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Rules of Biblical Interpretation
Rules of Biblical Interpretation
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Q Why are there books in the Catholic Bible that are not in the Protestant Bible?
A The books you are referring
to are generally called the “Apocrypha.” Some other
groups do accept these books as having devotional value, but
most churches in the Protestant tradition see only some historical
value in the books. From about 325 to 419 A.D. there were four
church councils that dealt with the issue of which books should
be in the Bible. None of these councils accepted the apocryphal books.
By the last council, the Bible as we know it was determined to
be God’s Word. This was considered final until Luther and
the Reformation questioned the Roman Catholic Church’s doctrine
and practices in the 1500’s. At that time the RCC held that
the Apocrypha were not part of Scripture. But as a result of
the Reformation’s opposition the RCC held the Council of
Trent in 1546 and, among other things, canonized the Apocrypha.
The reason—some of the doctrines of the RCC, like prayers for
the dead and salvation by works, find some support in a few statements
within the Apocrypha. The RCC tried to use these against the
Reformers.
These books are rejected by most Protestant-related groups
because of unbiblical doctrine, bad morality, bizarre stories,
and historical and chronological errors. As I said before, some
of the books (like 1 and 2 Maccabees) have valuable historical
information about the period of time before the Old and New Testaments.
But that’s about their only value.
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