If you have ever opened a Protestant Bible and compared its Old Testament with a Catholic Bible, you probably noticed something strange.
The Catholic Bible has more books.
Tobias. Judith. Wisdom. Ecclesiasticus. Baruch. First and Second Machabees. Plus additional portions of Esther and Daniel.
Protestants commonly call these books the Apocrypha.
Catholics call them the Deuterocanonical books.
And here is where things get really interesting:
Some of the clearest Old Testament anticipations of Christ, resurrection, martyrdom, eternal life, and even the theology of the Word of God appear in precisely these books.
So grab your Bible.
It is time to get CatholicG33k.
First: They Aren’t “Bonus Books”
Catholics do not believe the Deuterocanonical books were randomly added to the Bible during the Middle Ages.
They belong to the Old Testament canon received and defined by the Catholic Church.
The Council of Trent solemnly listed Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, First and Second Machabees, and the complete Catholic forms of Esther and Daniel among the inspired Scriptures.¹
The Catechism likewise teaches that the Church received the canon of Scripture through apostolic Tradition and lists 46 books of the Old Testament.²
And centuries before the Reformation, St. Augustine included these books when discussing the canonical Scriptures received by the Church.³
But beyond the historical question, there is something beautiful happening inside these books.
They prepare the world for Jesus Christ.
1. Wisdom Basically Gives Us a Preview of the Passion
Let us start with one of the most astonishing passages in the entire Old Testament.
The wicked say concerning the righteous man:
“Let us therefore lie in wait for the just, because he is not for our turn… He boasteth that he hath the knowledge of God, and calleth himself the son of God.”
— Wisdom 2:12–13
Keep reading:
“He glorieth that he hath God for his father.”
— Wisdom 2:16
Then comes this:
“Let us see then if his words be true, and let us prove what shall happen to him… Let us examine him by outrages and tortures… Let us condemn him to a most shameful death.”
— Wisdom 2:17, 19–20
Sound familiar?
Christ is mocked precisely because He trusted in God.
At Calvary, the chief priests and scribes say:
“He trusted in God; let him now deliver him if he will have him: for he said: I am the Son of God.”
— Matthew 27:43
That connection is extraordinary.
Wisdom describes a righteous man persecuted because he claims a unique relationship with God as His Father. His enemies mock him, torture him, and condemn him to a shameful death.
Then the Gospel shows Christ undergoing precisely this pattern.
The text is not merely predicting random persecution of righteous people. In the fullness of Christian revelation, the pattern reaches its perfection in Jesus Christ, the perfectly Just One and eternal Son of the Father.
2. Wisdom Speaks About the Eternal Word
Wisdom contains another passage that should make every Christian stop and look twice.
During its description of the Exodus, we read:
“For while all things were in quiet silence, and the night was in the midst of her course, Thy almighty word leapt down from heaven from thy royal throne.”
— Wisdom 18:14–15
The almighty Word descends from heaven.
Now compare that with St. John:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
— John 1:1
And:
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.”
— John 1:14
Wisdom 18 directly concerns God’s judgment in Egypt, so we should not pretend its immediate historical meaning is simply “this verse predicts Christmas.”
But Christians reading Scripture in the light of Christ cannot miss the theological trajectory.
God’s Word comes forth from heaven to accomplish His divine purpose.
Then, in the fullness of time, the eternal Word Himself truly comes from heaven and assumes human nature.
The Old Testament vocabulary of divine Wisdom and the Word prepares us for something much greater.
3. Baruch Says God Would Be Seen on Earth
Then we get to Baruch.
Speaking about divine Wisdom, the text says:
“This is our God, and there shall no other be accounted of in comparison of him.”
— Baruch 3:36
And then:
“Afterwards he was seen upon earth, and conversed with men.”
— Baruch 3:38
Read that again.
God was seen upon earth and conversed with men.
Christians confess exactly this mystery in the Incarnation.
St. John writes:
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.”
— John 1:14
And St. Paul speaks of Christ:
“Who being in the form of God… emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.”
— Philippians 2:6–7
Baruch’s immediate discussion concerns divine Wisdom, but Catholic tradition naturally reads such Wisdom texts in light of Christ, whom St. Paul calls:
“Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.”
— 1 Corinthians 1:24
God’s Wisdom is no longer merely something humanity seeks.
In Christ, divine Wisdom comes to us personally.
4. 2 Machabees Prepares Us for the Resurrection
If you want to understand the New Testament world, read 2 Machabees.
Seriously.
During the persecution under Antiochus IV, Jewish martyrs choose death rather than violate God’s law.
One of them tells his executioner:
“Thou indeed, O most wicked man, destroyest us out of this present life: but the King of the world will raise us up, who die for his laws, in the resurrection of eternal life.”
— 2 Machabees 7:9
That is an amazingly explicit statement of bodily resurrection.
Another martyr says:
“It is better, being put to death by men, to look for hope from God, to be raised up again by him.”
— 2 Machabees 7:14
By the time we arrive in the New Testament, belief in resurrection is central to Jewish theological debate.
And then Christ does something no merely human teacher could do.
He declares:
“I am the resurrection and the life.”
— John 11:25
Then He rises from the dead.
The hope expressed by the Machabean martyrs reaches its fulfillment in Christ.
They trusted that God would raise His faithful servants.
Jesus reveals that resurrection ultimately comes through Him.
5. The Machabean Martyrs Foreshadow Christian Martyrdom
There is another deeply Christological aspect of 2 Machabees 7.
The martyrs willingly suffer rather than abandon God’s covenant.
Their faithfulness points ahead to the Christian understanding of martyrdom: losing earthly life because eternal life with God is worth infinitely more.
Jesus later teaches:
“He that shall lose his life for me, shall find it.”
— Matthew 10:39
And:
“Fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul.”
— Matthew 10:28
The Machabean martyrs do not replace Christ’s sacrifice. Christ’s sacrifice is unique and infinitely superior.
But their willingness to suffer for God’s law prepares the biblical landscape for understanding faithful suffering, martyrdom, and resurrection.
That becomes especially important when Christ calls His disciples to take up their crosses and follow Him.
6. Tobias Gives Us a Biblical Picture of an Angelic Mission
Tobias introduces us vividly to the ministry of St. Raphael.
At the end of the story Raphael reveals:
“I am the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord.”
— Tobias 12:15
Compare that with Revelation:
“Grace be unto you… from the seven spirits which are before his throne.”
— Apocalypse 1:4
Raphael is sent by God to heal, guide, protect, and deliver.
Ultimately, every angelic mission is subordinate to God’s saving plan, which reaches its center in Christ.
The Epistle to the Hebrews says of the angels:
“Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for them, who shall receive the inheritance of salvation?”
— Hebrews 1:14
Tobias therefore helps prepare us for the intensely supernatural world of the New Testament: angels, demons, divine providence, spiritual warfare, healing, prayer, and God’s invisible assistance.
All of it ultimately belongs under the kingship of Christ.
7. Ecclesiasticus Prepares Us for Divine Wisdom
Ecclesiasticus — also called Sirach — is saturated with the theme of Wisdom.
It teaches:
“All wisdom is from the Lord God, and hath been always with him, and is before all time.”
— Ecclesiasticus 1:1
The New Testament then makes the astonishing identification:
Christ is:
“The power of God, and the wisdom of God.”
— 1 Corinthians 1:24
And St. Paul says that in Christ:
“Are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
— Colossians 2:3
The Old Testament teaches Israel to hunger for Wisdom.
The New Testament reveals that the ultimate answer to that hunger is not merely a philosophy.
It is a Person.
Jesus Christ.
8. Even the Theology of Praying for the Dead Points Toward Christ
Second Machabees also contains the famous account of Judas Machabeus praying for fallen soldiers:
“It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.”
— 2 Machabees 12:46
This passage is especially important for Catholic teaching concerning prayer for the dead and the doctrine later called Purgatory.
The Catechism explicitly cites 2 Machabees 12:46 while explaining Christian prayer for the dead.⁴
But even this ultimately points to Christ.
Why can purification from sin even be possible?
Because of Jesus.
Why can death fail to separate the members of God’s covenant family?
Because of Jesus.
Why can Christians possess hope for those who die in God’s friendship?
Because Christ conquered death.
“For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:22
Catholic doctrines concerning the dead are therefore not distractions from Christ.
They only make sense because of Christ.
So Why Would Anyone Remove These Books?
That question requires more historical nuance than the meme version often given on either side.
Early Christians inherited Scripture in a world where several textual collections and canonical discussions existed. Certain books had differing levels of reception in different places. St. Jerome expressed reservations about some books, while other Fathers accepted them as Scripture.
But the Catholic Church ultimately received them as canonical.
St. Augustine listed them among Scripture.³
Regional councils such as Hippo and Carthage reflected the same broad Catholic canon, and the Council of Florence later listed the biblical books before the Council of Trent solemnly reaffirmed the canon during the Reformation controversy.⁵
The important Catholic point is this:
Christ did not leave us merely a book and tell every Christian to reconstruct the canon independently.
He founded a Church.
St. Paul calls that Church:
“The church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”
— 1 Timothy 3:15
And it is through the Church’s apostolic Tradition that Christians know which writings belong to Sacred Scripture.²
The Plot Twist: The “Extra” Books Sound Very Christian
Here is the CatholicG33k irony.
The books sometimes dismissed as unnecessary “extra books” contain:
- a righteous Son of God condemned to a shameful death;
- God’s Wisdom existing before time;
- God’s almighty Word descending from heaven;
- God being seen upon earth and conversing with men;
- explicit hope in the resurrection of eternal life;
- martyrs willingly dying rather than abandoning God;
- angels ministering to God’s people;
- prayer for the dead;
- and an increasingly developed expectation of life beyond death.
Then the New Testament arrives.
And Jesus Christ stands at the center of all of it.
The Catechism teaches that Christians read the Old Testament in light of Christ crucified and risen, while still respecting its own proper historical meaning.⁶
That is exactly the key.
Catholics do not need to pretend that every sentence of Wisdom, Baruch, or Machabees is a direct one-to-one prediction of Jesus.
Something greater is happening.
God is gradually preparing His people.
Wisdom.
Resurrection.
Martyrdom.
Judgment.
Eternal life.
The Word.
The righteous sufferer.
The victory of God over death.
Piece by piece, the biblical world is being prepared for the moment when:
“The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.”
— John 1:14
And suddenly the scattered pieces form a picture.
Jesus Christ was the center of the story all along.
Sources
- Council of Trent, Fourth Session, Decree Concerning the Canonical Scriptures (8 April 1546).
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, §§120–121.
- St. Augustine, De Doctrina Christiana (On Christian Doctrine), II, 8, 13.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, §1032.
- Council of Florence, Cantate Domino (1442); Council of Carthage III (AD 397), Canon 47.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, §§128–130.
Scripture quotations: Douay-Rheims Bible.