Canonicity

• Not all Christian denominations consider the same texts to be "canon" or authoritative. While all Christian churches use the same 27 books of the New Testament, not all churches use the same books of the Old Testament. Some denominations consider some books canonical, or spiritually authoritative, while other groups consider them apocryphal, meaning they believe them to be useful to study, but not divinely inspired. These books are often referred to as deuterocanonical, meaning they are not part of the canon but do not contradict it.
  
  

Differences Between Catholic and Protestant Bibles

• The Catholic Bible contains several canonical books that Protestants consider apocryphal. These are the Book of Tobit, the Book of Judith, additions to the Book of Esther, the Book of Wisdom, the Book of Sirach (also called Ecclesiasticus), the Book of Baruch and the first two Books of Maccabees. Some Protestant Bibles include these in an apocrypha section, but for Catholics they are considered to be canonical. Other denominations consider even more books canonical, such as the Book of Enoch, which is found only in the Bible of the Orthodox church in the Horn of Africa.
  
  

New Testament Order

• Although Protestants and Catholics agree on the 27 books included in the New Testament, some Protestant denominations arrange these books in a different order from the Catholic Bible. Martin Luther, founder of Protestantism, was skeptical of the Epistle of James, the Epistle of Jude and the Epistle to the Hebrews, as well as the Book of Revelation. Although Luther criticized these books, they were not removed from the canon. However, some Lutheran Bibles, particularly German translations, still place them at the end of the Bible.
  
  

Translations

• Another way in which Christian denominations differ is in the biblical translations they choose to use. The Catholic church has no single official translation, although local councils of bishops have endorsed a number of translations. In English, for instance, Catholic translations of the Bible include the New Jerusalem Bible as well as the Revised Standard Version and New Revised Standard Version. Protestant churches also use a wide variety of biblical translations, including the King James, New King James and New International versions.