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The Controversy

If you were to look, nearly all Bible translations available present the books in the same order. Do you know if that order is correct? Have you ever questioned it during your studies? For most Christians, these questions probably arise when reading from cover to cover, but do they ever answer the questions to complete satisfaction?

The truth of the matter is this: in most Bibles, the order of books is not correct.

Ezra, the high priest, and the Great Assembly, when canonizing the Old Testament scriptures, preserved the intended order of those books. The same was done by John the Apostle when he canonized the New Testament. Though this information is not uncommon to Christian scholars and translators, almost all Bible translations available err to follow the original order God preserved.

Some questions arise:

1. Why is it that nearly the majority of Bibles do not contain the original order of canonization, but place them out of order when this should be a part of their research?
2. Why do Christians not know, or be taught, the original order of canonization?

The Source of the Error

Originator of the Error

Jerome (about 340 - 420 A.D.) when translating the entire Bible into Latin (Latin Vulgate in 405 A.D.).

Current Old Testament Order Origination

Egypt. Though the proper manuscript order of the O.T. was known, Jerome chose to follow the order found in the Greek translation of the O.T. (Septuagint (around mid 200's B.C.) - Latin septuaginta meaning seventy). The authors of the Septuagint sub-divided some of the books, rearranged the order subjectively, and failed to adhere to the division of the O.T. The solitary exception within the incorrect order is the Pentateuch (a.k.a. the Law, or Torah), Joshua, and Judges.

Current New Testament Order Origination

Jerome's biased preference. Jerome changed the known order of the N.T. to exalt the Roman Church and to exalt Paul's writings over the other Apostle's writings (because of their Jewish background).

"The change may not appear critical at first glance. However, because Jerome relegated these small but vitally important epistles of the apostles James, Peter, John and Jude to a less prominent position, he literally downgraded the importance of Christians keeping the commandments of God. On the one hand, Jerome's arrangement opened the door for the Roman Church to replace nearly all the commandments of God with its own version of law and tradition. On the other hand, it also set the stage for the development of a 'lawless grace' predominant in Protestantism today."

-- Fred R. Coulter, The Holy Bible in its Original Order, pg. 3.

"It is astonishing that Jerome acknowledged his scriptural dishonesty in altering the original God-breathed manuscript order of both the Old and New Testaments. Rather than being faithful to God and His Word, he chose to please men -- the pope, the Roman Catholic Church and its clergy. In fact, the hierarchy of the Church at Rome was so delighted with his Latin Vulgate that not only was Jerome exalted to 'sainthood,' but the church declared Latin the 'sacred language' forbidding other 'unworthy' languages to be used in religious rituals.

"In his deliberate mishandling of the Holy Scriptures, Jerome caused great spiritual harm to untold numbers of people for over 1500 years. Following in his footsteps, most modern translators have, unfortunately, likewise ignored and rejected the inspired, original manuscript order of the books of the Word of God."

-- Fred R. Coulter, The Holy Bible in its Original Order, pg. 3, emphasis retained.

"About This Bible (A Faithful Version)"
https://afaithfulversion.org
Read the commentary section "About This Bible" to better understand why the order of books in most Bibles are wrong.