Eastern Catholic Biblical Canon

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josephdaniel29

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Do Eastern Catholic Biblical Canons correspond to their Eastern and Oriental Orthodox counterparts or to the Latin Canon?

Yours in Christ
Joe
 
ByzCath said:
Yes, what is the Canon of the Catholic Church?

That is the Canon for all Catholics.
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So all Catholics use the canon defined at Trent. I had heard that some of the other particular Churches used slightly different canons.

(See how easy that was, you could have answered that without all the smart alecky comments. :))

Yours in Christ
Joe
 
Dear brother josephdaniel,
josephdaniel29 said:
So all Catholics use the canon defined at Trent. I had heard that some of the other particular Churches used slightly different canons.

(See how easy that was, you could have answered that without all the smart alecky comments. :))
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I believe the correct interpretation of brother ByzCath’s statement is that we have a denominating set of books common to all the Catholic Churches. Distinctions do not cause tension, as long as those distinction do not disturb the common Faith Tradition of the Churches.

Blessings,
Marduk
 
You are probably going to get a different answer depending on who responds. IMO the canon found in the Septuagint is the Canon for Byzantine churches. A close reading of Trent shows that this view does not contradict Trent’s.
 
Job in the LXX has a few verses at the end that (as far as I know) are not in the Vulgate. These verses are read liturgically at Vespers on Holy Friday in the Byzantine tradition.

The Prayer of Manasseh, in an appendix in the Vulgate (and I guess in the Douay/Rheims) is read at Great Compline. It also appears in various devotional books.

There also might be minor textual variants among the Vulgate, LXX, Armenian, Peshitto, and other versions, which all have their rightful places in Catholic Biblical tradition.

I believe the Tridentine decision on the OT canon was not meant to be definitive and exclusive, but was a reaction against the Reformation churches who excluded the Apocrypha/Deuterocanonical books.

Since the Catholic Church is bigger than the Latin tradition, perhaps this is an question that a future Ecumenical Council should decide.

But ultimately, isn’t this really a minor, or even non-issue?
 
The Tridentine canon is comprised of those books that the extraordinary magisterium of the Catholic Church has declared to be inspired and without error. This infallible declaration does not, however, in my opinion, exclude the possibility of other books being be venerated and used liturgically in various local traditions. The charism of infallibility, enjoyed by the Roman Pontiff and ecumenical councils, can be understood as a negative protection. The Church can not declare non-Scripture to be Scripture, but the council fathers may not have been inspired to include all possible Biblical texts.
 
josephdaniel29 said:
So all Catholics use the canon defined at Trent.
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Trent reaffirmed the Canon originallly declared by Pope Damasus I at the Council of Rome in 382 A.D.

The Decree of Pope St. Damasus I, Council of Rome. 382 A.D…

ST. DAMASUS 1, POPE, THE DECREE OF DAMASUS:
It is likewise decreed: Now, indeed, we must treat of the divine Scriptures: what the universal Catholic Church accepts and what she must shun. ***
The list of the Old Testament begins: Genesis, one book; Exodus, one book: Leviticus, one book; Numbers, one book; Deuteronomy, one book; Jesus Nave, one book; of Judges, one book; Ruth, one book; of Kings, four books; Paralipomenon, two books; One Hundred and Fifty Psalms, one book; of Solomon, three books: Proverbs, one book; Ecclesiastes, one book; Canticle of Canticles, one book; likewise, Wisdom, one book; Ecclesiasticus(Sirach), one book; Likewise, the list of the Prophets: Isaiah, one book; Jeremias, one book; along with Cinoth, that is, his Lamentations; Ezechiel, one book; Daniel, one book; Osee, one book; Amos, 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 list of histories: Job, one book; Tobias, one book; Esdras, two books; Esther, one book; Judith, one book; of Maccabees, two books. ***
***Likewise, the list of the Scriptures of the New and Eternal Testament, which the holy and Catholic Church receives: of the Gospels, one book according to Matthew, one book according to Mark, one book according to Luke, one book according to John. The Epistles of the Apostle Paul, fourteen in number: one to the Romans, two to the Corinthians, one to the Ephesians, two to the Thessalonians, one to the Galatians, one to the Philippians, one to the Colossians, two to Timothy, one to Titus one to Philemon, one to the Hebrews. Likewise, one book of the Apocalypse of John. And the Acts of the Apostles, one book. Likewise, the canonical Epistles, seven in number: of the Apostle Peter, two Epistles; of the Apostle James, one Epistle; of the Apostle John, one Epistle; of the other John, a Presbyter, two Epistles; of the Apostle Jude the Zealot, one Epistle. Thus concludes the canon of the New Testament. ***
Likewise it is decreed: After the announcement of all of these prophetic and evangelic or as well as apostolic writings which we have listed above as Scriptures, on which, by the grace of God, the Catholic Church is founded, we have considered that it ought to be announced that although all the Catholic Churches spread abroad through the world comprise but one bridal chamber of Christ, nevertheless, the holy Roman Church has been placed at the forefront not by the conciliar decisions of other Churches, but has received the primacy by the evangelic voice of our Lord and Savior, who says: "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it; and I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you shall have bound on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall have loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

The Council of Hippo in 393 reaffirmed the canon put forth by Pope Damasus I…
Council of Hippo. "It has been decided that besides the canonical Scriptures nothing be read in church under the name of divine Scripture.
***But the canonical Scriptures are as follows: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua the Son of Nun, Judges, Ruth, the Kings, four books, the Chronicles, two books, Job, the Psalter, the five books of Solomon (included Wisdom and Ecclesiastes (Sirach)), the twelve books of the Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Tobit, Judith, Esther, Ezra, two books, Maccabees, two books." ***(canon 36 A.D. 393).

The Third Council of Carthage in 397 reaffirmed anew, the Canon put forth by Pope Damasus I
This is the same canon was reaffirmed in multiple Councils down through the ages.

May God grant you many happy, holy and blessed years.
 
twf said:
The Tridentine canon is comprised of those books that the extraordinary magisterium of the Catholic Church has declared to be inspired and without error. This infallible declaration does not, however, in my opinion, exclude the possibility of other books being be venerated and used liturgically in various local traditions. The charism of infallibility, enjoyed by the Roman Pontiff and ecumenical councils, can be understood as a negative protection. The Church can not declare non-Scripture to be Scripture, but the council fathers may not have been inspired to include all possible Biblical texts.
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I agree with this. Trent does not by its literal language preclude the possibility that other texts could be divinely inspired:

And it has thought it meet that a list of the sacred books be inserted in this decree, lest a doubt may arise in any one’s mind, which are the books that are received by this Synod. 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 [Page 19] 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.

history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/ct04.html (Emphasis added).

It also needs to be kept in mind that the Council of Trent was in response to the Protestant heresies, including the exclusion of the deuterocanon. I can find no indication that this decree was intended to declare as non-inspired additional texts held to be sacred by the eastern churches.
 
tdgesq said:
I can find no indication that this decree was intended to declare as non-inspired additional texts held to be sacred by the eastern churches.
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I am not aware of anything to that effect either.

Similarly, the Council of Florence, before the Protestant Reformation, was not written in a way that excludes other books:
“…the holy Roman church… professes that one and the same God is the author of the old and the new Testament – that is, the law and the prophets, and the gospel – since the saints of both testaments spoke under the inspiration of the same Spirit. It accepts and venerates their books, whose titles are as follows: Five books of Moses, namely Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; Joshua, Judges, Ruth, four books of Kings, two of Paralipomenon, Esdras, Nehemiah, Tobit, Judith, Esther, Job, Psalms of David, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Baruch, Ezechiel, Daniel; the twelve minor prophets, namely Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi; two books of the Maccabees; the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; fourteen letters of Paul, to the Romans, two to the Corinthians, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the Philippians, two to the Thessalonians, to the Colossians, two to Timothy, to Titus, to Philemon, to the Hebrews; two letters of Peter, three of John, one of James, one of Jude; Acts of the Apostles; Apocalypse of John.”
 
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