Which books go in which Bible?

Christians from all denominations often ask me which Bible is which and why, and I’ve been explaining away – incorrectly! Well, not totally wrongly, but I was under the forgetful impression that any Bible “with Apocrypha” is the same as a “Catholic edition” – not!

With apologies to all, I’ll try to set things straight, confusing though it may be, but important too, so please bear with me.

As I’ve also mentioned over the years (and, yea! – gotten right) – the order of the books in a Bible “with Apocrypha” differ from a “Catholic edition” most noticeably by placement.

Each edition approved for Roman Catholic readers has the “extra books” woven into the “Old Testament” according to category. For example, Tobit and I and II Maccabees go with historical books whereas The Book of Sirach (one of my favorites) wisely goes with Wisdom Books and Baruch goes with the Prophets. However, Bibles labeled “with Apocrypha” typically place the extra books between the Testaments or after Revelation.

That can be confusing if you enjoy interdenominational Bible study groups, as I do, but otherwise, it’s no big deal. Right? Well, at least not until you come to some extra “extra books” with no clue what to do, which is what happened recently to me.

Reading my new copy of the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) with Apocrypha, I ran across books I did not recall ever reading in my Catholic Study Bible or Revised English Bible with Apocrypha or The New Jerusalem Bible. Just to be sure, I double-checked the lists and saw that some of the books “with Apocrypha” are not part of the deuterocanonical books of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church does not consider books labeled “apocryphal” as such since “Apocrypha” means hidden, which those books clearly are not. Rather the Roman Church deemed the “extra books” to be “deuterocanonical” or outside the canon established by Jewish scholars who canonized the Hebrew Scriptures sometime after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 A.D.

When Protestants left the Catholic Church, the Jewish Bible went, too, as the “Old Testament.” In the ecumenical environment we now have, however, most Christians want to see all the books inspired by the Holy Spirit. But, surprise! Most new editions of the Bible “with Apocrypha” have books the Catholic Church never included.

Let me quickly add:

The New Testament (NT) is the same for every Christian.

The NT books are the same; the order is the same, and only the footnotes might differ.

Before I leave you hanging in confusion and despair of knowing, here’s a list of deuterocanonical (aka apocryphal books) included in Bibles approved by the Roman Catholic Church:

Tobit
Judith
Additions to the Book of Esther
Wisdom of Solomon
Ecclesiasticus aka the Wisdom of Jesus aka Sirach
Baruch
The Letter of Jeremiah
The Additions to the Book of Daniel – Prayer of Azariah (aka Abednego)
Susanna
Bel and the Dragon
1 and 2 Maccabees

In addition to those “extra books” in the “Old Testament” (OT) of a Catholic Bible, the Greek and Slavonic Bibles include all books above plus:

1 Esdras
Prayer of Manasseh
Psalm 151
3 Maccabees

Finally, Slavonic Bibles include:

2 and 3 Esdras
4 Maccabees

To recap: “with Apocrypha” Bibles include all the “extra books” just listed, which, together, equal the length of the entire New Testament. Therefore, having done my extra reading, I think I’ll focus on the NT, OT books of Wisdom, and the Prophets to see what’s coming next!

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© 2012, Mary Harwell Sayler reserves all rights to correct her mistakes and be corrected, so if I still got it wrong, feel free to tell me – nicely, of course :)

Review the news with Habakkuk

The prophetic poetry in the Book of Habakkuk could have been written today!

“O Lord, how long shall I cry
and You not hear?
Even when I call out, “Violence!”
You do not save.
Why must I watch so much misery?
Must I see trouble wherever I look?
Destruction and violence are before me,
and everyone wants to argue or fight!
The law is powerless, paralyzed,
and justice does not go forth.
Wicked people surround the righteous,
and their twisted perceptions prevail,”
Habakkuk 1:2-4

To give you an eerie example of the timely truth of Habakkuk’s prophetic and poetic word, I right-clicked onto the word “Wicked” to find synonyms in Microsoft Word. Can you guess what I found? The current vernacular described “wicked” as: Good, Great, Terrific, Cool, Fabulous, Fab, Fantastic, Impressive.

Actually, that is very “impressive” since even the Word of Microsoft supports the Word of God as spoken through Habakkuk!

Thankfully, that poetic voice does not end on the sad note of today’s twisted perceptions. Habakkuk has much more to say to us today:

“I will climb to my watchtower
and stand guard at my post
and wait to see what the Lord says.
How will God answer my complaint?

“Then the Lord said to me:

“Write My answer plainly on a tablet,
so even a runner can read it.
This vision, for a future time,
describes the end and does not deceive.
If it seems slow in coming, wait for it!
My word will surely take place
and will not be late,” Habakkuk 2:1-3.

Many woes follow, but God lets us know where to go and what to do in the meantime:

“For the Lord is in His Holy Place.
Let all the earth keep silent before Him,” Habakkuk 2:20.

Although we don’t know exactly when the Holy Spirit inspired Habakkuk to write those words, in 597 B.C., the Chaldeans (aka Babylonians) conquered Judah. Interestingly, the territory of those invaders would be somewhere in Iraq around present day Baghdad, again revealing the timeless relevancy of God’s timely Word.

Most importantly, however, the last chapter of Habakkuk ends with a commitment to hope in God that guides us, too, in turning reactions into prayerful responses to the ultimately Good News we now have in Christ Jesus:

“Even if the fig tree does not blossom,
and no fruit grows on the vines
and the work of the olive tree falls
and the fields yield no meat
and the flock is cut from the fold
and the stalls of the barn stand empty,
I will still rejoice in the Lord.
I will still find joy in the God of my salvation,” Habakkuk 3:17-18.

Amen!

~~

© 2012, Mary Sayler. God bless you for loving the Bible and for telling your church or Bible study group where you found this Bible Review of Habakkuk. Pass it on!