Books of the Bible
books which make up their holy book. In Judaism the list of books of the Bible was settled approximately 2000 years ago. Since then, there has been no debate between the various Jewish groups over the canon of the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible, which has much text in common with the Christian Old Testament). In contrast, the small sect of Samaritans holds only the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) and the Book of Joshua to be sacred.
The various denominations of Christianity are not in complete agreement on the canon of the Christian Bible. While the books of the Old and New Testaments are agreed upon by almost all Christians, there is a set of books that are not universally accepted. In Protestant Christianity, these books are called the Apocrypha, and are rejected as non-canonical. In Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, the books are known as the deuterocanonical books, and are a part of scripture. Protestant scholars often refer to these books as "Inter-testamental", as they were written after the books of the Protestant Old Testament, but before the books of the New Testament. Catholics use the word "Apocrypha" to refer to what Protestants call the Pseudepigrapha.
Eastern Orthodox Christians accept the deuterocanonical books. The Ethiopian church adds several other books, not accepted by the rest of Christianity, such as the Book of Jubilees and Book of Enoch, to the Old Testament. Various sects in the Latter Day Saint movement also accept additional texts, including the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.
The books of the Old and New Testament exist in many different translations, not all of which are considered equally sacred by all sects.
The Tanakh and the Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Old Testaments
Notes
1 This book is not in the Protestant Old Testament.
2 The Catholic and Orthodox Book of Esther includes 103 verses not in the
Protestant Book of Esther.
3 In Catholic Bibles, Baruch includes a sixth chapter
called the Letter of Jeremiah. Baruch is not in the
Protestant Old Testament.
4 In Catholic and Orthodox Bibles, Daniel includes three
sections not included in Protestant Bibles. The Prayer of Azariah and the Susanna is included as Daniel 13. Bel and the Dragon
is included as Daniel 14. These are not in the Protestant Old Testament.
5 The Latin Vulgate and the Douay-Rheims place First and Second Maccabees after Malachi instead of Esther.
6 These books are not in the Protestant and Catholic Old Testaments.
7 The Book of Odes includes the Prayer of Manasseh. This book is not present in the Catholic or Protestant Old Testaments.
8 Eastern Orthodox Bibles have the books of Baruch and the Letter of Jeremiah separate.
9The Eastern Orthodox church adds one extra Psalm to the Book of Psalms.
See also
