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Most major religions have an official or canonical list of books which make up their holy book. In Judaism the list of books of the Bible was settled approximately 2000 years ago. Since then, there has been no debate between the various Jewish groups over the canon of the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible, which has much text in common with the Christian Old Testament). In contrast, the small sect of Samaritans holds only the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) and the Book of Joshua to be sacred.
The various denominations of Christianity are not in complete agreement on the canon of the Christian Bible. While the books of the Old and New Testaments are agreed upon by almost all Christians, there is a set of books that are not universally accepted. In Protestant Christianity, these books are called the Apocrypha, and are rejected as non-canonical. In Roman Catholicism, the books are known as the deuterocanonical books, and are a part of scripture. Protestant scholars often refer to these books as "Inter-testamental", as they were written after the books of the Old Testament, but before the books of the New Testament. Catholics use the word "Apocrypha" to refer to what Protestants call the Pseudepigrapha.
Eastern Orthodox Christians accept the deuterocanonical books, with the exception of Baruch. The Ethiopian church adds several other books, not accepted by the rest of Christianity, such as the Book of Jubilees and Book of Enoch, to the Old Testament.
The Tanakh and the Protestant and Roman Catholic Old Testaments
1 This book is not in the Protestant Old Testament.
The New Testament of Christians
Notes
2 The Catholic Book of Esther includes 103 verses not in the
Protestant Book of Esther.
3 In Catholic Bibles, Baruch is bundled with a sixth chapter
called the Letter of Jeremiah. Neither book is included in the
Protestant Old Testament.
4 In Catholic Bibles, Daniel is bundled with three
additions. The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Young Men
is included between Daniel
3:23-24. Susanna is bundled as Daniel 13. Bel and the Dragon
is bundled as Daniel 14. Neither of these additions are in the
Protestant Old Testament.
5 The Latin Vulgate and the Douay-Rheims place the two Books of Maccabees after Malachi instead of Esther.
See also
