Let's talk about the Maccabean revolt
Yes, the title was an intentional pun.
But, oddly enough, I mean “masses” as in the population. Particularly, into the hands of Protestants.
Not very well known, is that Protestant Bibles originally had these books. In the King James Version, they were in a section marked “Apocrypha”.
In fact, almost all Protestant Bibles had these books,
(Before we get started, if you’d like to help me out, check me out on Locals; Catholicism, News, and Whatever community)
If all scripture is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16), then Our Protestant friends need all scripture.
It was only around the 1820s/1830s that the King James Bible started being excised of these books. (Making the Bible Safe For Protestantism: Why Remove the "Apocrypha?")
In other words, if you King James Bible doesn’t have these books, it’s not a real King James Bible.
There has been some good news on that front. One of the Bibles I have (King James Bible for Catholics,Walsingham Publishing - King James Bible for Catholics/) has these books, in the traditional Catholic order at that.
(It also has actually Apocrypha like the Prayer of Manasseh, 1 and 2 Esdras (3 and 4 Esdras)
However, some things with the word “Catholic” are like kryptonite to some Protestants.
Right idea, but this needs to be done in a way Protestants don’t find detestable.
My suggestion, (and, again, this is still a work in progress), is to distribute these Bibles “The Real King James Bible”, or something of that sort.
“So”, you may ask, “are you giving them away Charlie”?
Not at first. Stuff like this takes money and this would be a massive undertaking.
But I want to do this, with the Bible in the Catholic historic order, in the Western Church.
Likewise, it should be acknowledged that the reasons based on Jerome’s “Hebrew truth” idea were faulty. (The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Canon and Text of the Bible)
I feel like, if Protestants got to know these books, and accept them, as what they are, the true Word of God, it might not make them Catholic, but, at least they’d see that Catholics do have “Biblical” views.
Adam Charles Hovey is the creator of the Catholicism, News, and Whatever community on Locals; Catholicism, News and Whatever community
And is the host of “Coffee and Christianity” on the Adam Charles Hovey Podcast. Coffee and Christianity