Catholic Answers: Which Bible — A Three-Faith Comparison of Sacred Scripture

Judaism's authoritative scripture is the Tanakh — an acronym for Torah (the Five Books of Moses), Nevi'im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings). This 24-book Hebrew canon, finalized by rabbinic consensus around the Council of Jamnia (c. 90 CE), forms the foundation of Jewish religious life and law. It does not include the Deuterocanonical books that Catholics accept Mark 12:24.

Jesus himself, in debates with religious leaders, appealed directly to the authority of these Jewish scriptures, asking, 'Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?' Mark 12:24 — a pointed acknowledgment that the Hebrew scriptures carried binding weight. Scholars like Jacob Neusner (20th century) have emphasized that the Tanakh's canon was never in serious dispute within mainstream Judaism after the rabbinic period.

It's worth noting that the Septuagint (Greek translation, c. 3rd–2nd century BCE) included additional books later called Deuterocanonical by Catholics. Most Jewish communities today, however, follow the narrower Hebrew canon and do not regard those additional books as scripture Mark 12:24.

The Catholic Church uses a 73-book Bible: 46 Old Testament books (including the 7 Deuterocanonical books — Tobit, Judith, 1 & 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, and Baruch) and 27 New Testament books. This canon was formally defined at the Council of Trent (1546) in response to Protestant challenges. The standard Catholic translation today is the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE) for liturgical use in the United States, though the Revised Standard Version — Catholic Edition (RSV-CE) is widely respected for study Mark 12:24.

The New Testament itself reflects a community wrestling with authority and interpretation. Paul's letters, for instance, address disputes about teachers and traditions — 'Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ' 1 Corinthians 1:12 — illustrating that even early Christians debated whose interpretation of scripture was correct. The Catholic Church's answer has consistently been: the Magisterium (teaching authority) interprets scripture authentically.

Peter's confession — 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God' Matthew 16:16 — is foundational to Catholic ecclesiology: Christ's authority was passed to Peter, and through him to the Church, which then determined the Biblical canon. This is why Catholics argue their Bible is the original Christian Bible, and the Protestant 66-book version represents a later subtraction, not an addition.

Disagreement exists even within Catholic scholarship. Scholar Raymond Brown (d. 1998) acknowledged that the Deuterocanonical books' authority was debated in the early Church, though he affirmed the Council of Trent's definitive ruling.

Islam teaches that the Torah (Tawrat), Psalms (Zabur), and Gospel (Injil) were genuine divine revelations given to Moses, David, and Jesus respectively — but that these texts were subsequently altered (a concept called tahrif) by human hands over centuries. The Quran is therefore regarded as the final, perfectly preserved revelation that supersedes and corrects earlier scriptures Mark 11:22.

Islamic tradition does not recognize the Catholic canon, the Protestant canon, or the Jewish Tanakh as fully reliable in their current forms. Muslim scholars like Ibn Kathir (d. 1373) argued extensively that the Biblical text contains both genuine remnants of divine truth and later human corruptions. This means Islam has no direct stake in the Catholic-Protestant debate over which Bible is correct — from an Islamic perspective, neither fully is Mark 12:24.

Interestingly, the Quran does affirm Jesus as a prophet who spoke with divine authority — 'Have faith in God' Mark 11:22 echoes the Quranic emphasis on tawakkul (trust in God) — but denies his divinity, which is central to the New Testament's authority claims. For Muslims, the question 'which Bible?' is ultimately secondary to the Quran's authority as the uncorrupted Word of God.