Why Are There More Books in the Catholic Bible? (Father Simon Says)

In this Father Simon Says episode, a listener named Pat from Wisconsin calls in with a classic question: “Why does the Catholic Bible have more books than the Protestant one?” Fr. Simon’s Explanation (Simple + Solid): 🗺️ Back in the Day…The early Christians didn’t read Hebrew. They used the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures. 📜 This Bible had all the books we now find in the Catholic Old Testament. ✂️ Fast-Forward 1,200+ Years… Along comes Martin Luther in the 1500s. He notices the Jewish canon (which had dropped some books) was shorter than the Christian one. So, what does he do? ➖ He figures the extra books in the Christian Bible were added later➖ He moves them to a “second-tier” category➖ Eventually, Protestant Bibles just drop them altogether Fr. Simon explains: “It’s not that Catholics added books — it’s that others took them out.”  The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.