What are the differences between the Ethiopian Orthodox canon and the Catholic and Protestant canons?
Executive summary
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo canon is substantially larger on the Old Testament side than Catholic (73 books) and Protestant (66 books) canons, including texts such as 1 Enoch, Jubilees and additional Meqabyan books that are not part of Roman Catholic or most Eastern Orthodox lists [1] [2]. Protestants follow a shorter canon that aligns with the Jewish (Hebrew/Masoretic) order and count, while Catholics and most Orthodox preserve extra “deuterocanonical” books largely inherited via the Septuagint [3] [2].
1. A bigger Bible: what Ethiopia adds and why it matters
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church preserves a broader Old Testament collection that includes books absent from Catholic and Protestant Bibles—examples named in the sources are 1 Enoch, Jubilees, and 1–3 Meqabyan, as well as other writings regarded elsewhere as apocryphal or pseudepigraphal [1] [4]. FaithTime and GotQuestions both note that the Ethiopian tradition kept ancient regional texts that early Christian communities sometimes used, so the Ethiopian canon reflects local liturgical history and an older plurality of Christian biblical usage [2] [1].
2. Counting books: the headline numbers
Counts vary across traditions: Protestant Bibles typically contain 66 books (Old + New), the Catholic canon is commonly given as 73 books, and Orthodox canons (including Ethiopian) can run larger—FaithTime cites Orthodox totals commonly in the 75–81 range and stresses that the New Testament remains fixed at 27 books across traditions [2]. HistoryInTheBible highlights that Protestants have the shortest canon, aligning precisely with the Jewish canon for the Old Testament [3].
3. The Septuagint’s shadow: why Catholics and many Orthodox differ from Protestants
Most differences lie in the Old Testament and trace to one historical source: the Septuagint, the Greek translation of Hebrew scriptures widely used by early Christians. Catholics and many Orthodox traditions retained deuterocanonical books preserved in the Septuagint; Protestant reformers rejected those extra books in favor of the Hebrew (Masoretic) canon, producing the shorter Protestant list [2] [5]. IgnitumToday summarizes the basic divide: Catholics and Orthodox lean on the Septuagint tradition, Protestants on the later rabbinic Hebrew canon [5].
4. Not all “Orthodox” canons are the same: Ethiopian distinct from Eastern Orthodoxy
Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity is not identical to Eastern Orthodoxy; the Ethiopian Church split earlier in Christian history and preserved distinctive texts and liturgical practices. GeoCurrents stresses that Ethiopian Christianity developed on a separate trajectory—its canon reflects a different history than the Byzantine/Eastern Orthodox tradition [6]. Theology-Academy likewise points out that the Ethiopian Church explicitly added books such as Enoch and Jubilees that most other Orthodox churches do not include [4].
5. How traditions treat these extra books: canon versus useful writings
Sources note a clear divergence in how traditions treat these writings: the Ethiopian and Eritrean Tewahedo Churches consider certain texts canonical that Protestants consider apocryphal or pseudepigraphal, and Catholics regard an intermediary set (deuterocanonical) as part of Scripture [1] [3]. FaithTime emphasizes that while Old Testament contents vary, all three communions share the same 27-book New Testament, so doctrinal disputes over canon focus primarily on the Old Testament [2].
6. Competing perspectives and the historian’s caution
Observers offer competing takes about lineage and influence. GeoCurrents argues Ethiopian Christianity is distinct and even influenced some Western thinkers, while other sources frame differences simply in terms of Septuagint versus Masoretic reliance [6] [5]. Available sources do not mention detailed modern ecumenical negotiations over the Ethiopian canon; they focus on historical reasons for divergence and lists of added books [2] [1].
7. Why this matters for readers and scholars
Canonical differences affect liturgy, theology, and historical study: texts like 1 Enoch and Jubilees shaped Ethiopian liturgical and exegetical habits in ways not mirrored in most Western churches [1] [2]. For comparative theology or Bible study, acknowledging which tradition’s canon one uses is essential because it changes which texts are quoted, read in worship, and treated as authoritative [2] [3].
Limitations: this summary relies on the provided sources, which emphasize book lists, historical lineage, and broad counts; available sources do not mention precise canonical lists book-by-book for every tradition in this excerpt nor detailed modern official declarations from the Ethiopian synod [2] [1].