Program / Course 17: Defending Scripture / Lesson 2.3
What you will learn
- Name the books at the center of the dispute and say where they come from.
- Explain why the same books are called Apocrypha by some and deuterocanonical by others.
- State the arguments for and against receiving them as Scripture, as their advocates would.
- Describe how the Reformation and the Council of Trent shaped the present disagreement.
The big idea
A group of books written in the last centuries before Christ, such as Wisdom, Sirach, Tobit, Judith, Baruch and the two books of Maccabees, survive in Greek and were used by early Christians. Catholics and Orthodox receive them as Scripture and call them deuterocanonical, meaning of the second canon. Most Protestants call them the Apocrypha and treat them as useful to read but not as a basis for doctrine. Each side has serious arguments, and both rest on a view of what makes a book Scripture.
Key terms
- Deuterocanonical
- Meaning belonging to the second canon. The Catholic and Orthodox name for the books in the Greek Old Testament that are not in the Hebrew Bible.
- Apocrypha
- From a Greek word meaning hidden. Protestants use it for the same group of books. In other contexts it can refer to any writings not accepted as canonical.
- Hebrew canon
- The books of the Hebrew Bible, 24 by Jewish count and 39 by the Protestant division.
- Vulgate
- The Latin Bible translated largely by Jerome around 400, which became the standard Bible of the Western church.
- Maccabees
- Books on the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid king Antiochus IV in the second century before Christ. First and Second Maccabees are in the Catholic canon.
- Council of Trent
- A council of the Catholic Church (1545 to 1563) that, in 1546, issued a decree listing the books of Scripture.
- Intertestamental period
- The centuries between the last of the Old Testament writings and the New Testament.
Background
The books in question were written in Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek between about the third century before Christ and the first century. The Greek Bibles used by early Christians include many of them, mixed among the other Old Testament books. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain Hebrew or Aramaic copies of Sirach and Tobit and fragments of others. This shows that some of them circulated in Hebrew in Palestine, though it does not show whether the community regarded them as Scripture.
The New Testament does not quote these books as Scripture in the same explicit way it quotes the others, though some think it alludes to them. Hebrews 11:35, which speaks of women who received their dead raised to life again and others who were tortured, not accepting deliverance, is often compared with 2 Maccabees 7. Whether this is an allusion is debated. The question for the student is not whether these books are old or interesting, which all agree they are, but what authority they carry.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: The books themselves
The list common to Catholics includes Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach (also called Ecclesiasticus), Baruch with the Letter of Jeremiah, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and additions to Esther and Daniel (such as the Prayer of Azariah, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon). The Orthodox include these and in addition 1 Esdras, 3 Maccabees and Psalm 151, and often the Prayer of Manasseh. Some editions place 4 Maccabees in an appendix.
The books are of different kinds. Tobit and Judith are stories. Wisdom and Sirach are wisdom writings. Maccabees is history. Some of them contain doctrines that matter in later debates: 2 Maccabees 12:43-45 speaks of prayer and sacrifice for the dead, which Catholics cite in support of prayer for the dead. Protestants note that the passage is not found in the books they accept.
Step 2: The argument for receiving them
Catholics and Orthodox begin with the practice of the early church. Most early Christians read the Old Testament in Greek, and the Greek Bibles included these books. Early Christian writers such as Clement of Rome, Irenaeus and Tertullian cite some of them with respect, and Augustine defended receiving them. The regional councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397), which included his voice, listed them. Later Western councils repeated the list, and the Council of Trent defined it in 1546.
On this view, the church inherited the books in use and discerned their authority, as it did with the New Testament. Catholics and Orthodox also argue that the Hebrew list was fixed by Jewish teachers after Christianity had begun, in a setting hostile to the Christian use of the Septuagint, so it cannot be the standard for the Christian church.
Step 3: The argument against
Protestants begin with the Hebrew canon, which they say was the Bible of the Jews to whom the oracles of God were committed (Romans 3:2). Jesus and the apostles never quote the additional books as Scripture. Jerome, the great translator, took the Hebrew list as the standard, called the extra books ecclesiastical books suitable for reading but not for settling doctrine, and hesitated over them. Some early Fathers, including Athanasius in 367, excluded most of them from the canon, while recommending a few for reading.
The Reformers pressed these points. Luther placed the books between the testaments in his German Bible and described them as not equal to Scripture but useful and good to read. The Church of England’s Article VI says they may be read for example of life but are not applied to establish doctrine. The Westminster Confession says the books commonly called Apocrypha are not of divine inspiration and are no part of the canon. The Protestant concern is also theological: they argue that doctrines such as purgatory should not rest on books outside the Hebrew canon.
Step 4: Responses and what remains disputed
Catholics answer that the Hebrew list was not yet fixed in Jesus’ time, so appeal to it begs the question; that Jesus and the apostles also quote or allude to works outside the Hebrew canon (Jude 14 quotes 1 Enoch, which neither side accepts); and that Jerome yielded to the church’s practice and translated the books for the Vulgate. Protestants answer that Jerome’s own judgment, and the Fathers who agreed with him, show the church’s mind was not settled.
Historians note that both sides’ arguments reflect later concerns. The Catholic decision at Trent came in response to Luther, and the Protestant position hardened in the same debate. Before the sixteenth century, writers in the West differed. Some of the most learned, such as Cardinal Cajetan, followed Jerome in treating them as outside the canon proper. The historical record is more mixed than either side’s summary of it.
Step 5: How the books are used today
The 1611 King James Bible originally included the Apocrypha between the testaments, and Anglican lectionaries have long assigned readings from them. Many modern study Bibles in the Protestant world include them. Catholic and Orthodox liturgy draws on them constantly: Wisdom and Sirach are read at funerals and feast days. Whatever one’s view of their status, knowing them is part of understanding the Jewish world between the testaments.
- Why does the choice of name, Apocrypha or deuterocanonical, already carry a position?
- What is the best argument you can make for including these books, and what is the best argument against?
- How important is it that Jesus and the apostles do not quote them as Scripture?
- What is the significance of the fact that Jerome and Augustine disagreed about them?
- Should a doctrine like prayer for the dead rest on a book whose status is disputed? How would each tradition answer?
- What do you lose in understanding the New Testament if you never read these books?
Examples
Wisdom of Solomon
Wisdom, probably written in Greek in Alexandria around the first century before Christ, speaks of divine Wisdom as an emanation of God’s power. Some scholars see its language as part of the background to the New Testament’s language about Christ in Colossians and Hebrews. Whether this is influence or shared vocabulary is debated.
Sirach
Sirach was composed in Hebrew by Ben Sira about 180 before Christ and translated into Greek by his grandson. It is the best attested of these books in early Christian writing. Hebrew fragments were found at Qumran and Masada, which supports its Jewish origin.
The Maccabean books
First Maccabees is a historical account of the revolt, and it is a valuable source for the history of the second century before Christ. The festival of Hanukkah, which John 10:22 mentions, comes from events in these books, though Jews do not include them in their Bible.
Different perspectives
Catholic
The Council of Trent listed these books as sacred and canonical. Catholics call them deuterocanonical to indicate that their acceptance was confirmed later in some places, not that they are lesser Scripture. They hold that the church had the authority and the practice to decide.
Orthodox
The Orthodox churches receive the longer Septuagint canon. Orthodox opinion on the status of the books has varied. The Synod of Jerusalem in 1672 affirmed them, though some Orthodox writers, such as Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow in the nineteenth century, were more cautious. The Orthodox list is somewhat longer than the Catholic one.
Protestant (Reformed and Lutheran)
The Westminster Confession and the Reformed churches excluded the books from the canon, while the Lutheran tradition kept them as useful reading. In both, doctrine is to be based on the books of the Hebrew canon, and the Apocrypha may be read for edification.
Anglican
The Thirty-Nine Articles say the church reads these books for example of life and instruction of manners, but does not apply them to establish any doctrine. Anglican practice has historically kept them in lectionaries and Bibles.
Jewish
Judaism does not include the books in the Hebrew Bible. Sirach was cited by rabbis in some contexts, and the Maccabean story is celebrated at Hanukkah, but the books were not included in the Tanakh. Jewish scholars treat them as important works of Second Temple Judaism.
Why it matters
The disagreement over these books is the most visible difference among the Bibles that Christians use. It also shows that Christians disagree about the source of authority: whether the Hebrew Bible, the practice of the early church or the later decisions of church bodies should settle which books count. Understanding the argument fairly prevents the common error of thinking that one side added or removed books without reasons. Each side believes it is preserving what was handed down.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: Catholics added seven books to the Bible at Trent.
Correction: Catholics reply that the books were already in the Bibles and liturgy of the Western church, and that Trent defined what was already received. Historians agree that Trent made a formal dogmatic definition in 1546, which was new as a definition.
Misunderstanding: Luther removed seven books from the Bible.
Correction: Luther translated and published the books, placing them in a separate section. Later Protestant Bibles dropped them, mainly for reasons of cost and Reformed principle, after his time.
Misunderstanding: The deuterocanonical books were written after Jesus.
Correction: They were written before the time of Christ, between about the third and first centuries before Christ. The dispute is about their status, not their date.
Misunderstanding: Jews rejected these books because they were written in Greek.
Correction: Some were written in Hebrew or Aramaic. The reasons for exclusion by Jewish teachers are debated, and may include the late date of the books and their association with Greek-speaking communities.
Knowledge check
Which books are usually called deuterocanonical in the Catholic list?
Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, Baruch with the Letter of Jeremiah, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and the additions to Esther and Daniel. They are in the Greek Old Testament but not in the Hebrew Bible. The Orthodox churches accept these and some others, such as 1 Esdras, 3 Maccabees and Psalm 151.
What is the main argument for receiving these books?
The main argument is that the early church, which read the Old Testament in Greek, used these books and cited them with respect, and that regional councils and later councils listed them. Catholics and Orthodox add that the Hebrew list was fixed by Jewish teachers after Christianity began, so it cannot be the standard for the Christian church.
What is the main argument against?
The main argument is that the Hebrew Bible was the Bible of the Jews to whom the oracles of God were committed, that the New Testament does not quote the additional books as Scripture, and that Jerome and some Fathers distinguished them from the canon. Protestants also say doctrine should not rest on books outside the Hebrew list.
What did the Council of Trent decide in 1546?
Trent issued a decree listing the books of the Old and New Testaments it received as sacred and canonical, including the deuterocanonical books, and it declared anathema on those who knowingly rejected them. Catholic historians say this confirmed the church’s earlier practice. Protestants and some historians note that it was the first formal definition by an ecumenical council.
Think it through
- How much weight do you give to the practice of the early church, and how much to the Hebrew list? Why?
- What would persuade you to change your view on this question?
- How could members of different traditions discuss this disagreement without caricaturing each other?
Independent assignment
Read and report
In your own notebook, read one chapter from Wisdom, Sirach or Tobit in a Bible that includes it. Write 300 to 400 words describing what the chapter says, how it compares in tone with a book of the Hebrew canon, and whether you can see why some Christians treat it as Scripture and others do not. Do not send this to anyone or post it anywhere.
Further study
- Council of Trent (1545-1563), Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent Read the decree on the canonical Scriptures from the fourth session.
- Westminster Assembly, The Westminster Confession of Faith Read chapter 1, section 3, on the books called Apocrypha.
- Augustine of Hippo, The City of God Read selectively for Augustine’s use of books outside the Hebrew canon.
- Bruce M. Metzger, The Canon of the New Testament Read for the background on the wider collection of early Christian writings.
- Romans 3:2 The oracles of God committed to the Jews, cited in the Protestant argument.
- Hebrews 11:35 Compare with 2 Maccabees 7 as a possible allusion.
- John 10:22 The feast of dedication, which comes from the Maccabean story.