Written Authority - The Bible

Religious Studies: KS3, topic 1.3.22

Development of the Bible

The Bible is the revealed Scripture of the Christian faith. Many Christians believe that every word in the Bible is true.

The word Bible comes from the Greek word 'Biblia,' meaning 'books.'
The Bible is divided into two main sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament.
'Testamentum' is Latin for 'covenant,' meaning promise or binding agreement.
Jesus made a new covenant with his followers, which replaced the old covenant of the Jews.
These reflect the Old and New Testaments.

The Old Testament includes the same books as the Tenakh of the Jewish tradition, but in a different order.
The first five books (the Pentateuch) are the writings of the Torah.
The Pentateuch follows the early history of the Jews' relationship with God.
The Old Testament also contains law, prophecy, poetry, liturgy, and history.

The New Testament contains writings of early Christians. The first four books are the Gospels.
The word Gospel comes from old English 'Godspel'. Before that, the Greek 'ευαγγελιον᾽ ('euangelion'), meaning good news.
The Acts of the Apostles tells the story of the Apostles and the early church, continuing from Luke's Gospel.
The Epistles (letters) are the largest group of books written by early church members.
The last book is The Revelation of St John (Apocalypse).

The canon is the official list of books chosen by different denominational authorities.
The Catholic Bible (The Canon of Trent) was finalised at the Council of Trent (1545-63).
The Catholic Bible has additional books in the Old Testament compared to the Protestant Bible: Tobit, Judith, Esther, 1&2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, and Baruch.
These additional books are sometimes called the 'Apocrypha' in Protestant Bibles, meaning 'hidden.'

What is the word for the section of books only found in Catholic Bibles but sometimes printed in Protestant Bibles?