The Bible is arguably the most distributed book in the world with estimates of hundreds of millions of copies in circulation. This does not mean it is the most read book and it certainly is not the easiest book to understand. The Bible, however, isn’t a book as we commonly refer to “books”. Rather it is a collection of writings, some literal some metaphorical others polemical. When we say “the Bible” we are really referring to a library.

It was by the Apostolic Tradition that the Church discerned which writings are to be included in the list of the sacred books. This complete list is called the canon of Scripture. It includes 46 books for the Old Testament (45 if we count Jeremiah and Lamentations as one) and 27 for the New.

It is important to remember that in the beginning there was much discussion and dispute over what were truly inspired texts. The canon of the Bible was decided at the councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397, 419). This is a historical fact with which we wouldn’t know what was truly biblical. Mr. Luther removed parts of the decided canon to conform to his new religion.

The following links offer commentary on the Bible from a historical, apostolic, and Catholic perspective

Haydock’s Bible Commentary Follows Douay-Rheims Bible text	Veritas Catholic Guide to The Bible