Once upon a time, long before Bible apps, printing presses, or leather-bound editions, the early Christians were reading Scripture from scrolls.
And guess what?
The one used by Jesus, the Apostles, and the early Church, included seven books that some modern Christians say “don’t belong.”
Those books were:
Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, 1 & 2 Maccabees, plus additional passages in Daniel and Esther.
These weren’t some later Catholic invention. They were part of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament completed around the 3rd century BC and widely used by Jews during Jesus’ time.
It was this Bible, the Septuagint, that the early Christians used.
So when Jesus opened the scroll… these books were there.
When Paul preached… these books were there.
When the Church Fathers taught… these books were there.
Even the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest Hebrew manuscripts ever found, contain parts of some of these books in Hebrew and Aramaic, proving they were in use before and during Christ’s time.
So… what changed?
Fast forward to the 1500s.
Martin Luther, leader of the Protestant Reformation, was rethinking everything. And some of these ancient books didn’t support his new doctrines.
Especially teachings on:
Purgatory
Prayers for the dead
The intercession of saints
The role of free will and good works
So what did he do?
He pulled those 7 books out, and placed them in the back of his Bible under a section labeled:
“Apocrypha: not equal to Holy Scripture.”
Later Protestant Bibles removed them completely.
And this is why some Christians today think Catholics “added” books to the Bible.
But here’s the truth:
The Catholic Church didn’t add these books. Martin Luther removed them.
In fact, Luther also questioned removing James, Hebrews, Jude, and Revelation, simply because they didn’t fit his ideas. He wasn’t following the Church. He was editing the Bible.
For over 1,500 years, the full canon, including these 7 books, was accepted and read by Christians East and West. The early Church Fathers used them. Councils affirmed them. Saints preached from them.
So, in 1546, at the Council of Trent, the Church didn’t introduce something new.
It simply said:“These are the books we received from the Apostles and their successors. We’re not throwing them away just because someone in the 16th century decided he didn’t like them.”
Because the Word of God is not up for editing.
So next time someone says:
“You Catholics added books to the Bible!”
Smile and say:
“No, brother… we just didn’t take them out.”