Why does the Catholic Bible have 73 books while Protestant Bibles have 66?
The Catholic Bible contains 73 books (46 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament), whereas Protestant Bibles generally include 66 books.
The difference concerns seven books of the Old Testament: Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), and Baruch, along with additions to Esther and Daniel. Catholics refer to these as the 'deuterocanonical' books (meaning 'second canon').
These books were part of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament used by Jesus, the Apostles, and the early Church. Historical Church councils (such as the Council of Rome in AD 382, Hippo, and Carthage) consistently included them in the scriptural canon. During the 16th-century Reformation, reformers removed these books, following a shorter Hebrew canon. The Council of Trent confirmed the complete 73-book canon received from the early centuries.
Sources
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 120
Awaiting review by the chaplaincy. Written in our own words; the Church's own texts are the authority.