It is common knowledge that the Catholic Bibles differ from Protestant Bibles. It is because the Roman Catholic Bible contains seven additional books.

These seven books (written during four-hundred-year period between the Old Testament and New Testament) are referred to as the Apocrypha (meaning “hidden” or “doubtful”) because of their questionable authenticity and authority.

The Protestant Bible lines up with what the Jews considered the complete Old Testament. However, the Roman Catholic church added seven books to the Old Testament at the Council of Trent (AD 1545–1563). This was a period when Catholic doctrines were being questioned, and the Apocrypha was seen as supporting some of the traditions practiced by the Roman Catholic Church, such as prayers for the dead (Mac 12:45).

There are several reasons why Protestants do not consider these books canonical, which are summarized below:

• • • No New Testament writer quoted from any of these books as Scripture or even considered them inspired, though they often quoted from other Old Testament books.
    • These books were virtually ignored by Jesus and the disciples, which they would not have done if they considered them to be inspired by God.
    • As early as AD 90, the Jewish Council of Jamnia rejected the Apocrypha as Scripture. Additionally, most church fathers of the first four centuries of Christian history rejected these books as inspired.
    • The Apocryphal books were written between 250 BC and the first century AD. However, according to Judaism, by about 400 BC, the Spirit of prophecy had departed from Israel.
    • The Apocrypha contains clear historical errors, such as the assumption that Sennacherib was the son of Shalmaneser instead of Sargon II (see Tobit 1:15).
    • As opposed to many biblical books, none of the Apocryphal books claim to be inspired by God.
    • Unlike the Old and New Testament books, the Apocrypha contains no predictive prophecy.
    • Apocryphal books were emphatically rejected by Jerome, the famous Roman Catholic scholar (lived around AD 420) who translated the Latin Vulgate Bible.
    • They were not written by the apostles whose names the books bear since the apostles died in the first century.
    • There are many errors in doctrine and heresies in them.
    • Apocryphal books contain doctrines that contradict the inspired scriptures. For example, 2 Maccabees 12:43–45 teaches the efficacy of prayers and offerings for the dead. Ecclesiasticus 3:30 teaches that alms-giving atones for sin and justifies cruelty to slaves (33:26, 28).

Furthermore, the Roman Catholic church’s acceptance of these books in AD 1546 is also unjustified for the following reasons:

• • • They were the wrong group to make this decision i.e., New Testament Christians (in 1500 AD) whereas it was the Jews who were entrusted with the oracles of God as per Romans 3:1-2;
    • It took place at the wrong time (16th Century AD), and
    • It was done for the wrong reasons in response to the Reformation.