Ancient Christian Witness

"Jews and Christians throughout the centuries have produced
bibles that vary in content and organization. This chart is a sampling of the
different bibles used today.
Protestant Reformers like Martin Luther doubted
the canonicity* Canon: (kanōn; κανών) comes from the Greek word for
“reed” or “rod,” used as a straight edge or ruler for measurement. In biblical
studies, when we talk about a canon, we mean that list of books that a community
considers both authoritative and inspired. Canonical books form the standard
against which other writings, doctrines and practices are measured. of the Apocrypha*Apocrypha: Jerome, the translator of the early Latin
Bible, maintained a distinction between those books he considered canonical and
the non-canonical books that should be read for the edification of the church.
With some modification, this list of edifying books is sometimes called the
“Apocrypha.” Other theologians, such as the influential Augustine, did not
maintain this distinction, and were more inclusive in their canon lists. , but when Luther prepared his translation of the
Bible into German, he did not remove the Apocrypha; he simply moved those books
to an appendix. This tradition continues in many European bibles.
The
English were the first group of people to remove the Apocrypha altogether. In
1599, an edition of the Geneva Bible was published without the Apocrypha. In
1615, during the reign of King James the First, George Abbot, the Archbishop of
Canterbury, declared the penalty for printing a Bible without the Apocrypha to
be a year in prison! But over the next three centuries the growing influence of
Puritans and Presbyterians over the populace, the government, and the British
and Foreign Bible Society led to a strong tradition of printing bibles
containing only 66 books.
The situation today reflects this bifurcation. The
bibles used by many European Protestants, as well as the Anglican Church, still
include the Apocrypha. Most other English-speaking Protestant churches have
bibles without the Apocrypha.