The Holy Bible is one of the most important books written by holy men inspired by the Holy Spirit. It is also written in many languages for more people to read and understand. Despite God’s wonderful plan to proclaim His Gospel, the bible faced challenges as the church confronts oppositions. The Holy Catholic church fought to preserve the sacred gospel. However, the bible we read depends on what version we read may have not been the same as it was originally written.
The Holy Bible is divided into the old and new testaments. The Old Testament contains the Hebrew Bible in which the lives of the Early Fathers were recorded. From God’s creation of the world to the lives of Patriarchs Noah, Abraham, Moses to King David. These books of faith records the struggles and triumphs of men of God, and are part of the Christian book of the New Testament. The new covenant primarily has the life of Jesus Christ, His ministry, death and resurrection. These included the writings of the Four Evangelists and the apostle of the gentiles, St. Paul who was zealous in preaching and counseling Christians. The Lord’s followers continued to preach in various parts of the world. These books are believed to have been written from oral and written traditions. St Paul clearly reminds us to: “Stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter” (2 Thess 2:15)
The world should be eternally grateful to the Catholic Church for preserving the holy book. Pope Damasus I ordered the collection of these divinely inspired books with the help of St Jerome in 376 AD. He was encouraged to translate the four gospels into Latin and St. Jerome painstakingly worked on what the Catholic Church call as the Latin Vulgate. Hence, the official selection and translation of these collection of books in the bible was done by the efforts of the Catholic Church.
St Jerome surely knows the great significance of his task. He once said, “When we pray we speak to God; but when we read, God speaks to us.” How much more if it’s the Word of God from the Holy Bible.
Many hundred years later, it was not spared from the Catholic church’s enemy. One of which was the reduction from the original 73 books, the Protestants removed 7 from it. That is why the Catholic Bible have 73 books (46 books in the old and 26 books in the new) while the Protestant Bible has 66. The Protestant reformation which happened in the 1500s has not only created spiritual confusions among the faithful. They have different opinions about tradition and the Magisterium, which is part of the apostolic foundation of Catholicism. The gap in these book compilations also brought about a major change in each other’s understanding of the Bible. It is also because of this that the translation that St. Jerome in the 4th century is tainted by the mistranslations of several bibles of Protestants at present.
Just for example in Isaiah 7:14 where it is written:
“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel. ”
In another bible it is written:
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign; the young woman, pregnant and about to bear a son, shall name him Emmanuel. ”
The translation of the word virgin to young woman will totally give a new meaning. To be a virgin yet to bear a child is a divine gift brought only by the Holy Spirit. But any young woman, married or not can actually bear a child and surely is no virgin. Thus, errors in translation can actually downplay and give an entirely wrong understanding of the truth. Hence, many will get lost.
Remember, it is also written in; “You shall not add to the word that I speak to you, neither shall you take away from it: keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.” (Deuteronomy 4:2).
Wrong interpretation and word translation are damaging how much more if books were removed. That is why Catholics and Protestants have different teachings on many things. These errors will continue since many religious sects sprung claiming a calling after reading an incomplete bible. Something their founder Martin Luther, who instigated it, could no longer fix.
