The Holy Bible is a collection of Sacred Books, which were composed under the positive influence of the Holy Spirit by men chosen by God, and which have been accepted by the Church as inspired. As many authors and scripture scholars have rightly noted, the Bible is the most authorized, most admirable, and the most important book in the world, because it is the word of God in human language. The Bible is incomparable as far as all other “sacred” literature is concerned because (i.) It is the unique revelation of God; (ii.) It is inspired by God in a unique way (2 Tim. 3:16); (iii.) It discloses God's saving plan for time and eternity; and (iv.) It centres on God Incarnate in Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world.
The word, “Bible” comes from the Greek word, Biblia, which means “Books”. The Bible is composed of many books and is rightly described as “a library of books”. It is like some of the public libraries that we know. It contains many different books and these books were not all written on the same day, they were not all written by the same person or group of people. They have different themes but all are centered on God and His revealed truths.
Invoking the authority bestowed on her by Christ (cf. Matt. 16:18-19), the Church brought the different sacred and inspired books together into one volume, presented as a beautiful book, and then he term “Biblia” (Books) was applied in reference to all of them as being together-in-one. In the 5th-Century, St. Jerome called these collections the “Divine Library”, and by the 13th Century, “the books” became “the Book” (Biblios) to stress the unity of all the books contained therein as the one and infallible word of God.
All the books in the Bible speak in their own way of the covenant or promise between God and the first people of Israel, and then between God and all of humanity. Thus the Bible is a written record of communication over many generations between God and his people. It is a collection of works that has had a profound influence on people over the past two millennia and which is also profoundly impactful today in the lives of men and in the society at large, for the Word of God is always alive and active (Heb. 4:12).
The Biblical authors, guided by the Holy Spirit, wrote down the unique experience of the early Israelites in their relationship with God. These events were narrated in the form of history, but were not the same as the other histories that we know. History in particular is recorded in the Bible in such a way as to make the action of God on behalf of his people clear. The same came be said of the Psalms, the prophetic books, the wisdom literatures, the gospels, the letters and the visions. The inspired authors aimed to tell us not just what happened, but its religious significance and how God was involved. We say “inspired authors” because the Holy Spirit guided these authors in writing what they believed and understood about God, man and the universe.
These various books were gradually gathered by the Jews. They put them together into one book which they used for their worship of God. That book is what we today know as the “OLD TESTAMENT”. It was the “Holy Book” that Jesus and his followers read and listened to in the synagogues and temple.
The followers of Jesus Christ were also inspired to write brief narratives on the very special events in the life of Christ and the early Church. Some of them wrote inspired letters to some Christian communities and certain individuals. These writings about Jesus and the early Church were also gathered together and called the “NEW TESTAMENT”. The Old and New Testaments were brought together, and the result is “THE BIBLE”.
The Bible is the greatest best-selling book ever. But in fact, there are two variants. The Catholic Bible has 73 books, and the other has 66 books. How come? The Old Testament of the Catholic Bible has 46 books, and is referred to as the Greek Version, while Old Testament of the other variant has 39 books, and is regarded as the Hebrew Version. For both variants, the New Testament has the same 27 books, and so there is no problem with the New Testament Books.
Now, we have these two different Bibles, where then does this difference come from? Veritably speaking, this can be traced back to the historical situation in which the Jews found themselves long before the birth of Christ. Already in the history of Israel, as in the history of the Church, the Word of God played such an important role that it conditioned, so to say, the vey existence of the people of Israel and guided their practices. Around the year 587 B.C., during those years of conquest and defeat along with empire building and expansion, the Jewish people were defeated by the Babylonians and were sent into exile. Many of these Jews never returned to their country after the exile. They kept their religion but absorbed a lot of the culture, language, etc., of the native inhabitants. These Jews were called the Jews of the Diaspora.
Over the next few centuries, the powerful or dominant culture was “Hellenism” (the culture modus vivendi of the Greek Empire). Even the governments and people of the Roman Empire absorbed many Hellenist tenets into their Roman life and culture. During and after the exile experience of the Jews, some more inspired books had been written which included aspects of their experience with the Greek world and other significant exhortations that address the being and experience of all humankind, not only the Jews.
About 200 years before the birth of Christ, this Old Testament collection that was all-inclusive was translated by the Jews of the Diaspora into the Greek language, and it had 46 books altogether. This was the Book used by Jesus and his followers. This is every easily comprehensible because Jesus' mission embraces the whole human race, and this collection, like I implied earlier, included some far-reaching experiences that were graspable also to non-Jews, thus the whole world.
The Jews back at home at that stage could not agree as to which should be the accepted 'Holy Book'. Should it be the Hebrew Version with its 39 books or the more recent Greek Version with its 46 books? They shuffled between both until during the Christian era in the mid 1st-Century AD, when they settled for the shorter version, the Hebrew edition with the 39 books. By this time, the Apostles and early Christians along with many other Jews, following the footsteps of Jesus Christ himself, had for many years, been using the Greek Version with the 46 books.
Around the year 382 AD, the Church decided to bind together the books that would make up the accepted Bible. Still following the line of Jesus and the tradition of the early Church, she chose the longer variant, the Greek Version with its 46 books for the Old Testament, and the normal 27 for the New Testament, bringing the total number of books in the Bible to 73. At that time, there was only one Church, the Catholic Church, founded by Jesus Christ himself, with a mission to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:16-20) and built upon the Rock, Peter and the other Apostles (cf. Matt. 16:18-19; Jn. 21:15-17).
Many Centuries later, more than one thousand five hundred (1500) years after only the Catholic Church existed and thrived fulfilling the will of God and mission of Christ, Martin Luther who was a priest of the Church had trouble with the Church. He protested against many of the doctrines of the Church and Divine Truths. In 1521, supported by some political super powers, the Princes of Germany, Martin Luther finally left the Catholic Church and founded his own Church. To break completely from Catholic traditions and practices, he refused using the Greek Version of the Old Testament. Instead, he chose the Hebrew Version with its 39 books, and then he added the 27 books of the New Testament to make 66. He translated this shorter Hebrew Version into German and other languages, and many other Protestants who broke out from his Lutheran group and from the Anglican division joined Martin Luther in using the Bible with the 66 books.
It is important to know that Martin Luther had his reasons. First, it was a popular way for him to fight against the Church. Secondly, he was totally against the teaching on Purgatory which is expressed in 2 Maccabees 12:42-44, where it is recommended that we should pray and offer sacrifices for the dead. Belief in the existence of Purgatory was against his own beliefs, so he had to remove the book that most explicitly articulates this belief, and in the process, he also discarded what he called the 'extra' books.
For the simple reason that many non-Catholic churches followed the steps of Martin Luther, we have two main versions of the Bible today. Catholics pray, write, quote and study from the Greek version with 73 books (46 in the O.T. and 27 in the N.T), which Jesus himself, the apostles and the early Christians used; whereas most non-Catholics use the Hebrew version which has 66 books (39 in the O.T. and 27 in the N.T.).
To know which one you have, explore the list of contents and look out for the following 7 books which make the difference therein, and which are contained in the Catholic Versions: Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, 1st Maccabees, and 2nd Maccabees. These books are classified in the Catholic Bible as the “Deuterocanonical Books” by way of distinguishing them from the others called the “Protocanonical Books”. When you have the Deuterocanonical Books along with all the others, you have the complete Bible and you join with the apostles, the early Christians and all true Christians throughout the ages, to sit around the one Table of the Word, gathered around Christ and receiving the good tidings of life and salvation.
Today, however, many of the Protestant Churches recognize the value of the Deuterocanonical Books, and they have started to include these books in their translations. These books are often included in the Protestants translations as the “Apocrypha”. Today, also, many non-Catholic Christians make use of myriads of quotations from these same Deuterocanonical Books as much as it suits them and in great measures to accentuate their themes.
As Christians, we must develop tremendous enthusiasm for, and, interest in, the reading and study of the Bible, and we must do it to the fullest by having and using the complete Bible. In our reading of the inspired word of God, the Bible, we allow God to inspire us in our daily lives, both as individuals and as a Church.
Finally, let us be exhorted with the very words of one of the great Biblical Authors, Timothy who wrote two of the Books of the Bible, precisely letters in the New Testament: “But you, remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you have learned it., and that from infancy you have known the Sacred Scriptures which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation of errors, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be competent and equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:14-16).
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