Tuesday, April 17, 2007

How did the differences between the Catholic and Protestant Bible come about

Question: How did the differences between the Catholic and Protestant Bible come about?

Answer: This is a somewhat complicated issue, but I'll do my best to make it short and sweet. We must first remember that God did not just drop a book from the sky and "Whomp, there it is," we had the Bible. The Bible developed over literally thousands of years. While the Jews were God's chosen people, they were inspired by God to put in writing the teachings, rules, beliefs, and history of the people. Eventually, these became books like Genesis, Joshua, Isaiah, etc. The Jews composed a list of these books that taught correctly what they believed. This list became known as a Canon. As time went on, the Jewish people were conquered by many people, and the world became dominated by Greek culture. The Greeks wanted a copy of all the books in the world, including this Jewish list of 46 books which comprised the Jewish beliefs. So 70 scholars translated these 46 books and this Greek translation of the canon became known as the Septuagint (from the Latin word for 70). This happened around the 2nd or 3rd century BC. This list was generally accepted by most Jews, but not all because nothing was definitively defined.
A few centuries later, some Jewish rabbis wanted to make a definitive list(canon)-some think due in part to a new sect of people known as Christians who were "changing the Jewish teaching"-and met at a place called Jamnia around 100 AD. They made a canon (list) that had only 39 books, rejecting the 7 books that were mentioned in the previous post mainly because they could not find the original Hebrew (there were 3 other criteria as well). The early Christians however used the Greek canon (the Septuagint) because Christ used this version. For example, Our Lord in Matt 5:34 quotes from Sirach 23:9; Romans 11:34 refers to Wisdom 9:13. The list can go on and on.
So for about 1400 years, all Christians used the Greek Canon. In 1400 years, Christianity spread to different parts of the world and many of them eventually did not know Greek or Hebrew. So they had to translate it into their native tongue (the vernacular). They would translate it with the Greek Canon however because this is the canon they Church unofficially promoted. Then, when the Protestant Revolt (the Reformation) came, the reformers started to make translations of Scripture as well, and for one reason or the other chose the canon (list) from Jamnia with only 39 books. This tradition is carried down by the descendants of the Protestant Reformers even to today and that's where you get the difference between Catholic and Protestant Bibles.

Why do we rub our face twice before the Gospel?

Question: Why do we rub our face twice before the Gospel is read at Mass?

Answer: Well, some people may rub their face because it needs washing, but the theological reason is that we are not actually rubbing our faces, but crossing ourselves. You make a sign of the cross on your forehead, lips, and heart and say, "May Your Word always be on my mind (cross your forehead), on my lips (cross your lips), and in my heart (cross your heart). You do this to prepare yourself to hear God's Word as He speaks to you through the Gospel. Your mind represents your thoughts and you want all your thoughts to direct you towards God. Your lips represent your words, so that your words may always be God-centered. Your heart represents your desires and will, so you give those to God so that your will always strive to be with God. Together, you devote your entire self to God and prepare to learn from Him through the Gospel, His living Word.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Differences in Bibles

Question: Someone told me that there are differences between Catholic and Protestant Bibles. Is that true?

Answer: Yes, it is true. The Protestant Bible has 7 books less in the Old Testament than a Catholic Bible. Those books are: Tobit, Wisdom, Sirach, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Baruch, Judith and parts of Esther (known as Chapter F in New American Translation) and Daniel (Chapters 13-14).
You can tell a Catholic Bible from a Non-Catholic Bible by looking for these 7 books in the Old Testament or by looking for a "Nihil Obstat" and/or "Imprimatur" in the title pages. These two words mean there is nothing against the faith in them and is found only in books of Catholic doctrine as an official okay from clergy in the Church.