doesnt the fact that there are different versions of the bible used
by different denominations say something ?
which is the real thing, the protestant or catholic
bible?
or did God authorize the creation of different texts for
different groups? (i really doubt it)
If by 'versions' you mean 'Douay-Rheims version', 'King
James Version' etc, these are bible translations. We have to remember
that the bible authors wrote in Hebrew and Greek, not English. We
need English translations if we are to be able to read
and comprehend the bible. The internet has lots of extra info
on the origins of these translations if you're interested.
Some translations try to be more precise by being literal
and preserving subtle cues in the text but these often end up
being harder to read because of differences in grammar etc between
Hebrew/Greek and English. But less literal translations that
make it easier for the English reader risk losing precision
and the introduction of the doctrinal views of the translator.
Bottomline is that there is no perfect translation. Different
translations exist for both Catholic as well as Protestant
bibles.
So what's the difference between a Catholic bible and a
Protestant one ? The Protestant bible has seven fewer books (and
missing portions from two other books) than the Catholic bible. So
what happened ?
The bible is actually a collection of books which includes
biographies, poems, letters etc. Around the 4th century AD, the
Church formalised the collection of writings that were to be
included in the bible (and therefore declared to be the inspired
word of God) and those that were not. This gave birth to the
Catholic bible that we know of today which consists of 73 books.
Christendom considered this to be the bible for over a
thousand years. It was only in the 16th century that a monk -
Martin Luther, came along and threw out 7 books (and parts of two
other books) from the bible when he broke away from the Catholic
Church during the so called Reformation. This 'reduced' bible is
now what Protestants use. Why did Martin Luther throw out those
books ? The answer would differ depending on whom you ask but I
can't help but think that a strong motivation was
for doctrinal reasons - he did not agree with some of the
stuff in those books.
