M
mercygate
Guest
Golum, this is a question that affects a great deal of Scriptural theology. It is well covered in summary documents which you can access on the menu at the left of the home page of Catholic Answers. The short answer for you here is that although you say the canon was not immutable till Trent, by the time of Trent the Churches of both East and West accepted the entire Alexandrian Canon.
In the West – the Church Luther belonged to – the canon had remained unchanged since the late 4th Century. Trent affirmed that canon in response to the challenges posed by the Reformation. The Early Church accepted the deuterocanonical books. Luther rejected them, partly because they contain the warrant for doctrines he rejected: Purgatory is the big one.
One must keep in mind that Luther’s reactions against the Church, and against Scripture itself, were prompted by the “perfect storm” of his deep spirituality, his brilliance, his unfortunate psychological disposition (even Protestant scholars speculate that today he might have been diagnosed as mentally ill), and the appalling abuses being perpetrated by officials of the Church. It might be natural for us Catholics to want to wish away some of the uglier chapters in the history of the Church, but the Catholic Encyclopedia is painfully honest in laying them out for public view. Nothing is served by trying to pretend that everything was wonderful until that pestilent Brother Martin started making trouble.
Some people say that the fact that the Church has survived her own corruption is proof of God’s special protection of his Bride.