Tuesday, June 27, 2006

The Canon of Scriptures

"They are as set down here below: of the Old Testament: the five books of Moses, to wit, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; Josue, Judges, Ruth, four books of Kings, two of Paralipomenon, the first book of Esdras, and the second which is entitled Nehemias; Tobias, Judith, Esther, Job, the Davidical Psalter, consisting of a hundred and fifty psalms; the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Canticle of Canticles, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Isaias, Jeremias, with Baruch; Ezechiel, Daniel; the twelve minor prophets, to wit, Osee, Joel, Amos, Abdias, Jonas, Micheas, Nahum, Habacuc, Sophonias, Aggaeus, Zacharias, Malachias; two books of the Machabees, the first and the second. Of the New Testament: the four Gospels, according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; the Acts of the Apostles written by Luke the Evangelist; fourteen epistles of Paul the apostle, (one) to the Romans, two to the Corinthians, (one) to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the Philippians, to the Colossians, two to the Thessalonians, two to Timothy, (one) to Titus, to Philemon, to the Hebrews; two of Peter the apostle, three of John the apostle, one of the apostle James, one of Jude the apostle, and the Apocalypse of John the apostle. But if any one receive not, as sacred and canonical, the said books entire with all their parts, as they have been used to be read in the Catholic Church, and as they are contained in the old Latin vulgate edition; and knowingly and deliberately contemn the traditions aforesaid; let him be anathema."- (Council of Trent, Decree Concerning the Canonical Scriptures)

Any other books not mentioned above is considered apocrypha and not divinely inspired. Now, some of the names of those books have changed in today's Bible translations, you can see the changed names here. The Deuterocanonical books that are absent in Protestant Bibles are: Tobit, Judith, some additions to the books of Esther and Daniel, first book of Maccabees, second book of Maccabees, Sirach (alias Ecclesiasticus), and Baruch. The Catholic Church considers the Deuterocanonicals as sacred and canonical equal in authority to the protocanonicals (meaning Primary canon). The reason for the label "Deuterocanon" (meaning Second Canon) is because for a time in the early Church there was a hesitation to accept them, but eventually they were accepted. They were present in the Greek Septuagint Version of the Bible. The apostles and their successors used the Septuagint and some of their writings reflect the message of the deuterocanon.(See: Septuagint Quotes in the New Testament) St. Jerome translated from the Greek and Old Latin versions and developed the Latin Vulgate Bible around the year 405 AD.

The Eastern Orthodox canon of the scriptures is a bit different from that of the Catholic Church. The Eastern Orthodox only accept the first seven Ecumenical Councils, which did not explicitly mention a list of the canonical books. Therefore, they are divided on what constitutes the deuterocanonical books. Some reject the deuterocanonicals. Some accept them in addition to other books that the Catholic Church considers apocrypha (non-canonical, not divinely inspired). The problem is that the Septuagint has so many different variations, some manuscripts omitting important texts and some adding various apocryphal texts. The Greek Orthodox Church accepts all the deuterocanonicals plus the Third Book of Maccabees, Psalm 151, and the Prayer of Manasseh (inserted at the end of the second book of Chronicles in the Septuagint). These texts are considered as apocrypha by the Catholic Church. One thing that can be said is that the Eastern Orthodox accept the Catholic canon of scripture, but add on some apocryphal texts.

Most Protestants do not accept the deuterocanon. They regard those books as apocrypha and are labeled as such in some of their Bible versions. They put the deuterocanon on the same level as heretical apocryphal texts. Most of their Bible versions do not include the deuterocanon (or "Apocrypha" as they call it).

Sources and Recommended Reading:

The Council of Trent

Canon of the Old Testament, Catholic Encyclopedia

Apocrypha, Catholic Encyclopedia

Septuagint Version, Catholic Encyclopedia