Not In Your Bible? Catholic and Protestant Canons Of Scripture

Loose Canon

Our Protestant brothers and sisters—Evangelical, Pentecostal, Baptist, Methodist, etc.—follow the shorter Old Testament, so they have a 66-book Bible.

Because Martin Luther disagreed with certain accepted apostolic teachings found in specific writings, he placed four New Testament books in an appendix, denying that they were divinely inspired: the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Epistle of James  (which Luther referred to as "an epistle of straw", the Epistle of Jude, and the Revelation of John. Even though Luther tried to remove said books from the canon, both Catholics and modern Protestants share the same collection of New Testament books.

There are Protestant writers who insist the early Church relied solely on Saint Jerome's list of canonical books and attributed to him the principle that only books written in Hebrew were to be admitted into the official Canon of Holy Scripture. That is a half-truth. Saint Jerome initially had doubts about the deuterocanonicals, the Greek portions of the Old Testament, but by A.D. 402-404 he followed the Council of Rome and Pope Damasus and supported the inclusion of said books.

"What sin have I committed if I followed the judgment of the churches? But he who brings charges against me for relating the objections that the Hebrews are wont to raise against the Story of Susanna, the Song of the Three Children, and the story of Bel and the Dragon, which are not found in the Hebrew volume, proves that he is just a foolish sycophant. For I was not relating my own personal views, but rather the remarks that they [the Jews] are wont to make against us." (Against Rufinus, 11:33 [AD 402]).

Saint Jerome, born Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus around 347 AD, in Stridon, a town in Dalmatia (modern-day Croatia or Slovenia), was a skilled translator who had access to many documents that are no longer available to us today. The Latin Vulgate he compiled, containing all 73 books, has long been the official Latin translation of the Bible for the Catholic Church. However, Jerome wasn’t the final authority on the Canon. His respect for the Council of Rome and the authority of Pope Damasus underscores the importance for Christians to recognize and accept Rome’s authority.

Abandon the Mass and you abandon Scripture and the Church and Christ.

The Catholic Church compiled the books of the Bible, the Canon of Holy Scripture, based upon those writings referenced by Jesus and the Apostles, the writings of the Apostles including Saint Paul, and the Evangelists who captured the teachings and actions of Jesus, and faithfully handed on and heard in the Sacred Liturgy, the Mass. The Mass, which existed before the New Testament canon was complete, was the forum for celebrating and preserving Sacred Tradition, the Church's oral and written teaching.

The process culminated in 382 as the Council of Rome, which was convened under the leadership of Pope Damasus, promulgated the 73-book scriptural canon. The biblical canon was reaffirmed by the regional councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397), and then definitively reaffirmed by the ecumenical Council of Florence in 1442. | Catholic Answers

Sadly, Luther and other Protestant leaders decided to reject the Old Testament received by the Church and used the version of the Old Testament culled by the Jewish Masoretic leaders centuries after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. That version of the Old Testament, produced between the 7th to 10th centuries, the oldest extant copy being from AD 1009, omitted books in Greek which were referenced by Jesus and the Apostles. Prominent Church Fathers and authoritative works referenced the Deuterocanonical books, among them:

1. Clement of Rome (1st century)
2. Polycarp of Smyrna (2nd century)
3. the Didache (2nd century), an early Christian manual outlining ethics, rituals, and Church organization, dating from the first or early second century.
4. Athanasius of Alexandria (373)
5. Basil of Caesarea (379)
6. Gregory Nazianzus (390)
7. John Chrysostom (407)
8. Cyril of Alexandria (444)

The works excluded from Protestant Bibles include Tobit, Judith, Baruch with the Letter of Jeremiah, Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus), Wisdom, First and Second Maccabees, as well as parts of the Greek additions to Esther and Daniel. The presence of the books in the earliest canons reflects their importance in shaping Christian beliefs and practices. To ignore books in the OT referred to by Jesus and the Apostles is to ignore divine revelation.

apocryphus (secret, or non-canonical) from the Greek adjective ἀπόκρυφος, apokryphos, (private) from the verb ἀποκρύπτειν, apokryptein (to hide away); the combination of apo (away) and kryptein (hide or conceal)

In the first century, the Christian Bible was essentially the Old Testament in the Septuagint version. Its authority lay in this scripture and in the words of the Lord, which were passed down through oral tradition, as seen in Clement’s letter to the Corinthians. See The Early Church, Henry Chadwick, p.42.

The Deuterocanonical books, sometimes called the Apocrypha—though that term is misleading since there’s nothing secret or hidden about them—are parts of scripture excluded by Protestants but accepted as canonical by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox.

Decree of the Council of Rome (AD 382) on the Biblical Canon

H/T Dr. Taylor Marshall

“Likewise it has been said: Now indeed we must treat of the divine Scriptures, what the universal Catholic Church accepts and what she ought to shun. The order of the Old Testament begins here: Genesis one book, Exodus one book, Leviticus one book, Numbers one book, Deuteronomy one book, Josue Nave one book, Judges one book, Ruth one book, Kings four books, Paralipomenon [i.e. Chronicles] two books, Psalms one book, Solomon three books, Proverbs one book, Ecclesiastes one book, Canticle of Canticles one book, likewise Wisdom one book, Ecclesiasticus [i.e. Sirach] one book.

Likewise the order of the Prophets. Isaias one book, Jeremias one book, with Ginoth, that is, with his Lamentations, Ezechiel one book, Daniel one book, Osee one book, Micheas one book, Joel one book, Abdias one book, Jonas one book, Nahum one book, Habacuc one book, Sophonias one book, Aggeus one book, Zacharias one book, Malachias one book. Likewise the order of the histories. Job one book, Tobias one book, Esdras two books [i.e. Ezra & Nehemiah], Esther one book, Judith one book, Machabees two books.

Likewise the order of the writings of the New and Eternal Testament, which only the holy and Catholic Church supports. Of the Gospels, according to Matthew one book, according to Mark one book, according to Luke one book, according to John one book.

The Epistles of Paul the Apostle in number fourteen. To the Romans one, to the Corinthians two, to the Ephesians one, to the Thessalonians two, to the Galatians one, to the Philippians one, to the Colossians one, to Timothy two, to Titus one, to Philemon one, to the Hebrews one.

Likewise the Apocalypse of John, one book. And the Acts of the Apostles one book. Likewise the canonical epistles in number seven. Of Peter the Apostle two epistles, of James the Apostle one epistle, of John the Apostle one epistle, of another John, the presbyter, two epistles, of Jude the Zealut, the Apostle one epistle.”

Pope Damasus I (AD 366-384)

Catholics can be grateful that Holy Mother Church, safeguarded by the Lord Jesus Christ, has kept the full Canon of Holy Scripture intact for our growth and the salvation of souls.