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wilkerl
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wilkerl
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I’ve been doing research ever since my posting and have found the Apologetics Toolkit at www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/a/canon.html I had googled Development of the Biblical Canon; the Lateran Council and Council of Trent: Rules on Prohibited Books. Fascinating to read.
As usual the Catholic Church is so careful and deliberate to keep everything the way Jesus would want it to be. The Church had to deal with so many heresies after Jesus’ death until the 1500s as well. It has come through it all pristine as I would have guessed. The Holy Spirit guided every thought, of course.
As usual the Catholic Church is so careful and deliberate to keep everything the way Jesus would want it to be. The Church had to deal with so many heresies after Jesus’ death until the 1500s as well. It has come through it all pristine as I would have guessed. The Holy Spirit guided every thought, of course.
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Eileen_T
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Because the Church tells us so!, says St. Augustine, “For my part, I should not believe the gospel except as moved by the authority of the Catholic Church.”
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scottm
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But in “On Christian Doctrine” didn’t Augustine set forth a tiered approach for deciding what books to accept into the canon? And isn’t that the same thing as deciding which books were inspired by the HS? I can’t remember now the exact wording Augustine used, but I think it was (1) books accepted by everyone, then (2) books accepted by the majority, then (3) books accepted by a lot of people. Something like that. It was a hierarchy.
Then, very thankfully, he listed all the books that he himself accepted. That might be an acceptible answer to the students – “Here’s a list of books that have been accepted in the Church since at least the early 400s. Give me one reason to reject any one of them.”
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Janet_S
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Catholics believe the books in their Bible are inspired because they were handed on by Christ’s apostles to the Church to be read in the liturgy as Sacred Scripture.
There have been times throughout Church history when the inspiration of certain books has come into question. At these times, the Magisterium of the Church (guided by the Holy Spirit) would come together and make a decision about the canon of Scripture. The Major Church Pronouncements on the Bible can be found here:
catholicapologetics.org/ap031100.htm
You should point out to your students the example set in Acts 15 when the Apostolic Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, settled the first major controversy in the Church. The same method the Apostles used then is still used today and was used to settle the canonicity of Scripture. The Holy Spirit revealed the inspiration of the books of the Bible through the direction of the Magisterium of the Church–the bishops in union with the bishop of Rome.
You might find this online book helpful:
Where We Got the Bible: Our Debt to the Catholic Church
by The Right Rev. HENRY G. GRAHAM,
catholicapologetics.info/apologetics/protestantism/wbible.htm
(This book is available in print as well.)
Many of the Council documents cited above (Council of Carthage, Florence, and Trent) are available online if you want to see the lists of which books the Church accepted.
Also, you can read the articles about the NT and OT canon in the Catholic Encyclopedia:
newadvent.org/cathen/03267a.htm
newadvent.org/cathen/03274a.htm
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Janet_S
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The problem with this explanation is that Catholics don’t accept which books are inspired based on the authority of Augustine’s list. They accept them because of the decision of the Church Magisterium guided by the Holy Spirit.
For example, during Augustine’s time, there was controversy over the deuterocanonical books (Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Baruch, Sirach, and I & II Maccabees.) Augustine thought these 7 books should be considered canonical; Jerome thought they shouldn’t. In the late 4th and early 5th century, the Church convoked the local African Councils of Hippo and Carthage to decide (among other things) which books were canonical or acceptable to read in Church. The documents from the Council of Carthage AD 419 were sent to the Bishop of Rome (Pope Boniface I) for approval, and he approved them. You can read these Council documents online, and Canon 24 addresses the issue of the canon of Scripture:
newadvent.org/fathers/3816.htm
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scottm
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Good enough for me.
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Verbum
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Hi wilkerl,
The Church accepted those books of the New Testament which had been handed down to her as of apostolic origin. In other words, the supreme criterium of inspiration is apostolic origin, what the apostles taught as being from Jesus. Likewise the Old Testament is considered inspired because the apostles told us so, after being taught by Jesus.
Verbum
The Church accepted those books of the New Testament which had been handed down to her as of apostolic origin. In other words, the supreme criterium of inspiration is apostolic origin, what the apostles taught as being from Jesus. Likewise the Old Testament is considered inspired because the apostles told us so, after being taught by Jesus.
Verbum
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Bishopite
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I think perhaps you are thinking of the early church which had books catagorized in three catagories.
- Accepted books i.e., the gospels
- Rejected books i.e., the gnostic gospels
- Disputed books ie., Revelation, Hebrews, 2, 3 John, 2 Peter, James
home.inreach.com/bstanley/canon.htm
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wilkerl
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Thank you so much, everyone who answered my question and Joe Monahan for directing me to this thread. I’ve been away for a few days having given up on anyone responding and then out of curiosity, I came back. I think you’ve given me a year’s worth of study and research to keep me busy for awhile. So I’ve got a lot to do to get ready for the class. My husband and I are working on it together.
Truth is, there is no easy pat answer to anything in the 2,000 year old history of the Catholic Church, it appears. I think it was easier just worrying about getting to mass on Sundays and Holy Days, confession once a year, and not breaking the ten commandments. Now we have to be knowledgeable about apologetics; know the Bible’s prophecies and covenants; and walk the walk daily. Life has become 3-dimensional living the faith. It’s exciting really. Thank you again.
Truth is, there is no easy pat answer to anything in the 2,000 year old history of the Catholic Church, it appears. I think it was easier just worrying about getting to mass on Sundays and Holy Days, confession once a year, and not breaking the ten commandments. Now we have to be knowledgeable about apologetics; know the Bible’s prophecies and covenants; and walk the walk daily. Life has become 3-dimensional living the faith. It’s exciting really. Thank you again.
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wilkerl
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wilkerl
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Thank you so much, Janet S. This is the best book on the subject of where we got the Bible than anything I’ve ever read.
I’ll be busy reading for quite sometime.
wilkerl
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teddyruxpin
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I know you asked about which books are deemed ‘inspired’ and how that came to be, which is a pretty straightforward answer, the Magisterium. I think your question is really more about ‘canonicity,’ since guidance by the Holy Spirit is a fairly succinct answer and you probably knew that.
So, I really recommend getting or borrowing a copy of The New Jerome Biblical Commentary and in the introductory sections, before actually getting into the Biblical commentaries, there’s an excellent section on the idea of ‘canonicity’ and how that was arrived at, historical thinking, and contemporary thinking on that. It’s a little heavy for kids of course, so you’d want to read it yourself and digest it for them and build a lesson or two around it. Hope this helps.
The answers are are clear, and not really in dispute when one possesses all available information. It’s not chickenbones or lots how the Canon was codified.
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