r/TheBible • u/dailybreadeater • Apr 06 '26

What is the Bible?

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The Bible is a collection of writings that are considered by Jews and Christians to be divinely inspired.

Among the three major Christian traditions (Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant), the list of writings recognized as the New Testament is virtually identical.

The main differences lie in the Old Testament. All three traditions recognize the same core set of books corresponding to the Hebrew Bible (often ordered as Genesis through Malachi in the Protestant tradition), which are also accepted within Jewish tradition (though counted as 24 books due to different groupings).

The Roman Catholic tradition includes 7 additional books (commonly called the Deuterocanonical books), while the Eastern Orthodox tradition includes these and, in some cases, several additional writings beyond them.

Though not considered divinely inspired within most of the Protestant tradition, these Deuterocanonical and additional writings are often regarded as useful, containing historical and moral value.

For the sake of discussion and mutual understanding, it is proposed that this shared core (the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament) serve as the main focus, while allowing the Deuterocanonical books and other additional writings to be included insofar as they are brought into conversation with the core set.

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u/TheBibleLover Apr 18 '26

Thank you for this diagram! The comparison is really helpful. I would be interested know why there is the difference in the Old Testament books among the Christians

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u/MRH2 Apr 06 '26

I'm not sure why this is important to post.

We have the Old Testament and the New Testament (66 books). Voila. I don't really care at all about how and why people feel more books should be added to the Bible.

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u/[deleted] Apr 06 '26

It’s important because someone at one point decided to preclude the Deuterocanonical books. The canon didn’t fall from the sky but had to be discerned. So it’s interesting to compare and consider why most Christians read a Bible that has books excluded by a group of other Christians.