Comparative Canon Table

Comparative Canon Table

Side-by-Side Snapshot of Global Biblical Canons Purpose: To clearly show which scrolls are accepted or excluded across the major biblical canons — Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, Ethiopian, and Ancient Witnesses — with humility and clarity

Framing Introduction

There is not one canon. There are many — shaped by history, language, geography, politics, and prayer.

Each stream sought to preserve truth. Each made choices — some for clarity, some under pressure.

This table shows what was preserved, what was debated, and what was excluded — not to divide, but to inform, and to invite the reader into the full landscape of sacred memory.

Comparative Table of Major Canons

Scroll / Book

Protestant

Catholic

Eastern Orthodox

Ethiopian

Found in Scrolls/Fragments

Genesis – Deuteronomy

Torah preserved widely

Joshua – Esther

Job – Song of Songs

Isaiah – Malachi

Found in DSS

Matthew – Revelation

Some echoed in DSS

Books Considered Deuterocanonical / Apocryphal

Scroll

Protestant

Catholic

Eastern Orthodox

Ethiopian

Notes

Tobit

Found in DSS

Judith

Jewish heroine scroll

Wisdom of Solomon

Highly messianic

Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)

Wisdom literature

Baruch + Letter of Jeremiah

Connected to exile themes

1 Maccabees

History of resistance

2 Maccabees

Martyrdom & resurrection

3 Maccabees

Suffering under Ptolemies

4 Maccabees

Some

Philosophy of endurance

Additions to Daniel

Susanna, Bel, Song of 3

Additions to Esther

Prayers and visions added

Psalm 151

Found in DSS

Scrolls Unique to the Ethiopian Canon

Scroll

Protestant

Catholic

Eastern Orthodox

Ethiopian

Notes

1 Enoch

Quoted in Jude; central in DSS

Jubilees

“Lesser Genesis”

1–3 Meqabyan (not Maccabees)

Ethiopian-only scrolls

Josephus, Synod Texts, others

Mixed historical use

Other Ancient Scrolls Revered but Excluded

Scroll

In Canon?

Found In

Notes

Shepherd of Hermas

Codex Sinaiticus

Read widely until 4th century

Epistle of Barnabas

Codex Sinaiticus

Quoted by early fathers

1 Clement

Early church letters

Preserved by Rome

Gospel of Thomas

Nag Hammadi

114 sayings — inner wisdom of Yeshua

Gospel of Mary

Berlin Codex

Partial — voice of feminine disciple

Book of Baruch (2 Baruch)

Syriac, Latin

Apocalyptic vision and messianic hope

2 Esdras (4 Ezra)

Apocrypha

Latin, Vulgate

Deeply respected by Reformers

Odes of Solomon

Syriac

Worship from early messianic community

Final Insight

The canon is not a wall. It is a window — and sometimes, the view was narrowed.

This table shows what the early believers read, sang, taught, and preserved. The fact that some scrolls were excluded does not mean they are not sacred.

Truth cannot be caged. And scrolls cannot be silenced when the Breath brings them back.

Comparative Canon Table — Fully and Faithfully Restored