Most major religions have an official or canonical list of books which make up their holy book. In Judaism the list of books of the Bible was settled approximately 2000 years ago. Since then, there has been no debate between the various Jewish groups over the canon of the Tanach (the Hebrew Bible, which has much text in common with the Christian Old Testament). In contrast, the small sect of [[Samaritan]s holds only the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) and the Book of Joshua to be sacred.
The various denominations of Christianity are not in complete agreement on the canon of the Christian Bible. While the books of the Old and New Testaments are agreed upon by almost all Christians, there is a set of books that are not universally accepted. In Protestant Christianity, these books are called the Apocrypha, and are rejected as non-canonical. In Roman Catholicism, the books are known as the deuterocanonical books, and are a part of scripture. Protestant scholars often refer to these books as "Inter-testamental", as they were written after the books of the Old Testament, but before the books of the New Testament. Catholics use the word "Apocrypha" to refer to what Protestants call the Pseudepigrapha.
Eastern Orthodox Christians accept the deuterocanonical books, with the exception of Baruch. The Ethiopian church adds several other books, not accepted by the rest of Christianity, such as the Book of Jubilees, to the Old Testament.
The religion of Islam has no such issue, as their holy book consists of one book by one author, the Qur'an.
===Bible and Tanach=== Compares books of Tanach to Christian Old Testament
The Tanach (Hebrew Bible)
- Torah
- Prophetic books
- Hagiographa ("Writings")
The Old Testament of Christians
- Genesis
- Exodus
- Leviticus
- Numbers
- Deuteronomy
- Joshua
- Judges
- Ruth
- 1 Samuel
- 2 Samuel
- 1 Kings
- 2 Kings
- 1 Chronicles
- 2 Chronicles
- Ezra
- Nehemiah
- Esther
- Job
- Psalms
- Proverbs
- Ecclesiastes (Qoheleth)
- Song of Solomon
- Isaiah
- Jeremiah
- Lamentations
- Ezekiel
- Daniel
- Hosea
- Joel
- Amos
- Obadiah
- Jonah
- Micah
- Nahum
- Habakkuk
- Zephaniah
- Haggai
- Zechariah
- Malachi
Additional Apocryphal/deuterocanonical books of Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity
- Tobit
- Judith
- Additions to the Book of Esther
- Wisdom of Solomon
- Ecclesiasticus
- Baruch
- Letter of Jeremiah (Baruch 6 in some Bibles)
- Susanna (Daniel 13 in the Catholic Bible)
- The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children (Between Daniel 3:23-24 in the Catholic Bible)
- Bel And The Dragon (Daniel 14 in the Catholic Bible)
- 1 Maccabees
- 2 Maccabees
Additional Deuterocanonical books of Eastern Orthodox Christianity
The New Testament of the Christians
- Gospel of Matthew
- Gospel of Mark
- Gospel of Luke
- Gospel of John
- Acts of the Apostles
- Epistle to the Romans
- 1 Corinthians
- 2 Corinthians
- Galatians
- Ephesians
- Philippians
- Colossians
- 1 Thessalonians
- 2 Thessalonians
- 1 Timothy
- 2 Timothy
- Epistle to Titus
- Epistle to Philemon
- Epistle to Hebrews
- Epistle of James
- 1 Peter
- 2 Peter
- 1 John
- 2 John
- 3 John
- Epistle of Jude
- Book of Revelation or Apocalypse
See also:
- Bible
- Biblical canon
- Bible and Tanach Compares books of Tanach to Christian Old Testament
- Judaism
- Christianity