Why Is the Book of Wisdom Not in the Bible?

The Book of Wisdom, also known as the Wisdom of Solomon, is not included in the Protestant Bible but is part of the Catholic and Orthodox Bibles. The reason for its exclusion from the Protestant Bible is primarily due to differences in the canon of scripture between Christian traditions.

The Protestant Reformation in the 16th century led to a reevaluation of the biblical canon. Protestant reformers like Martin Luther and John Calvin decided to follow the Hebrew Bible’s canon, which does not include the Book of Wisdom. They considered the Hebrew Bible to be the authoritative scripture for the Old Testament.

On the other hand, the Catholic and Orthodox Churches include the Book of Wisdom in their Bibles because they follow the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures that includes additional books not found in the Hebrew Bible. These additional books are known as the Deuterocanonical books, and the Book of Wisdom is one of them.

In summary, the Book of Wisdom is not in the Protestant Bible because Protestant traditions adhere to the Hebrew Bible’s canon, while Catholic and Orthodox traditions include it as part of the Deuterocanonical books in their Bibles.

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