A Catholic Bible is a Christian Bible. The phrase “Catholic Bible vs Christian Bible” is therefore imprecise. Usually, the intended comparison is between the Catholic biblical canon and the Bible used by most Protestant Christians.
Books in the Catholic Bible
The Catholic canon contains 46 Old Testament books and 27 New Testament books, for a total of 73. Catholic Old Testaments include Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, 1 Maccabees, and 2 Maccabees, along with additional material in Esther and Daniel.
These books are often called deuterocanonical in Catholic usage.
Most Protestant Bibles
Most Protestant Bibles contain 39 Old Testament books and the same 27 New Testament books, for a total of 66. The difference is therefore primarily in the Old Testament canon.
Some Protestant editions print the deuterocanonical books separately as Apocrypha, while others omit them.
The New Testament is shared
Catholics and the great majority of Protestants recognize the same 27-book New Testament: the four Gospels, Acts, letters, and Revelation.
Translation choices and study notes can differ even when the underlying list of books is the same.
Why the canons differ
The history involves ancient Jewish collections, the Greek Septuagint, early Christian usage, church councils, medieval practice, and Reformation-era decisions. It is more complex than saying one side simply added or removed books at a single moment.
The USCCB lists the Catholic canon and explains the deuterocanonical books included in Catholic Old Testaments.
What the deuterocanonical books are
Catholic Old Testaments include books commonly called deuterocanonical in Catholic usage. Protestant traditions usually place these writings outside the Old Testament canon, although some Protestant Bibles have historically printed them in a separate Apocrypha section. Orthodox churches use Old Testament collections that can differ again, so “Catholic versus Protestant” is not the only Christian canonical comparison.
The difference concerns the Old Testament. Catholic and most Protestant traditions share the same 27-book New Testament, although translation, textual notes, and the order of some material can differ by edition.
Canon history is a process
Early Christians inherited Jewish scriptures in Hebrew and Greek forms and cited a range of texts. Different regional churches developed patterns of liturgical and theological use over time. Later councils, confessions, and printing traditions clarified canonical boundaries, especially during Reformation-era controversy.
This history is why slogans such as “Catholics added books” or “Protestants removed books” can oversimplify a long process. A useful comparison asks which canon a community recognizes, how it uses the deuterocanonical or apocryphal books, and what authority it assigns to church tradition.
Better terminology
Use “Catholic Bible vs Protestant Bible” when that is the intended comparison. Catholics are Christians, so “Catholic vs Christian Bible” can accidentally suggest otherwise.
Sources & Further Reading
Primary texts and institutional references used to support the historical, textual, demographic, or practice-related points in this article:
