Is the Bible the same for all Christians?

Answer 1

Absolutely not. There are as many types of Christians as there are people in general. While there may be a finite number of Christian sects, that does not mean that everyone who follows one sect (Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, etc...) are all the same. Ask yourself, are all black people the same? Are all athletes the same? No, everybody is different and unique.

Answer 2

Protestant denominations generally use a version of The Bible with a shorter Old Testament than the one used by the Catholic, Orthodox and Armenian Communions.

The language of the early Church was Koine Greek. A large amount of Hebrew scripture had previously been translated into Koine Greek - probably for the benefit of the Greek speaking Jews in Alexandria. When the early Church came to decide on their canon of scripture, this Greek translation was incorporated in its entirety. The canon subsequently became known as the Bible (Greek for book) and the Hebrew scripture as the Old Testament.

During the time of Jesus, the Temple authorities were largely of the Pharisaic sect. They had a slightly shorter version of scripture. When Judaism regrouped around 200AD, it was the Pharisaic version of scripture that they adopted.

Luther's quarrels with the Catholic Church included a rejection of Church authority. Instead, Luther decided that the ultimate authority came from reading the Bible. However, he wanted to be sure that he had an authentic Bible to trust and wanted his Old Testament to be based on Hebrew rather than Greek texts. He looked to Judaism and finished up with the shorter Pharisaic version of the Old Testament, still used by most Protestant denominations today. The Anglican Communion, considering itself to be both "catholick and reformed" has the shorter version of the Old Testament at the beginning of its Bible, with the omitted parts added at the end.

Apart from a shorter Old Testament, Catholic and Protestant Bibles are the same. However, Protestants seek Biblical justification as the basis for their faith whereas the Catholic, Orthodox and Armenian Communions look to an authoritative and traditional Church.

Answer 3

No. The Roman Catholic Bible contains additional writings referred to as The Apocrypha books. The Jehovah Witnesses have different translations of some passages in the Bible which align with their beliefs - John 1:1-4 is one. The Mormons use the King James Bible which many consider the 'authorized' version to use but also refer to their own 'Book of Mormons.' And some Christians only refer to the New Testament. These are examples of some differences.

Further, it should be noted that some books include/exclude some passages as well as the ordering of the books included - particularly in the Old Testament - may vary depending upon the denomination/sect.

Lastly, there are basically three different types of translations into the English which may make Bibles appear different. They are: Word for word; Thought for thought; and paraphrase. Most scholars would agree that the most accurate is the Word for word while the paraphrase is the least accurate.