Final answer:
The New Testament in the Catholic Bible contains 27 books. The canonical texts include the four Gospels and the Apocrypha, differing from Protestant Bibles. Manuscripts like the Book of Kells have preserved these texts through history.
Step-by-step explanation:
The New Testament in the Catholic Bible consists of 27 books. This canon was settled in the Western Church in the 16th century, even though Jerome's translation, the Vulgate, was a key Latin edition since 410 AD. Interestingly, the definitive number of books in the Old Testament wasn't established until 1442 during the Renaissance.
The four Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – are central to the New Testament and record the life of Jesus. The Catholic Bible also includes the Apocrypha, which is a collection of writings considered canonical by the Catholic Church but excluded from Protestant versions of the Bible.
Historically significant manuscripts like the Book of Kells reflect these sacred texts. The Book of Kells contains the four Gospels in Latin and exemplifies the importance of these texts in Christian history and the meticulous artistry involved in their transmission over the centuries.