The Books of the Bible

I wish to take a moment to share with you something very important to Orthodoxy: the Bible as it is received and used in the Apostolic Church. You may notice that our Bible has more books than the Protestant Bible you are familiar with. Let me explain why.

The Orthodox Bible contains more books in the Old Testament. In total, the Orthodox Bible has 49 books in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament, making 76 books altogether. Protestants have 39 Old Testament books and 27 New Testament books, for a total of 66.

The Old Testament books in the Orthodox Bible include the following:
The Pentateuch (Law): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
Historical Books: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras (Ezra-Nehemiah), Esther, Judith, Tobit, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees.
Wisdom and Poetry: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Prayer of Manasseh.
Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Baruch, Letter of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel (with the additions: Prayer of Azariah, Song of the Three Holy Children, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon), Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.

The New Testament is the same for all Christians, with 27 books: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, Revelation.

You may now be wondering why Protestants do not have the same canon. In the early Church, Christians used the Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint. This version included all the books I listed above. The Apostles themselves quoted from the Septuagint many times in the New Testament (for example, Hebrews 10:5 quotes Psalm 40:6 from the Septuagint).

During the Reformation in the 1500s, Protestant leaders decided to use only the books found in the Hebrew Bible, which has fewer books than the Septuagint. This is why Protestant Bibles have 66 books, while Orthodox Bibles have 76.

The Orthodox Church keeps the fuller canon. The Orthodox Church believes that the same books used by the Apostles and the early Christians should remain part of the Bible today. These additional books are often called the Deuterocanonical books. They contain important teachings about faith, wisdom, and God’s care for His people.

The Orthodox Bible includes more Old Testament books because it follows the original Scriptures used by the Apostles and the early Church. We see the Bible as the complete witness of God’s Word, faithfully preserved for His people.

With love in Christ,
Fr. Charles

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