Look for Tom's newest book, "Devil, Demons, and Spiritual Warfare." Coming out October 2008. Click here for details. 

Home   ArticlesBible AnswersCommentaries Online TV Need Deliverance? Satellite Member Shopping About Tom Brown

Tom Brown Ministries

Word of Life Church 
Become a Partner
Faith Inspiring Articles
Bible Answers
Bible Studies
Online TV Show
 
Do You Need Deliverance? 
Exorcism
What is hell?
 
TV Offer
Television Schedule 
MySpace
Satellite Church Member

Heaven's Gate Suicide Interview
El Paso, Texas
Tom Brown's Itinerary
What does Jesus Look like?
Upcoming Events 
Testimonies
Sonia's Stories
Christian Links 

Free CD: Sex: What's okay, what's not
Charismatic Directory 
Bible Yahoo
 
Statement of Faith
Wanted: Hiring Music Director
Search Tom Brown Ministries 
Foreign Language
Weddings
Rent Playground for Parties
Tom's Tortilla Soup Recipe
Donation
Send your comments


Tom Brown will be coming to:

Port Huron, Michigan

(Near Detroit)
June 4-6, 2008

Montreal, Quebec
June 25-27, 2008
Manitoba, Canada
July 21-25, 2008

Meet Tom's Soul Mate

The Lord is My Shepherd
 
This beautiful statement implies a profound yet practical working relationship between a human being and his Maker.
Television Webcast

Become a Word of Life "Satellite" Church member
Click here

Donate to
Alive Campaign

Why do Catholics and Protestants have different Bibles?

Today's Question: I received this question from my daughter. What is your response to this question. Thanks, sue:

"In 393 AD, the church bishops gathered in the African city of Hippo to decide which texts were inspired and which were not. Man meddles. When the Protestants split from the Catholic church, they omitted 7 books  from the Bible. Man meddles. But, today there are two accepted Bibles, and if God protects his word, which is protected and which is not?"

Bible Answer: Sue, your daughter asked you about why Protestants and Catholics have two different Bibles. The difference is that the Catholics include the Pseudepigraphal books (seven books) that were written after the last Old Testament prophet and before John the Baptist. So they don't deal with Christ nor any prophecy about Christ. There were no prophets during the time of these books, so the Jews never regarded them as inspired. Protestants believe the same about these books. Catholics accept them because in one verse it confirms their belief about praying for the dead (2 Maccabees 12:46). Jews and Protestants don't believe in praying for the dead.

Jesus clearly set the canon of the Old Testament in Luke 24:27, "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself." Notice that Moses and all the Prophets were the Scriptures that Jesus used, not the Pseudepigraphal books. And in the time of Jesus, the Pseudepigraphal books were excluded from the traditional canon by the Jews, and Jesus did not dispute their tradition, but accepted it. Later between 70-90 AD, the Jews confirmed their canon at the council of Jamnia.

It is obvious that the canon was confirmed based on the traditions during their age, which would include the times of Christ. The leaders would never be able to confirm the Canon and exclude the Pseudepipraphal books if the Jews had regarded them as Scripture just 40 years before, during the times of Christ. Catholics of course judge the Jewish leader's motives by accusing them of removing the books for the sole purpose of eliminating or editing any scriptural references to the Lord Jesus and His doctrines that Christians would refer to in supporting their theology. The trouble with their accusation is that there is no clear references to the Lord Jesus in the Pseudepigraphal books. The truth is Catholics use them to support their view of praying to the dead and purgatory.

There is another statement Jesus made which confirms the canon to include only the Old Testament that both Jews and non-Catholic Christians accept: "Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah" (Luke 11:50-51). Zechariah was the last prophet to be martyred, and he is the author of the book of Zechariah and was a contemporary of Haggai but continued his ministry long after him.. He is considered one of the last of the prophets in the our Bible. Malachi was the last but he was not martyred. Jesus totally excluded those that had died during the period after the prophet Zechariah, because they were not "prophets", and that period tells the story of the sacrifices of many Jews which is recorded  in the books the Catholics accept. The point is clear, Jesus defined the period of the inspired books of the Bible to include the beginning (Genesis) with Abel and the end with Zechariah.

The Lord's words should define for all Christians which books are considered the infallible Word of God. The Catholic Church by accepting the Pseudepigraphal books take odds against Jesus own words which excludes their books. So who do you believe, Jesus or the Catholic Church? 

Send your comments

Tell a friend about this article

Read more Bible Answers to Today's Questions

Click here if you're interested in having Tom Brown come to your area

Back to the Main Page

 


October  2008 Release

Products|Word of Life Church |About Sonia Brown|Upcoming Events| Exorcism| Statement of Faith | Site Search

Tom Brown Ministries
P.O. Box 27275
El Paso, Texas 79926
USA
Send your comments
(915) 855-9673

Call only during regular office hours (MST)

©2008 Tom Brown Ministries. All rights reserved. Unless other wise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New International Version (NIV), Used by permission,