The Canon of Scripture: Difference between revisions
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After the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, the Jewish community set down their Canon of Scripture, including only those books written in Hebrew and written up to the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. (Later scholarship indicates that this division was not perfectly done, that is, some of the books accepted by the Jews were actually written after the deadline.) |
After the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, the Jewish community set down their Canon of Scripture, including only those books written in Hebrew and written up to the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. (Later scholarship indicates that this division was not perfectly done, that is, some of the books accepted by the Jews were actually written after the deadline.) This Canon continues to be used by Jews to this day. |
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The Catholic Church finally settled the question of the Canon in the Council of Trent, which reaffirmed the Canon of the Council of Florence. The [[Old Testament]] books that had been in doubt were termed "deuterocanonical", not indicating a lesser degree of inspiration, but a later time of final approval. |
The Catholic Church finally settled the question of the Canon in the Council of Trent, which reaffirmed the Canon of the Council of Florence. The [[Old Testament]] books that had been in doubt were termed "deuterocanonical", not indicating a lesser degree of inspiration, but a later time of final approval. |
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The Protestant churches however rejected these books (though how strongly they are rejected various from one Protestant group to another). As a result Catholics and Protestants continute to use different canons, which differ in respect to the Old Testament: the Protestant Old Testament is identical to the Jewish cannon, while the Catholic Old Testament contains in addition 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Tobith, Judith, additions to Daniel and Esther, Sirach (also called Ecclesiaticus), and the Wisdom of Solomon. |
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Furthermore, there are many books similar in style to the books of the Bible and dating from the same period, which are accepted by neither Protestants nor Catholics. Catholics call these books Apocrypha, while Protestants call them Psuedipigrapha, reserving the term Apocrypha for the Catholic Deutrocanon. These books include 3 and 4 Maccabees, and 1 and 2 Esdras. A few of these books are used by some Orthodox churches. (?) |
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Revision as of 14:10, 25 July 2001
Early Christians and Jews were not interested in laying down a Canon, or set list of inspired books. While all Jews accepted the Torah, there was division about what other books might or might not be inspired by God.
The Septuagint (LXX) translation of the Old Testament into Greek provided a standard text for the non-Hebrew speaking world. However, even here, there was discussion about what books were inspired. Some editions of the LXX include, for instance I-IV Maccabees or the 151st psalm, while others do not include them.
After the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, the Jewish community set down their Canon of Scripture, including only those books written in Hebrew and written up to the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. (Later scholarship indicates that this division was not perfectly done, that is, some of the books accepted by the Jews were actually written after the deadline.) This Canon continues to be used by Jews to this day.
The Christians, on the other hand, tended to use the Greek Bible, and had more books in circulation, though no formal statement was made by the universal Church on the subject. In the Old Testament, the "doubtful" books that were eventually included are Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Baruch, I-II Maccabees, and Sirach, as well as parts of Esther and Daniel written originally in Greek. The doubtful books in the New Testament were Hebrews, James, 2-3 John, 1-2 Peter, and Revelation, mostly because of the unsure authorship of these books.
When St. Jerome translated the Bible into Latin, producing the Vulgate Bible, he argued for the "Veritas Hebraica", or the acceptance of the Jewish canon of the Old Testament. At the insistence of the Pope, however, he added translations for the doubtful books.
Over the years, the feeling in favor of this group of "doubtful" books grew, until at the Council of Florence (1451), this list was defined as canonical. The Council of Florence, however, was not binding on the whole Church.
At the time of the Reformation, Martin Luther eliminated the "doubtful" books from his Old Testament, terming them "Apocrypha". He also argued for the elimiation of certain New Testament books, notably the Letter of James.
The Catholic Church finally settled the question of the Canon in the Council of Trent, which reaffirmed the Canon of the Council of Florence. The Old Testament books that had been in doubt were termed "deuterocanonical", not indicating a lesser degree of inspiration, but a later time of final approval.
The Protestant churches however rejected these books (though how strongly they are rejected various from one Protestant group to another). As a result Catholics and Protestants continute to use different canons, which differ in respect to the Old Testament: the Protestant Old Testament is identical to the Jewish cannon, while the Catholic Old Testament contains in addition 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Tobith, Judith, additions to Daniel and Esther, Sirach (also called Ecclesiaticus), and the Wisdom of Solomon.
Furthermore, there are many books similar in style to the books of the Bible and dating from the same period, which are accepted by neither Protestants nor Catholics. Catholics call these books Apocrypha, while Protestants call them Psuedipigrapha, reserving the term Apocrypha for the Catholic Deutrocanon. These books include 3 and 4 Maccabees, and 1 and 2 Esdras. A few of these books are used by some Orthodox churches. (?)
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