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EphelDuath
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Suppose the only roadblock between a total unification of East and West would be the extended Bible canon. Would the Church accept adding those books, or would it be contrary to past teachings?
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Francine_Peters
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Trent definitively established the Catholic canon for the first time and for all time.Suppose the only roadblock between a total unification of East and West would be the extended Bible canon. Would the Church accept adding those books, or would it be contrary to past teachings?
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St_Aloysius
Guest
It’s unlikely. The canon used currently dates back to the 400s, and was dogmatically (infallibly) declared to be inspired at Trent.
Quite honestly, it’s hard to say what adopting the EOC’s books into the canon would even look like, because their canon varies from place to place. Greek Orthodox consider certain books canonical that other Orthodox would not…
Therefore, it boils down to: Which Orthodox Church’s books would we even consider adopting?
I think union is going to happen, in fact it DID happen for a few months shortly after the break, but then broke off again (it’s complicated). But while the faithful might be persuaded to read from the apocryphal books (3&4 Maccabees, Prayer of Manasseh, 1&2 Esdras, etc.), how they could simply be grafted into the canon is uncertain–and leaves the likelihood of it happening very low.
Some other resolution would have to be reached.
Quite honestly, it’s hard to say what adopting the EOC’s books into the canon would even look like, because their canon varies from place to place. Greek Orthodox consider certain books canonical that other Orthodox would not…
Therefore, it boils down to: Which Orthodox Church’s books would we even consider adopting?
I think union is going to happen, in fact it DID happen for a few months shortly after the break, but then broke off again (it’s complicated). But while the faithful might be persuaded to read from the apocryphal books (3&4 Maccabees, Prayer of Manasseh, 1&2 Esdras, etc.), how they could simply be grafted into the canon is uncertain–and leaves the likelihood of it happening very low.
Some other resolution would have to be reached.
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peregrinus_sg
Guest
Is the Eastern Orthodox Canons of Scripture even “confirmed”? I cannot find synodal decisions defining their canon of scripture even for the books that all the Orthodox Churches agree on: 1 Esdras, 3 Maccabees etc.
The most authoritative decision was the 17th century Council of Jerusalem which explicitly stated that their canon included more than the canon of rabbinical Judaism. But when I read through that Council’s decrees, they never explicitly stated that Esdras, 3 & 4 Maccabees, Manaseh etc are in the canon.
If the Orthodox synods have never definitively promulgated their longer canons, perhaps they could be persuaded to drop the excess books. The Latin Church has not made use of these extra books from the 1st centuries. I would think it is not meaningful to force the Latin Church to canonise these books.
The most authoritative decision was the 17th century Council of Jerusalem which explicitly stated that their canon included more than the canon of rabbinical Judaism. But when I read through that Council’s decrees, they never explicitly stated that Esdras, 3 & 4 Maccabees, Manaseh etc are in the canon.
If the Orthodox synods have never definitively promulgated their longer canons, perhaps they could be persuaded to drop the excess books. The Latin Church has not made use of these extra books from the 1st centuries. I would think it is not meaningful to force the Latin Church to canonise these books.
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Jerry-Jet
Guest
Trent said what constituted Holy Scripture.
It did not say everything that wasn’t Holy Scripture.
While extremely unlikely it is my understanding that the books of the Easter Orthodox Canon have not ever anywhere been labeled as being spurious–many books that didn’t make it into the bible were labeled as spurious.
If the Catholic Church was led by the Holy Spirit to include those books held as canonical by the Eastern Orthodox it would not contradict anything that the Catholic Church had previously taught.
I’m not saying that it would or should happen–I’m only saying that it is a possibility that hasn’t been totally excluded.
At least that’s what Jimmy Akin says.
It did not say everything that wasn’t Holy Scripture.
While extremely unlikely it is my understanding that the books of the Easter Orthodox Canon have not ever anywhere been labeled as being spurious–many books that didn’t make it into the bible were labeled as spurious.
If the Catholic Church was led by the Holy Spirit to include those books held as canonical by the Eastern Orthodox it would not contradict anything that the Catholic Church had previously taught.
I’m not saying that it would or should happen–I’m only saying that it is a possibility that hasn’t been totally excluded.
At least that’s what Jimmy Akin says.
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