What Books Are Not in the Protestant Bible?
There are several books that are not included in the protestant bible. Among them are Tobit, Judith, and Enoch. These aren’t included in any Protestant Bible, but they are important to the Christian faith. Let’s take a look at some of them.
Tobit
The Book of Tobit, sometimes called Tobias, is a book of the Bible, recounting the story of a pious father who fell on hard times and how God rescued him and his family. Its author is unknown, but it is thought to have been a Jew living in Palestine in around 200 B.C. The book was originally written in an ancient Semitic language and was later translated by Jerome into the Latin-based Vulgate. Some Aramaic and Hebrew fragments were found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, but the vast majority of the text is known only through translations.
There are two Latin versions of Tobit, the Vetus Latina and the Vulgate. The present English translation of Tobit uses the Sinaiticus, the longer of the two recensions. It contains two lacunae and a few missing phrases. This text is the most reliable, but it is far from perfect.
The Book of Tobit is a popular source for Bible study in Christian and Jewish circles. It blends Jewish piety and folklore to produce a powerful narrative. It contains prayers, psalms, and words of wisdom. In addition, its well-crafted story offers a window on its author, who is unknown. It is believed to have been written in the second century BCE.
The Catholic and Protestant bibles share the same 27-book New Testament, but they differ in their Old Testament canon. The Catholic Bible has seven extra books that are not found in the Protestant Bible. These books are called apocrypha or deuterocanonical and are grouped between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
While Tobit was originally included in the Protestant Bible, it was removed due to anti-Catholic sentiment in the United States. Protestants now use a version of the Bible that contains 27 books in the New Testament and 39 books in the Old. The New Testament contains two books that have been lost in the translation.
Some Christians also reject the Bible’s inclusion of Tobit. Many people believe that it was written by a different author than the canonical scriptures. The Bible’s canonical scriptures consist of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Ruth, and Esther. These are also called “canonical” because they are considered important to the faith.
Another common criticism of the Protestant Bible is its exclusion of deuterocanonical texts. This argument is often based on Protestants’ efforts to distort patristic evidence. For example, some claim that the early Church Fathers did not accept the deuterocanonicals. In reality, however, there is no scholarly basis for this claim.
Regardless of whether Tobit is part of the Bible’s canon, most Protestants do not include it. But Roman Catholics and most Orthodox traditions do include it.
Judith
If you have a Protestant Bible, then you may be wondering why Judith is not found in it. There are a few reasons. First, she was meant to be the female counterpart to Judas Maccabeus. Secondly, she was written for the encouragement of the Judaean people during a time of unrest after their independence. Third, her story has a strong message about female empowerment.
Judith is a beautiful woman and she believes her beauty is a gift from God. She feels that giving God a deadline to finish her plan would be arrogant. In order for this plan to succeed, Judith flees the city. In the meantime, she joins the army of Holofernes, whom she believes to be a powerful man who wants to conquer the Jews. However, she is captured by him after she has fallen out with the Jewish leaders. As a result, she becomes the heroine of the town.
During the Reformation, Catholic scholars sought to justify the inclusion of Judith in the Latin Bible. But Luther and others doubted her place in the Bible. Nonetheless, Catholic writers defended her place in the text by identifying her with papal authority and making her a type of Peter.
The book of Judith contains a lot of irony. Several episodes are ironic, as are the plots themselves. Irony is prevalent in the Hebrew Bible, and the story of Judith is no different. Scholars have identified a number of instances in the text of the Old Testament.
The Book of Judith is part of the apocrypha collection of books that were not included in the Masoretic text of the Bible. It is also included in Catholic Bibles’ Old Testament. These books were not accepted by the nation of Israel as the true Hebrew Bible. This led to much debate in the sixteenth century regarding their status in scripture. While Catholics and Orthodox Christians considered them to be inspired by God, Protestants still rejected their inclusion.
Despite the protestant bible’s rejection of this book, it is still a popular part of the Bible. In this chapter, Judith commands Bethulia, a town at the entrance to a narrow corridor leading to Jerusalem. After a 34-day siege, the Assyrians cut off the water supply to the city. The people of Bethulia have grown fractious. In response, the magistrates of the city capitulate to the demands of the townspeople.
Judith is a widow who was married to Manasses. After her husband died, she left the village with her maid to go and befriend the enemy leader Holofernes. She promised the enemy leader information about the Israelites. Later, she visited Holofernes’ camp and beheaded him. The Jewish people celebrated this as a victory over the enemy.
Judith is also an apocryphal work. It was not included in the Hebrew Bible and the Protestant Bible, but is found in the Septuagint. It is an artistic masterpiece and is believed to have been written in the early first century BCE. It is a story of balancing life and death. The story makes a point about how God’s people can survive in spite of great odds.
Enoch
Protestant bibles do not include the Book of Enoch, which is a non-canonical work. The Book of Enoch, also known as the First or Second Enoch, describes the destruction of the evil human sons and Nephilim. Hence, its exclusion from the protestant bible does not make sense.
However, it is interesting to note that Enoch’s visions are interpreted as the account of the fall of the angels and the deluge. They also relate to Noah and the deliverance of the human race from the underworld. The book also includes details about the creation of the law, the conquest of Canaan, the building of the temple, and the exile.
Jude quotes the Book of Enoch in the New Testament. But it is not part of the Protestant canon. This is due to the fact that Martin Luther rejected Jude’s Epistle because he was unable to identify the source of its citations. So, whether the Book of Enoch is part of the Bible or not, it is worth reading.
Moreover, the Book of Enoch is not in the protestant bible because Jude quotes the Book of Enoch from a non-biblical source. Jude also quotes Epimenides in Titus 1:12, so the quote does not mean that the whole book of Enoch is a true version of the Bible. And it is important to note that no biblical scholar claims that Enoch, who lived seven generations before Adam, was the author of the Book of Enoch in the Bible.
The Book of Enoch is a pseudepigraphal work of Jewish origin, written in the second or third century BC. During the time of the Bible’s writing, pseudonymous works were common. In fact, the Book of Enoch is only one of two books in the Bible.
The Apocrypha does not appear in the protestant bible, because it is not in the mainline Christian canon. It can only be found in the Oriental Orthodox Bible. However, it is important to note that Apocrypha is never publicly affirmed by the whole church. In fact, Christendom never affirmed it at any council. But, at the council of Trent, the book was sanctioned by a regional council. Furthermore, it helped to legitimize Catholic doctrines that Protestants were fighting against.
Moreover, the Book of Enoch contains information that the normal people would not want to know. For example, it explains how angels sinned against God and became corrupted. They also mated with women and had children. This corruption led to the flood.
The Book of Enoch claims that the demons repented, but they could no longer contact God after their rebellion. In addition, Job chapter 1 reveals that Satan talked to God in heaven, asking for a job and fidelity.