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How Many Books Are In The Catholic Bible & How Is It Different From The KJV?

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How Many Books Are In The Catholic Bible Vs. King James Version

If you ask a Christian they will say there are key differences between the Christian and Catholic faiths. And, there is right down to the books included in each of their bibles.

It can be the deal breaker in relationships for people who are highly religious.

But, if you're thinking of dating someone of either faith, it might be a good idea to know what the differences are and what these books of the Bible mean.

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The Catholic Bible has the Apocrypha and the Christian Bible does not. The King James Bible is the most popularly used book among Christians and you won't find these religious scriptures in there.

What happened? During the 1500s, Martin Luther broke away from the Catholic Church and created what we know as today in history to be the Protestant Reformation.

This was to return to the original Hebrew scripture and move away from the translations written by the Greeks.

They only acknowledged 39 of the Old Testament books and refused to accept the seven books of the Apocrypha as gospel.

This division in which books are actually correct is what led to the major differences between Catholics and Protestants.

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Catholics view the word of the church, having generally speaking more power than the actual bible when it comes to views on the world.

While Protestants only acknowledge the word of God written in the Bible as having any authority over people created in God's image.

The seven books of the Apocrypha are also known as the books of Deuterocanonical scripture by Catholics, these scriptures have always stayed in their version of the bible.

Meaning that the Catholic Bible contains 73 books in total, as opposed to the Protestant’s 66 books which refuses them.

It is from these books of Deuterocanonical scripture that Catholics believe in the idea of purgatory.

That praying for the dead can help them in the afterlife and can possibly bring them to peace which will please God.

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Protestants, on the other hand, do not acknowledge the seven books of the Apocrypha.

Most do not accept the existence of purgatory, they don't believe that if you pray for the dead that they will be brought to peace, only God can decide their fate.

They also believe that it’s God’s grace regardless of a person's life or works, that leads to eternal life.

The question of whether Christians or Catholics actually read the Bible is answered more on how devoted people are to their fate.

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Simply if you don’t have faith in God then usually you won't see any reason to spend hours reading a book on him.

To begin with at mass if you go to church at least once you will know that they go over a couple of scriptures every Sunday.

Protestants, for example, do put more emphasis on memorizing scripture rather than carrying it out in your day to day life.

Catholics also tend to worship examples of faith such as Mother Teresa.

We look to people such as her as examples of how we can best be the “Mother Teresa” in our own community.

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For all of the attacks, the Bible gets it seems to come from a modern perspective rather than a historical one.

It’s the same to be said with the attack of God being portrayed as a man.

Back in those times as we all know only men were the one in charge, to have a religion spread we needed to portray the message in their language.

The Bible has played a huge role in many people's lives and it will continue to give us an ideal to strive for and go after.

A person that is charitable, forgiving, and loving, all in Christ name.

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Steven Hall is a writer who covers astrology, pop culture and relationship topics.