The Bible is probably the most popular and compelling book of all time with millions of copies sold every year. With its rich history and many versions and translations to choose from, people naturally seek this book for guidance, wisdom and solace. But what most people do not know is that due to the number of books written by various authors during the 1600 years it was created, the Christian Bible has two different versions.
During the inter-testamental period or around 100 A.D, which is the time between the creation of the Old Testament and the New Testament, a group of Jewish rabbis revised the number of books and certain passages contained in the Jewish Scripture. The group of books, otherwise called the Apocrypha, was deemed to be devoid of inspiration. These revisions include the removal of the 1st Maccabees, Baruch, The Wisdom of Solomon, 2nd Maccabees, Tobit, Judith, Sirach or Ecclesiasticus, some passages in Esther, and the stories of Susanna and Bel and the Dragon in the book of Daniel. The Christians however, did not follow this revision and continued to use the old version of the Septuagint with 46 books as the Old Testament.
Around the 1500’s during the Council of Trent, the Roman Catholic Church officially declared the 7 secret books or Deuterocanonical books as part of their Holy Scriptures. Because of this decree, the official Roman Catholic Bible has the original 46 books for the Old Testament. Some Christians however, did not agree with the decision of the Roman Catholic Church and questioned the contents of the book. The Roman Catholic scholar, named Jerome, and the founder of the Lutheran Church, Martin Luther, is some of the prominent figures who disputed the acceptance of the Deuterocanonical books.
The production of the Baptist Bible however still included the Apocrypha but due to the questions regarding its validity and lack of inspiration, the Apocrypha was made separate from the Old Testament. This continued until around the mid 1800’s when the section was considered of less importance and was then completely removed from the publication of the Baptist Bible and most of the Protestant Bibles.
Unlike the Old Testament, the 27 books of the New Testament have been universally accepted by both Catholic and Baptists since the late antiquity. The New Testament include the four books of the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the 10 epistles of the Apostle Paul, three Pastoral Epistles, Hebrews, the seven General Epistles and the Book of Revelation. Although the order of which the books of the New Testament vary for some Christians, the Baptist Bible and the Catholic Bible are the same.
Another important aspect when discussing the difference of the Catholic Bible and Baptist Bible is the texts where they were translated. The Catholic Bible was translated from the Latin Vulgate and Codex Vaticanus while the Baptist Bible is mainly sourced from the Textus Receptus.
With the colorful history and the variations of the Bible, it is indeed one of the most compelling books to read. No wonder people continue to get motivation and wisdom from this age old book with its intriguing creation and inspirational content.