Canon of
Scripture |
"For
our faith rests upon the revelation made to the apostles and prophets
who wrote the canonical books, and not on the revelations (if any such
there are) made to other doctors. Hence [St.] Augustine says (Ep. ad Hieron.
xix,1): 'Only those books of Scripture which are called canonical have I
learned to hold in such honor as to believe their authors have not erred
in any way in writing them. But other authors I so read as not to deem
everything in their works to be true, merely on account of their having
so thought and written, whatever may have been their holiness and
learning.'" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"Can. 36/47. [It has been decided] that
nothing except the Canonical Scriptures should be read in the
church under the name of the Divine Scriptures. But the Canonical
Scriptures are: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy,
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, four books of Kings, Paralipomenon two
books, Job, the Psalter of David, five books of Solomon, twelve
books of the Prophets, Isaias, Jeremias, Daniel, Ezechiel, Tobias,
Judith, Esther, two books of Esdras, two books of the Machabees.
Moreover, of the New Testament: Four books of the Gospels, the
Acts of the Apostles one book, thirteen epistles of Paul the
Apostle, one of the same to the Hebrews, two of Peter, three of
John, one of James, one of Jude, the Apocalypse of John. Thus [it
has been decided] that the Church beyond the sea may be consulted
regarding the confirmation of that canon; also that it be
permitted to read the sufferings of the martyrs, when their
anniversary days are celebrated." (Council of Carthage III,
397 A.D.)
"Likewise it has been said: Now indeed we
must treat of the divine Scriptures, what the universal Catholic
Church accepts and what she ought to shun. The order of the Old
Testament begins here: Genesis one book, Exodus one book,
Leviticus one book, Numbers one book, Deuteronomy one book, Joshua
Nave one book, judges one book, Ruth one book, Kings four books,
Paralipomenon two books, Psalms one book, Solomon three books,
Proverbs one book, Ecclesiastes one book, Canticle of Canticles
one book, likewise Wisdom one book, Ecclesiasticus one book.
Likewise the order of the Prophets. Isaias one book, Jeremias one
book, with Ginoth, that is, with his lamentations, Ezechiel one
book, Daniel one book, Osee one book, Micheas one book, Joel one
book, Abdias one book, Jonas one book, Nahum one book, Habacuc one
book, Sophonias one book, Aggeus one book, Zacharias one book,
Malachias one book. Likewise the order of the histories. Job one
book, Tobias one book, Esdras two books, Esther one book, Judith
one book, Machabees two books. Likewise the order of the writings
of the New and eternal Testament, which the holy and Catholic
Church supports. Of the Gospels, according to Matthew one book,
according to Mark one book, according to Luke one book, according
to John one book. The Epistles of Paul [the apostle] in number
fourteen. To the Romans one, to the Corinthians two, to the
Ephesians one, to the Thessalonians two, to the Galatians one, to
the Philippians one, to the Colossians one, to Timothy two, to
Titus one, to Philemon one, to the Hebrews one. Likewise the
Apocalypse of John, one book. And the Acts of the Apostles one
book. Likewise the canonical epistles in number seven. Of Peter
the Apostle two epistles, of James the Apostle one epistle, of
John the Apostle one epistle, of another John, the presbyter, two
epistles, of Jude the Zealot, the Apostle one epistle...The canon
of the New Testament ends here." ["Decree of (Pope St.)
Damasus" from the acts of the Roman Synod, 382 A.D.]
"A brief addition shows what books really
are received in the canon. These are the desiderata of which you
wished to be informed verbally: of Moses five books, that is, of
Genesis, of Exodus, of Leviticus, of Numbers, of Deuteronomy, and
Joshua, of judges one book, of Kings four books, and also Ruth, of
the Prophets sixteen books, of Solomon five books, the Psalms.
Likewise of the histories, Job one book, of Tobias one book,
Esther one, Judith one, of the Machabees two, of Esdras two,
Paralipomenon two books. Likewise of the New Testament: of the
Gospels four books, of Paul the Apostle fourteen epistles, of John
three epistles of Peter two, an epistle of Jude, an epistle of
James, the Acts of the Apostles, the Apocalypse of John. Others,
however, which were written by a certain Leucius under the name of
Matthias or of James the Less, or under the name of Peter and John
(or which were written by Nexocharis and Leonidas the philosophers
under the name of Andrew), or under the name of Thomas, and if
there are any others, you know that they ought not only to be
repudiated, but also condemned." (Pope St. Innocent I, "Consulenti
tibi", Feb. 20, 405 A.D.) "The sacred and holy ecumenical and general
Synod of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Spirit, with the
same three Legates of the Apostolic See presiding over it, keeping
this constantly in view, that with the abolishing of errors, the
purity itself of the Gospel is preserved in the Church, which
promised before through the Prophets in the Holy Scriptures our
Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God first promulgated with His own
mouth, and then commanded 'to be preached' by His apostles 'to
every creature' as the source of every saving truth and of
instruction in morals [Matt. 28:19 ff., Mark 16:15], and [the
Synod] clearly perceiving that this truth and instruction are
contained in the written books and in the unwritten traditions,
which have been received by the apostles from the mouth of Christ
Himself, or from the apostles themselves, at the dictation of the
Holy Spirit, have come down even to us, transmitted as it were
from hand to hand, [the Synod] following the examples of the
orthodox Fathers, receives and holds in veneration with an equal
affection of piety and reverence all the books both of the Old and
of the New Testament, since one God is the author or both, and
also the traditions themselves, those that appertain both to faith
and to morals, as having been dictated either by Christ's own word
of mouth, or by the Holy Spirit, and preserved in the Catholic
Church by a continuous succession. And so that no doubt may arise
in anyone's mind as to which are the books that are accepted by
this Synod, it has decreed that a list of the Sacred books be
added to this decree. They are written here below: Books of the
Old Testament: The five books of Moses, namely, 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 called Nehemias, Tobias, Judith, Esther, Job, the
Psalter of David consisting of 150 psalms, the Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes, the canticle of Canticles, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus,
Isaias, Jeremias with Baruch, Ezechiel, Daniel, the twelve minor
Prophets, that is Osee, Joel, Amos, Abdias, Jonas, Michaeas,
Nahum, Habacuc, Sophonias, Aggaeus, Zacharias, Malachias; two
books of the Machabees, the first and the second. Books 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, to the Romans, to the
Corinthians two, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the
Philippians, to the Colossians, two to the Thessalonians, two to
Timothy, to Titus, to Phi lemon, to the Hebrews; two of Peter the
Apostle, three of John the Apostle, one of the Apostle James, one
of the Apostle Jude, and the Apocalypse of John the Apostle. If
anyone, however, should not accept the said books as sacred and
canonical, entire with all their parts, as they were wont to be
read in the Catholic Church, and as they are contained in the old
Latin Vulgate edition, and if both knowingly and deliberately he
should condemn the aforesaid traditions let him be anathema." (Council of Trent, 1546 A.D.) Also
See: Author
of Holy Scripture | Authorship
of Various Books of Scripture | The
Church Existed Before the Bible | Difficulty
of Scripture | Encouragement
to Read Scripture | The
Gospels Contain Only a Taste of Jesus' Teaching |
History
/ Holy Scripture | Holy
Scripture Does Not Reveal All | Holy
Scripture is Truthful / Free From Error | Importance
of Scripture | Misinterpretation
of Scripture | Proper
Interpretation of Scripture | Septuagint
| Those
Who Reject Scripture | Those
Who Venerate Other 'Scriptures' | Vernacular
Translations / Faulty Translations | The
Vulgate | Written
/ Oral Tradition | Books
of the Bible (Scripture/Parables Section)
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