired. http://www.lessonsonline.info/LutherandJames.htm 4) It should be noted that the Jews established their canon much earlier than did the Christians, probably early in the second century C.E., but certainly after the destruction of the temple in 70 C.E. The Jews omitted the scriptures of the Apocrypha. However, they also omitted the entire New Testament. More details http://www.jimpettis.com/bibles/dc.htm Jim

Q: why is it protestant bible is shorter than catholic bible?
why is it protestant bible has 63 or something while catholic bible has i think 73?,,

A: 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 filled with the Holy Spirit 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 that were removed supported such things as • Prayers for the dead (Tobit 12:12; 2 Maccabees 12:39-45) • Purgatory (Wisdom 3:1-7) • Intercession of saints in heaven (2 Maccabees 15:14) • Intercession of angels (Tobit 12:12-15) The books they dropped are sometimes called the Apocrypha. Here is a Catholic Bible website: http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/bible/ With love in Christ.

Q: The Catholic Bible is different from the Protestant Bible?
The Catholic Bible contains 73 books while the Protestant Bible has 66 books. I heard the Orthodox Bible contains 76(78?) books. Why do they have different Bibles even if they worship the same God and share the same belief? And whose Bible is the *truly* authentic? Then how do you explain the Orthodox Bible contains more books than the Catholic Bible?

A: While both sides have answers they firmly believe, I would suggest instead of arguing who is right or wrong, we should be taking the time to just dwell in whatever version of the bible we prefer. God speaks to us when we read his any of his words. I am a cradle Catholic who was trained better in the Baptist church than I was my own faith. However...now that I understand how important reading Gods word is I am finding God is opening my eyes and my heart to the richness and fullness of Catholicism. The battle has been going on all these years. I would prefer to be side by side the my fellow brothers in Christ fighting the war against Satan instead of doing battle over which books are correct. We both have much we can learn from each other if we would only embrace as both loving God and believing that he sent his son to die for our sins. Lets stop being like the Saducees and Pharasiees and arguing over the minute when there are many lost souls that need to know the love and mercy of Jesus Christ.

Q: Is there only one true interpretation of the Protestant Bible? ?
How do you know your interpretation is correct, if so?

A: I think that depends on who you ask the question. Religion is faith based and you cannot apply ordinary rules of logic to most religious questions. Keeping your mind open to all interpretations, I think, in the long run gives you a much better basis for making your own decision.

Q: Should i give my Catholic gf a protestant or catholic bible?
She is catholic, and i've decided to give her a bible that has her name inscribed on it. I plan to write a note in there to personalize it a little more, but my question is: will she care if i get her a protestant bible or should i get her a catholic bible

A: If you respect her and her beliefs then you should give her a Catholic Bible. The following Bible translations are approved by the Catholic Chruch for personal use: + Douai-Rheims http://www.drbo.org/ + Confraternity Edition + Revised Standard Version (RSV) - Catholic Edition + New American Bible (NAB) http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/bible/ + Jerusalem Bible + New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)- Catholic Edition + New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) http://www.catholic.org/bible/ + Today's English Version - Catholic Edition I recommend the New American Bible (NAB) which is the version used during Mass and other liturgies in the U.S. and many other English speaking countries. Here is a NAB website: http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/bible/ http://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/bible_versions.htm With love in Christ.

Q: What is the difference between a Catholic Bible and a Protestant Bible?


A: Catholic Bible has 73 books in all. 46 in the Old and 27 in the new. Protestants, however, have 39 books in the Old Testament, whereas the New is the same. Since most of you are busy playing at apologist instead of answering this question here are the 6 apocryphal ("Hidden")/deuterocanonical (twice approved) books: Judith (story of Judith, a figure like the judges, who slew Holofernes by sneaking into his camp under the pretenses that a good-looking woman would be allowed in a war camp) Tobit (Story of Tobias, kind of like Job. The memorable part of this book is the appearance of the Archangel Raphael, who cures Tobias by rubbing the gall of a fish on his eyes) 1 & 2 Maccabees (Story of the Maccabees, Orthodox Jewish rebels, old man Maccabeus refused to eat unclean meat, even if it only appeared to be unclean meat, for fear of giving scandal. His descendants along with many other Jews take up the fight against the Romans. Judas Maccabeus is the hero of the Books and I believe Maccabeus eans "the Hammer." Luther and many following Protestants disliked this book, because it has a prayer for those slain in battle, giving the indication that the Communion of Saints [i.e. we can pray for the dead] exists.) Sirach (Also called Ecclesiasticus, it is a book that was used by the Early Church as a sort of Catechism, and is still used extensively by the Catholic Church in its liturgy) Wisdom (Kind of like Proverbs) Baruch (A bit like the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah and Lamentations, very short) In addition, Luther wanted to take out some other books including the Gospel of John, the Book of Revelations, the Letter of James, and the Letter of Paul to the Hebrews. The division, in the end, comes from the source. The Catholic Church maintains to this day that the earliest Apostles and Jesus Himself viewed these books as inspired, thus when the Council of Trent, in the 1500's, declared these books to be part of the inspired canon of the Bible, and, believing them to be always inspired (an earlier council around the 300's had declared these books inspired), they called them deuterocanonical (twice approved). Also, St. Jerome, who was charged with the task of translating the Bible into Latin (the Latin Vulgate ["Common Latin"], which was completed around 400 AD), included all of the 46 books as Catholics know them today. Luther, however, felt that some of these texts did not fit in with his view of Christianity, so he turned to the JEWISH Council of Jamnia (90 AD) in which the Jewish Elders met and declared a set of 39 books (excluding the Deuterocanonical books) as inspired, which is how the Protestant OT came to be. Notice, though, that the Jews did not "close" their canon, so to speak, until Christ is believed to have died. Therefore, it is quite reasonable to believe that Jesus, his disciples, and many other upright Jews of the time read and studied these texts. The reason the Jews did not want to accept these books as valid is the fact that these books were thought, at the time, to be written by Jewish scholars in the Greek language at Alexandria, Egypt. Jewish scholars in Egypt were given the task of translating the Hebrew Scripture into Greek, for its wider dissemination, and for its preservation in the Great Library at Alexandria around the year 250 BC. This edition of the Old Testament is referred to today as the Greek Septuagint (for it is reputed to have been translated in 70 days by 72 Hebrew Scholars [septem in Latin is seven]), and it is more than highly probable the the earliest apostles made use of this wonderful evangelization tool in preaching to other parts of the world, since, even in Rome, Greek was widely known and used. Sirach did exist in an earlier Hebrew text (most of it has been found, discoveries began in the late 1800's), but most of the other books were written (at least apparently), by Jewish scholars in Greek at Alexandria, charged with the task of translating the Hebrew Bible. These books being written in Greek, the language of the Eastern Roman Empire (and therefore the language of the oppressor) , did not sit to well with the Jews, especially with the fact of being a conquered nation. Also, the literary styles (at least of the book of Wisdom) seem closer to Greek literature than traditional Hebrew forms, but these books never deviate from preceding or following forms of public revelation). Therefore, they excluded these books as uninspired. However, it must be remembered that Ezekiel and Daniel both received the Call of God outside of Israel and, therefore, the inspiration by God of Jews living outside of the terretorial bounds of Israel was no new thing.

Q: What is the difference between a catholic bible and a protestant one?


A: Martin Luther removed the 7 books of the deutero-canon from the bible during the Reformation. Catholic bibles contain all the Old Testament books from the Alexandrian canon of Jewish scripture that Christ was raised on and quoted throughout the New Testament.

Q: On what grounds did the Protestant reformers remove certain books from the Bible?
The removed books are sometimes referred to as the "Apocrypha." They appear in Catholic Bibles, but not Protestant Bibles.

A: There have been various councils down through history that decided on which books were canonical and which were not. I think the "Jewish" cannon [what Christians refer to as the Old Testament] was decided about 300-400 BCE I believe that the Council that formed what we might call the "Catholic Bible" was formed about 300 CE. And the Protestant versions begin appearing during the Reformation period.... My understanding is that some Catholic scholars question some of these books as well... I believe a lot of the questions have to do with the language that the original texts were written in.. Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible http://www.drbo.org/ * The 7 Deutero-Canonical books, erroneously called "The Apocrypha", can only be found in Catholic Bibles. The Apocrypha there are quite a number of Books that fall under this category and many of them were never part of any Cannon, Catholic or Protestant.. http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/apo/index.htm Why the Apocrypha Isn't in the Bible. http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/apocryph.htm and there is also something called the Psuedopigrapha

Q: Is it true that Martin Luther opposed including the Book of Revelations in the Protestant bible version?


A: Yes I do believe so. He also had trouble with the book of James. Visit my blog at http://www.christianity20.com for articles about Christianity, Jesus, Atheism, Evolution, the Bible, and more.

Q: Why does the Catholic Bible contain 73 books while the Protestant Bible....?
has only 66? With both claiming to have the complete Word of God, which one should be believed and why?

A: well this is a living proof that Bible is not the word of God........ CONTRADICTIONS --------------------- [Math. 1:16] Joseph the carpenter is the son of Jacob. [Luke 3:23] Joseph the carpenter is the son of He'-li. ***************** [1 Corin. 15:5] Jesus appeared to the twelve after he rose again. [Math. 28:16] Jesus appeared to the eleven after he rose again. ****************** [Math. 19:28] You which followed me in the regeneration, when the son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, you shall also sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. [John 6:70] Have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a DEVIL ?!!! ******************* [John 8:14] If I bear record of myself, yet my record is true. [John 5:31] If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. ******************* [John 9:29] God is with me: The father has not left me alone. [Math 27:46] My God, my God, why have you forsaken me. ******************* [Luke 5:1] The story of the fishermen happened at the beginning of Jesus's mission. (see also Mathew 4:18) [John 21:1] The story of the fishermen happened after Jesus was resurrected from the dead. ******************** [Math. 21:18] Jesus purified the temple from the sellers before he passed by the fig tree which he cursed. [Mark 11:12] Jesus purified the temple from the sellers after he passed by the fig tree which he cursed. *********************

Q: Why does the Catholic Bible contain 73 books while the Protestant Bible has only 66?
Why does the Catholic Bible contain 73 books while the Protestant Bible has only 66? With both claiming to have the complete Word of God, which one should be believed and why?

A: because the bible is mythical nonsense. you can add and subtract from it at will. it's silly nonsense. get over it already!