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Bible Study • Scripture and Canon
Pick up a Catholic Bible and a Protestant Bible and you will find a difference: the Catholic version contains seven additional books that Protestants do not include. Where did those books come from? Why does one tradition include them and the other reject them? And more importantly, what does Scripture itself reveal about which books belong in God's Word?
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NKJVThe Canon
Both traditions share the same 27 New Testament books and the same 39 foundational Old Testament books. The difference lies entirely in the Old Testament.
Matches the Hebrew canon accepted by first-century Jewish scholars and never quoted as Scripture by Jesus or the apostles.
Includes seven additional books drawn from the Greek Septuagint translation and formally declared canonical at the Council of Trent in AD 1546.
The Deuterocanonical Books
Catholics call them "Deuterocanonical" (second canon). Protestants call them the "Apocrypha" (hidden writings). These are the seven books present in the Catholic Old Testament but absent from the Protestant Bible.
Also called Tobias
A story set during the Assyrian exile about a devout Jewish man named Tobit, his son Tobias, and the archangel Raphael. Notable for teaching that almsgiving "saves from death and purges away every sin" (Tobit 12:9) -- a claim that contradicts Ephesians 2:8-9.
A story about a Jewish widow who saves Israel by beheading the Assyrian general Holofernes. Contains a significant historical error: Judith 1:1 names Nebuchadnezzar as "king of the Assyrians who reigned in Nineveh." Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon; Nineveh had been destroyed before his reign.
A wisdom text written in Greek, likely composed in Alexandria, Egypt around 100-50 BC. Though attributed to Solomon, it was written centuries after his death and introduces Greek philosophical concepts about the immortality of the soul not found in the Hebrew Scriptures.
Also called Ecclesiasticus or Ben Sira
A lengthy collection of wisdom sayings written around 180 BC by Jesus ben Sira, a Jewish scribe. His grandson later translated it into Greek. The book itself openly identifies its human author in its prologue, unlike the prophetic books of the Hebrew canon.
Attributed to Baruch, Jeremiah's secretary, but widely recognized as written much later, after the events it describes. Chapter 6 contains the "Letter of Jeremiah," which is included separately in some traditions. The book lacks the prophetic formula "Thus says the LORD" used throughout the Hebrew prophets.
A detailed historical account of the Maccabean revolt (167-134 BC) against the Seleucid king Antiochus Epiphanes. Historically valuable. The book itself acknowledges there was no prophet in Israel during this era: "there was great distress in Israel, such as had not been since the time that prophets ceased to appear among them" (1 Maccabees 9:27).
A theological retelling of part of the same Maccabean period. This is the book most significant doctrinally because 2 Maccabees 12:41-46 describes making atonement for soldiers who died in sin. The Catholic Church uses this passage as the primary biblical basis for the doctrine of purgatory and prayers for the dead.
The Catholic Old Testament also includes additions to existing books: extra chapters added to Daniel (the Prayer of Azariah, the Song of the Three Young Men, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon) and several Greek additions to Esther that expand the original Hebrew text.
The History
The story spans almost 1,800 years, from a Greek translation made in Egypt to a Catholic council responding to the Protestant Reformation.
Jewish scholars in Alexandria, Egypt begin translating the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek for the large Jewish community there. This translation, called the Septuagint (abbreviated LXX), eventually included seven books that were not part of the Hebrew canon used in Israel. These books circulated in the Greek-speaking Jewish world.
After the destruction of Jerusalem (AD 70), Jewish teachers associated with Jamnia (Yavneh) are traditionally said to have discussed the limits of the Hebrew Scripture canon, the same 39 books (modern scholars debate how decisive this gathering was; the Hebrew canon was in practice already settled). The Apocryphal books are not included. The Jewish historian Josephus, writing around AD 93-94 in "Against Apion," lists exactly 22 sacred books (equivalent to the 39 OT books counted differently) and states: "We have not tens of thousands of books, discordant and conflicting with one another, but only twenty-two books... rightly accredited."
The scribes and chief priests -- the very people who kept the Scriptures -- never accepted these books as part of the Hebrew canon.
Jerome, commissioned by Pope Damasus I to translate the Bible into Latin (the Vulgate), works directly from the Hebrew text. He specifically distinguishes the Apocryphal books from the Hebrew canon, writing that the church may read them "for instruction in manners" but that they should not be used "for establishing any doctrine." He calls the Hebrew canon the standard and the Apocryphal books secondary. Church pressure eventually leads to their inclusion in the Vulgate despite his reservations.
The Council of Hippo (AD 393) and two Councils of Carthage (AD 397 and AD 419) list the Apocryphal books as part of the Old Testament canon. These were regional North African councils, not universal church councils. Augustine, who attended these councils, accepted the books; Jerome, who knew the Hebrew text best, had not.
Martin Luther translates the Bible into German and places the Apocryphal books in a separate section between the Old and New Testaments, with a heading stating they are "books which are not held equal to the Sacred Scriptures, and yet are profitable and good to read." He returns to the Hebrew canon as the standard for Old Testament Scripture.
In direct response to the Protestant Reformation, the Council of Trent officially and permanently declares the seven Apocryphal books to be canonical Scripture -- equal in authority to the other books of the Bible. This was the first time a universal council had made this a binding, dogmatic definition (an earlier council at Florence in 1442 had already listed these books). The Protestants had already rejected the books; Trent's decree locked the Catholic position in place.
The timing matters: the formal declaration came 1,500 years after the New Testament was written, and only after the Reformation raised the question.
The original 1611 King James Version includes the Apocrypha as a distinct section between the Old and New Testaments, not as canonical Scripture. It was printed separately and was never intended to carry the same authority as the 66 books. By 1826, the British and Foreign Bible Society stopped printing KJV editions with the Apocrypha, and most Protestant Bibles printed since then have not included them at all.
From the Text
The New Testament is not silent on which books carried scriptural authority. Jesus and the apostles made that clear through what they quoted -- and what they did not.
In Luke 24:44, Jesus said: "All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." These three divisions -- Law, Prophets, and Psalms (the Writings) -- are the exact three-part structure of the Hebrew 39-book canon. Jesus named the canon He operated from, and it matched the Hebrew Scriptures exactly.
"All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."
Luke 24:44 NKJVIn Matthew 23:35, Jesus refers to "the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah." In the Hebrew arrangement of Scripture, Genesis is the first book and 2 Chronicles is the last. Abel is murdered in Genesis; Zechariah is killed in 2 Chronicles 24:21. Jesus was pointing from the first martyrdom in Scripture to the last -- tracing the entire Hebrew canon. The Apocryphal books fall outside those boundaries.
"...from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah..."
Matthew 23:35 NKJVThe New Testament quotes the Old Testament hundreds of times. The phrases "it is written," "the Scripture says," "as the prophet said," and "that it might be fulfilled" introduce quotations from Genesis, Psalms, Isaiah, Deuteronomy, and throughout the 39 books. Not one of these introductory formulas -- the language used specifically to cite God's authoritative Word -- ever introduces a passage from the Apocrypha. The silence is total.
Romans 3:2 states that the Jews "were entrusted with the oracles of God." God gave them the responsibility of keeping and transmitting His Word. The Jewish community, from the rabbis at Jamnia to Josephus to the Talmud, never recognized the Apocryphal books as part of the Hebrew Scripture canon. The very people entrusted by God with the Old Testament Scriptures consistently excluded these books.
"...to them were committed the oracles of God."
Romans 3:2 NKJVThe Apocryphal books were written during what Jewish tradition calls the "intertestamental period" -- the roughly 400 years between Malachi and John the Baptist when no recognized prophet spoke for God in Israel. 1 Maccabees 9:27 openly acknowledges this: "there was great distress in Israel, such as had not been since the time that prophets ceased to appear among them." A book written during a period its own author admits had no prophets cannot claim the authority of prophetic Scripture.
When Paul wrote to Timothy "All Scripture is God-breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16), he was referring specifically to what Timothy had known "from childhood" (2 Timothy 3:15). Timothy was raised by a Jewish mother (Acts 16:1). The Scriptures he learned from childhood were the Hebrew Scriptures -- the 39 books of the Old Testament. Paul's declaration of Scripture's divine inspiration was made with that canon in view.
"...and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."
2 Timothy 3:15 NKJVComparing the Texts
The concern about the Apocryphal books is not only historical. Several passages directly contradict what the rest of Scripture teaches about salvation, death, and the nature of God.
What 2 Maccabees says:
"It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins."
Judas Maccabeus sends an offering to Jerusalem for sin offerings on behalf of soldiers who died wearing pagan amulets. This passage is the primary biblical support used for the doctrines of purgatory and masses for the dead.
What Scripture says:
"It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment."Hebrews 9:27 NKJV
There is no intermediate state of purification after death taught anywhere in the 66 books. The rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) shows two fixed destinations with no movement between them after death.
What Tobit and Sirach say:
"For almsgiving saves from death, and it will purge away every sin."Tobit 12:9
"As water extinguishes a blazing fire, so almsgiving atones for sin."Sirach 3:30
What Scripture says:
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV
Salvation belongs to God alone. No act of charity or generosity earns forgiveness of sin. The blood of Jesus Christ is what cleanses from sin (1 John 1:7), not the depth of one's giving.
What Judith says:
"In the twelfth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, who reigned over the Assyrians in the great city of Nineveh..."
The book presents Nebuchadnezzar as the king of Assyria ruling from Nineveh. This is historically impossible: Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon. The Babylonians destroyed Nineveh in 612 BC -- before Nebuchadnezzar even came to power (605 BC). The city did not exist as a capital during his reign.
The standard of Scripture:
"Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him."Proverbs 30:5 NKJV
The 66 books of Scripture are consistent with verified history. The historical errors in Judith are not minor -- they misidentify the king, the empire, and the capital city. Divinely inspired Scripture does not contain such errors.
A Clear Warning
"You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you."
Deuteronomy 4:2 NKJV"Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar."
Proverbs 30:5-6 NKJV"If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life."
Revelation 22:18-19 NKJVMemorize This
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."
Go Deeper
The Apocryphal books were included in the Septuagint but not the Hebrew canon. Why would that difference matter when determining which books belong in the Old Testament? What does it mean that Jesus and the apostles preached in a largely Greek-speaking world but still pointed to the Hebrew Scriptures as the standard?
Read Luke 24:44-45. Jesus says the Scriptures concerning Him were "written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms." Look up what books fall under each of those three categories in the Hebrew Bible. Does any Apocryphal book fall within those three divisions?
Compare 2 Maccabees 12:41-46 with Hebrews 9:27, Luke 16:19-31, and 2 Corinthians 5:8. Based on what the 66 books teach about death and judgment, is there room for a place of purification after death? Why does the answer matter for how we understand salvation?
Explore more on Scripture, history, and how the church changed over time.
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