S
SoMissCatholic
Guest
Yes, it did. It is the same canon that it has always used, there just was not a need for the Church to infallibly define the canon by way of an ecumenical council until it was challenged by Martin Luther during the reformation.
This is not particularly surprising when you consider that, while not always the case, much of the dogma of the Church was not infallibly defined until an ecumenical council was called to respond to a particular heresy concerning that dogma. For example, the First Council of Nicaea was called in 325 in response to the heretical teachings of Arius, which questioned the divinity of Christ by suggesting that he was created by the Father from nothing rather than eternally one in being with the Father. The Council infallibly defined the divinity of Christ, however this was not a new belief being expressed for the first time at the Council. Rather, it reflected what Christians had always believed for almost 300 years since Jesus’ death and resurrection. There just was not a need for it to be infallibly defined until it was challenged by the teachings of Arius.
This is why Athanasius in writing about the Council said, “But concerning matters of faith, they [the bishops assembled at Nicea] did not write: ‘It has been decided,’ but ‘Thus the Catholic Church believes.’ And thereupon confessed how they believed. This they did to show that their judgement was not of more recent origin, but was in fact of Apostolic times…” (Volume 1, Faith of the Early Fathers, p338) (Quote found here)