How many times has some well-intentioned but woefully misinformed person said this to you: “The catholic church* added books to the Bible.” (There are links at the end of the post.)

Then they will proceed, without apparent irony, to harangue you about how we are not supposed to add anything to the Scriptures. I then add, We’re also not supposed to take anything away from the Scriptures, but they never seem to hear me say it. We’re not supposed to throw out books or add words where they don’t belong. 

I was in the gift shop at EWTN one day when someone was talking to the cashier about the difference between Catholic and Protestant Bibles. She said something about the “extra” books in Catholic Bibles and you know I couldn’t let that slide. ;) I answered her, but the whole time I was doing so I couldn’t help but notice a woman looking through (well, standing in) the gift section and clearly listening to every word I was saying. 

My immediate thought was, I hope I’ve got this right. You know that feeling. The cold sweat, the clammy skin, the suddenly speeded up heartbeat and respiration, hoping you’re not getting it embarrassingly wrong and that you haven’t started spouting gibberish, and thinking that maybe you should just give up and sit down. 

That would’ve been unfortunate and not only because there were no chairs or benches around. Thud! Ouch! ;)

I didn’t have the videos below then or Dr. Brant Pitre’s set, The Origins of the Bible. But I would have welcomed them.

The Origin of the Bible Preview, Part One

The Origin of the Bible Preview, Part 2.

Thanks for reading. I hope you found this post helpful. Until next time, whoever and wherever you are, may the Lord bless you and keep you, and may His peace be always with you.

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Notes

*Some Protestants will insist on using lower case “c” and will become increasingly angry when you don’t give in. This makes discussion on social media challenging.

Links

• The Origin of the Bible Preview, by Brant Pitre: Part 1, Part 2.
• The Origin of the Bible: Human Invention or Divine Intervention? By Brant Pitre. In CD, MP3, DVD, and Digital Video download.
• Image credit: Bible, from Pixabay.

I’m not an affliliate of Catholic Productions and I don’t get a commission if you buy these.