During the first century, the Jews disagreed as to what constituted the canon of Scripture. In fact, there were a large number of different canons in use, including the growing canon used by Christians. In order to combat the spreading Christian cult, Pharisaical rabbis gradually removed many books, including the Gospels, as unfit for the scriptural canon. They also excluded seven books (Baruch, Sirach, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Tobit, Judith, and the Wisdom of Solomon, plus portions of Esther and Daniel) that Christians considered part of the Old Testament.
The Church disregarded these rabbinical rulings for two reasons: First, Jewish legal declarations after the time of Christ are not binding on the followers of Christ. Second, the Pharisees rejected precisely those documents which are foundational for the Christian Church—the Gospels and the other documents of the New Testament. And third, by rejecting the deuterocanonicals, the Jewish council rejected books which had been used by Jesus and the apostles and which were in the edition of the Bible that the apostles used in everyday life—the Septuagint. Indeed, of the approximately 300 Old Testament quotes in the New Testament, about ⅔ of them came from the Septuagint.
This is demonstrated most strikingly at Hebrews 11:35, where we read that “Women received their dead raised to life again. But others were racked, not accepting deliverance, that they might find a better resurrection.” This reference is nowhere to be found in Protestant Old Testaments. We see Elijah raising the son of the widow of Sarephta at 1 Kings 17, and Elisha raising the son of the Shunammite woman at 2 Kings 4, but the reader will search in vain for an account of people who were tortured for refusing to recant their beliefs. But it does appear in 2 Maccabees, which the Pharisees around the turn of the first century, and again Martin Luther 1500 years later, removed.
Here, we read that during the Maccabean persecution, “seven brethren, together with their mother, were apprehended, and compelled by the king to eat swine’s flesh against the law, for which end they were tormented with whips and scourges … [But they], together with the mother, exhorted one another to die manfully, Saying: The Lord God will look upon the truth, and will take pleasure in us … So when the first was dead after this manner, they brought the next to make him a mocking stock: and when they had pulled off the skin of his head with the hair, they asked him if he would eat, before he were punished throughout the whole body in every limb. But he answered in his own language, and said: I will not do it. Wherefore he also in the next place, received the torments of the first: And when he was at the last gasp, he said thus: Thou indeed, O most wicked man, destroyest us out of this present life: but the King of the world will raise us up, who die for his laws, in the resurrection of eternal life.”
Still, it wouldn’t matter if none of the deuterocanonical books were referenced at all in the New Testament, even allegorically, because a third of the Old Testament goes completely without mention: Judges, Ruth, Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Obadiah, Jonah, and Zephaniah aren’t even alluded to anywhere in the New Testament, yet no one questions their authenticity and canonicity.
As Protestant church historian J. N. D. Kelly writes, in Early Christian Doctrines, “It should be observed that the Old Testament thus admitted as authoritative in the Church was somewhat bulkier and more comprehensive [than the Protestant Bible] … It always included, though with varying degrees of recognition, the so-called apocrypha or deutero-canonical books.”
Protestants often charge that the Catholic Church “added” the deuterocanonicals to the Bible at the Council of Trent. But these books had been in the Bible from before the canon was initially settled in the 380s. All the Council of Trent did was reaffirm, in the face of the new Protestant attack on Scripture, what had been the historic Bible of the Church—the standard edition of which was Jerome’s own Vulgate, including the seven deuterocanonicals!
J. N. D. Kelly further notes: “For the great majority, however, the deutero-canonical writings ranked as Scripture in the fullest sense. Augustine, for example, whose influence in the West was decisive, made no distinction between them and the rest of the Old Testament … The same inclusive attitude to the Apocrypha was authoritatively displayed at the synods of Hippo and Carthage in 393 and 397 respectively, and also in the famous letter which Pope Innocent I dispatched to Exuperius, bishop of Toulouse, in 405.”
It is ironic that Protestants reject the inclusion of the deuterocanonicals at councils such as Hippo and Carthage, because these are the very same early Church councils that Protestants appeal to for the canon of the New Testament. Prior to these councils, there was a wide range of disagreement over exactly what books belonged in the New Testament. Certain books, such as the gospels, acts, and most of the epistles of Paul had long been agreed upon. However, a number of the books of the New Testament, most notably Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 & 3 John, and Revelation remained hotly disputed until the canon was settled.
While Protestants are willing to accept the testimony of Hippo and Carthage (the councils they most commonly cite) for the canonicity of the New Testament deuterocanonicals, they are unwilling to accept the testimony of Hippo and Carthage for the canonicity of the Old Testament deuterocanonicals.
Below we give patristic quotations from each of the deuterocanonical books. Notice how the Fathers quoted these books along with the protocanonicals. The deuterocanonicals are those books of the Old Testament that were included in the Bible even though there had been some discussion about whether they should be.
Also included are the earliest official lists of the canon. For the sake of brevity these are not given in full. When the lists of the canon cited here are given in full, they include all the books and only the books found in the modern Catholic Bible.
When examining the question of what books were originally included in the Old Testament canon, it is important to note that some of the books of the Bible have been known by more than one name: Sirach is also known as Ecclesiasticus, 1 and 2 Chronicles as 1 and 2 Paralipomenon, Ezra and Nehemiah as 1 and 2 Esdras, and 1 and 2 Samuel with 1 and 2 Kings as 1, 2, 3, and 4 Kings—that is, 1 and 2 Samuel are named 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Kings are named 3 and 4 Kings. The history and use of these designations is explained more fully in the introductory pages of Catholic bibles.
“You shall not waver with regard to your decisions
[Ecclus.
1:28]. Do not be someone who stretches out his hands
to receive but withdraws them when it comes to giving
[Ecclus.
4:31]”
—Didache
4:5, A.D. 70
“Since, therefore, [Christ] was about to be
manifested and to suffer in the flesh, his suffering was
foreshown. For the prophet speaks against evil,
‘Woe to their soul, because they have counseled an
evil counsel against themselves’ [Is.
3:9], saying, ‘Let us bind the righteous man
because he is displeasing to us’ [Wis.
2:12.]”
—Letter
of Barnabas 6:7, A.D. 74
“By the word of his might [God] established all
things, and by his word he can overthrow them. ‘Who
shall say to him, “What have you done?” or
who shall resist the power of his strength?’
[Wis.
12:12]”
—Letter
to the Corinthians 27:5, ca. A.D. 80
“Stand fast, therefore, in these things, and follow
the example of the Lord, being firm and unchangeable in
the faith, loving the brotherhood [1
Pet. 2:17] … When you can do good, defer it
not, because ‘alms delivers from death’
[Tob.
4:10,
12:9]. Be all of you subject to one another [1
Pet. 5:5], having your conduct blameless among the
Gentiles [1
Pet. 2:12], and the Lord may not be b.asphemed
through you. But woe to him by whom the name of the Lord
is b.asphemed [Is.
52:5]!”
—Letter
to the Philippians 10, A.D. 135
“Those … who are believed to be presbyters
by many, but serve their own lusts and do not place the
fear of God supreme in their hearts, but conduct
themselves with contempt toward others and are puffed up
with the pride of holding the chief seat [Matt.
23:6] and work evil deeds in secret, saying ‘No
man sees us,’ shall be convicted by the Word, who
does not judge after outward appearance, nor looks upon
the countenance, but the heart; and they shall hear those
words to be found in Daniel the prophet: ‘O you
seed of Canaan and not of Judah, beauty has deceived you
and lust perverted your heart’ [Dan.
13:56]. You that have grown old in wicked days, now
your sins which you have committed before have come to
light, for you have pronounced false judgments and have
been accustomed to condemn the innocent and to let the
guilty go free, although the Lord says, ‘You shall
not slay the innocent and the righteous’”
[Dan.
13:52, citing
Ex. 23:7; Daniel 13 is not in the Protestant
Bible]
—Against
Heresies 4:26:3, A.D. 189
“Jeremiah the prophet has pointed out that as many
believers as God has prepared for this purpose, to
multiply those left on the earth, should both be under
the rule of the saints and to minister to this [new]
Jerusalem and that [his] kingdom shall be in it, saying,
‘Look around Jerusalem toward the east and behold
the joy which comes to you from God himself. Behold, your
sons whom you have sent forth shall come: They shall come
in a band from the east to the west … God shall go
before with you in the light of his splendor, with the
mercy and righteousness which proceed from
him’” [Bar.
4:36-5:9; Baruch was often considered part of
Jeremiah, as it is here]
—ibid., 5:35:1
“What is narrated here [in the story of Susannah]
happened at a later time, although it is placed at the
front of the book [of Daniel], for it was a custom with
the writers to narrate many things in an inverted order
in their writings … [W]e ought to give heed,
beloved, fearing lest anyone be overtaken in any
transgression and risk the loss of his soul, knowing as
we do that God is the judge of all and the Word himself
is the eye which nothing that is done in the world
escapes. Therefore, always watchful in heart and pure in
life, let us imitate Susannah.” [The story of
Susannah (Dan.
13) is not in the Protestant Bible]
—Commentary
on Daniel, A.D. 204
“In Genesis [it says], ‘And God tested
Abraham and said to him, “Take your only son whom
you love, Isaac, and go to the high land and offer him
there as a burnt offering … ’”
[Gen.
22:1-2] … Of this same thing in the Wisdom of
Solomon [it says], ‘Although in the sight of men
they suffered torments, their hope is full of immortality
… ’ [Wis.
3:4]. Of this same thing in the Maccabees [it says],
‘Was not Abraham found faithful when tested, and it
was reckoned to him for righteousness.’ [1
Macc. 2:52; see
Jas. 2:21-23]”
—Treatises
7:3:15, A.D. 248
“So Daniel, too, when he was required to worship
the idol Bel, which the people and the king then
worshipped, in asserting the honor of his God, broke
forth with full faith and freedom, saying, ‘I
worship nothing but the Lord my God, who created the
heaven and the earth.’ [Dan.
14:5; which is not in the Protestant
bible]”
—Letters
55:5, A.D. 253
“Now indeed we must treat of the divine scriptures,
what the universal Catholic Church accepts and what she
ought to shun. The order of the Old Testament begins
here: Genesis, one book; Exodus, one book; Leviticus, one
book; Numbers, one book; Deuteronomy, one book; Joshua
[Son of] Nave, one book; Judges, one book; Ruth, one
book; Kings, four books [that is, 1 and 2 Samuel and 1
and 2 Kings]; Paralipomenon [Chronicles], two books;
Psalms, one book; Solomon, three books: Proverbs, one
book, Ecclesiastes, one book, [and] Canticle of Canticles
[Song of Songs], one book; likewise Wisdom, one book;
Ecclesiasticus [Sirach], one book … Likewise the
order of the historical [books]: Job, one book; Tobit,
one book; Esdras, two books [Ezra and Nehemiah]; Esther,
one book; Judith, one book; Maccabees, two
books.”
—Decree
of Pope Damasus, A.D. 382
“[It has been decided] that besides the canonical
scriptures nothing be read in church under the name of
divine Scripture. But the canonical scriptures are as
follows: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy, Joshua the Son of Nun, Judges, Ruth, the
Kings, four books, the Chronicles, two books, Job, the
Psalter, the five books of Solomon [Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom, and a portion of the
Psalms], the twelve books of the prophets, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Tobit, Judith, Esther, Ezra,
two books, Maccabees, two books … ”
—Canon
36, A.D. 393
“[It has been decided] that nothing except the
canonical scriptures should be read in the Church under
the name of the divine scriptures. But the canonical
scriptures are: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, four books of Kings,
Paralipomenon, two books, Job, the Psalter of David, five
books of Solomon, twelve books of the prophets, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Tobit, Judith, Esther, two
books of Esdras, two books of the Maccabees …
”
—Canon
47, A.D. 397
“The whole canon of the scriptures, however, in
which we say that consideration is to be applied, is
contained in these books: the five of Moses … and
one book of Joshua [Son of] Nave, one of Judges; one
little book which is called Ruth … then the four
of Kingdoms, and the two of Paralipomenon …
[T]here are also others too, of a different order
… such as Job and Tobit and Esther and Judith and
the two books of Maccabees, and the two of Esdras
… Then there are the prophets, in which there is
one book of the Psalms of David, and three of Solomon
… But as to those two books, one of which is
entitled Wisdom and the other of which is entitled
Ecclesiasticus and which are called ‘of
Solomon’ because of a certain similarity to his
books, it is held most certainly that they were written
by Jesus Sirach. They must, however, be accounted among
the prophetic books, because of the authority which is
deservedly accredited to them.”
—Christian
Instruction 2:8:13, A.D. 397
“We read in the books of the Maccabees [2
Macc. 12:43] that sacrifice was offered for the dead.
But even if it were found nowhere in the Old Testament
writings, the authority of the Catholic Church which is
clear on this point is of no small weight, where in the
prayers of the priest poured forth to the Lord God at his
altar the commendation of the dead has its
place.”
—The
Care to be Had for the Dead 1:3, A.D. 421
“Now women also prophesied. Of old, Miriam the
sister of Moses and Aaron [Ex.
15:20], and after her, Deborah [Judges.
4:4], and after these Huldah [2
Kgs. 22:14] and Judith [Judith
8], the former under Josiah and the latter under
Darius.”
—Apostolic
Constitutions 8:2, A.D. 400
“What sin have I committed if I follow the judgment
of the churches? But he who brings charges against me for
relating [in my preface to the book of Daniel] the
objections that the Hebrews are wont to raise against the
story of Susannah [Dan.
13], the Song of the Three Children [Dan.
3:29-68], and the story of Bel and the Dragon
[Dan.
14], which are not found in the Hebrew volume, proves
that he is just a foolish sycophant. I was not relating
my own personal views, but rather the remarks that they
are wont to make against us. If I did not reply to their
views in my preface, in the interest of brevity, lest it
seem that I was composing not a preface, but a book, I
believe I added promptly the remark, for I said,
‘This is not the time to discuss such
matters.’”
—Against
Rufinius 11:33, A.D. 401
“A brief addition shows what books really are
received in the canon. These are the things of which you
desired to be informed verbally: of Moses, five books,
that is, of Genesis, of Exodus, of Leviticus, of Numbers,
of Deuteronomy, and Joshua, of Judges, one book, of
Kings, four books, and also Ruth, of the prophets,
sixteen books, of Solomon, five books, the Psalms.
Likewise of the histories, Job, one book, of Tobit, one
book, Esther, one, Judith, one, of the Maccabees, two, of
Esdras, two, Paralipomenon, two books …
”
—Letters 7, A.D. 408
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