With the celebrations of Reformation going on, I was thinking about how Protestants and Catholics have different Bibles. The Catholic Bible was set up sometime around 367 AD in it's current form (though, obviously it has been translated into many, many other languages since then), by St. Athanasius to contain the 73 books he believed were divinely inspired. In 382, Pope Damasus approved the list, and shortly thereafter, two councils, the Councils at Hippo and Carthage, ratified the list. The list was reaffirmed again by Pope Innocent I in 405 AD and by Pope Boniface in 419 AD. Many Protestants have heard that the Catholic church decided to add 7 books (to a list of 66 books, not to the original list of 73 books) in 1546 at the Council of Trent. The Council of Trent, in reality, only reaffirmed the list of 73 books that was set in 367 AD by St. Athanasius. Nothing changed.
Enter the Reformers...
Because I’m a math nerd, I want to look at the symbolism of these numbers: 7, 6, and 3.
Seven is the number of completeness. Think about how God created the world in 7 days. Or when Jesus asks us to forgive our neighbors 7 times 70, He’s not asking us to forgive them 490 times, but to forgive them completely.
So, the Reformers removed completeness (i.e. 7 books) from the Bible and were left with 66. Now, what about the number 6? What does it represent? It represents incompleteness (it is one short of complete), human weakness, and the evils of Satan (Revelations 4:4). What does that say about a Bible that has 66 books in it?
The Catholic Bible has 73 books. I already stated what the number 7 represents - completeness. What about the number 3? It also represents completeness, though not as often as the number 7 does. Most commonly it represents the Holy Trinity.
So, the Reformers removed completeness (i.e. 7 books) from the Bible and were left with 66. Now, what about the number 6? What does it represent? It represents incompleteness (it is one short of complete), human weakness, and the evils of Satan (Revelations 4:4). What does that say about a Bible that has 66 books in it?
The Catholic Bible has 73 books. I already stated what the number 7 represents - completeness. What about the number 3? It also represents completeness, though not as often as the number 7 does. Most commonly it represents the Holy Trinity.
So, with these number being "defined," what does each bible stand for?
The Protestant Bible with 66 books = "incomplete incomplete"
or = "the evils of Satan (and) human weakness"
The Catholic Bible with 73 books = "complete complete"
or = "complete (in the) Holy Trinity"
Thanks, Luther, I'll take the Bible that's "Complete in the Holy Trinity" over your Bible. ;)
