(Tewahedo)
I have been fascinated by this biblical canon for years. Often when one hears christians talk about what is considered “cannon” and what is not, they are referring to the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. The KJV is said to have been published in 1611, just 414 years ago as of the date I am writing this. In contrast, the Ethiopian Bible is said to have been published 800 years before that, in the fourth century.
While the current KJV contains 66 books considered cannon, the Ethiopian Bible contains 81-88 books (source).
Why does the older Christian Bible contain more books? Who decided to take books out? Who decides what “cannon” is and what are their motives for doing so? These are just some of the questions I had when I learned about the Ethiopian Bible.
Upon researching the history of the KJV I was surprised to learn that it originally contained 80 books. The 14 books known as Apochrypha were removed in the 1800s.