Catholic Bible Facts
"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ," said St. Jerome, a fifth century Bible scholar and doctor of the Catholic Church. Like other Christians, Catholics believe that the Bible is inspired by God and is the foundation of their faith.
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Function
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The Bible is the central teaching authority for Catholics along with church tradition. Although most denominations rely on Scripture alone, Catholics incorporate both. As the catechism explains it, the two are closely linked, for "it was by [this] tradition that the church discerned which writings [were] to be included in the list of scared books" (article 120).
History
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The Bible originates from Judaism. The 46 Jewish books--which comprise the Old Testament--were first written down in 600 B.C. and used by the first Christians. The 27 books of the New Testament were completed by 100 A.D., according to the Catholic Encyclopedia. All Christian Bibles contained these 73 books--arranged by literature type--until the 16th century.
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Features
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During the Reformation, Protestant leaders removed the same seven Old Testament books first rejected by Jewish scholars in 90 A.D.: Baruch, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Sirach, Tobit and Wisdom (along with expanded versions of Daniel and Esther). The Catholic Church, however, still considers them divinely inspired. Although some Protestant Bibles contain these deuterocanonical books (Apocrypha), they're grouped together, named differently and clearly identified as outside of the main canon, per the National Bible Association.
Significance
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The Christian Scriptures are some of "the most disseminated books in the world," according to the New American Bible. These major milestones shaped its popularity: St. Paul's extensive evangelization to the Gentiles; the legalization of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire in 313; and the Bible's first printing with movable type in 1455. Moreover, with the advent of the Internet, the Bible has been translated into 600 more languages, per the Washington Post.
Types
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Common Catholic translations are the Douay-Rheims, Catholic Confraternity Version, New American and Revised Standard Version Bibles. Of these, the Douay-Rheims is the earliest, translated from Latin in 1609. Each type also has one or more editions.
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References
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- Photo Credit "Biblical Still Life" by takacsi75 at http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1128/1380652440_e99261066a_b.jpg
