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98-854: The deuterocanonical books , meaning "Of, pertaining to, or constituting a second canon ", collectively known as the Deuterocanon ( DC ), are certain books and passages considered to be canonical books of the Old Testament by the Catholic Church , the Eastern Orthodox Church , the Oriental Orthodox Church , and the Church of the East . In contrast, modern Rabbinic Judaism and Protestants regard

196-671: A secondary status . Martin Luther (1483–1546) moved seven Old Testament books (Tobit, Judith, 1–2 Maccabees, Book of Wisdom, Sirach, and Baruch) into a section he called the " Apocrypha , that are books which are not considered equal to the Holy Scriptures, but are useful and good to read". All of these apocrypha are called anagignoskomena by the Eastern Orthodox Church per the Synod of Jerusalem . As with

294-623: A Council of Jamnia (or Yavne in Hebrew) which had decided the Jewish canon sometime in the late 1st century (c. 70–90). W. M. Christie was the first to dispute this popular theory in an article entitled "The Jamnia Period in Jewish History". Jack P. Lewis wrote a critique of the popular consensus entitled "What Do We Mean by Jabneh?". Sid Z. Leiman made an independent challenge for his University of Pennsylvania thesis published later as

392-585: A book in 1976. Raymond E. Brown largely supported Lewis in his review published in The Jerome Biblical Commentary (also appears in the New Jerome Biblical Commentary of 1990), as did Lewis' discussion of the topic in 1992's Anchor Bible Dictionary . Albert C. Sundberg Jr. summarized the crux of Lewis' argument as follows: Jewish sources contain echoes of debate about biblical books but canonicity

490-566: A complete list of the books received by the Catholic Church as inspired, but omits the terms "canon" and "canonical". The Council of Florence therefore taught the inspiration of all the Scriptures, but did not formally pronounce itself on canonicity. Luther proposed that the genuine mark of canonical material was that it preached Christ. This allowed him to relegate books (including ones that may not have supported his theology) to

588-545: A hypothetical Council of Jamnia . Regional councils in the West published official canons that included these books as early as the 4th and 5th centuries. The Catholic Encyclopedia states: The official attitude of the Latin Church, always favourable to them, kept the majestic tenor of its way. Two documents of capital importance in the history of the canon constitute the first formal utterance of papal authority on

686-514: A lesser degree of inspiration, but a later time of final approval. The Sixto-Clementine Vulgate contained in the Appendix several books considered as apocryphal by the council: Prayer of Manasseh , 3 Esdras , and 4 Esdras . Council of Jamnia The theory of a council of Jamnia that finalized the canon, first proposed by Heinrich Graetz in 1871, was popular for much of the 20th century. However, it has been increasingly questioned since

784-510: A letter ( c. 405) to Exsuperius of Toulouse , a Gallic bishop, Pope Innocent I mentioned the sacred books that were already received in the canon. When bishops and Councils spoke on the matter of the Biblican canon, however, they were not defining something new, but instead "were ratifying what had already become the mind of the Church". Thus from the 4th century there existed unanimity in

882-463: A list of exactly the same books that would become the New Testament –27 book–proto-canon, and used the phrase "being canonized" ( kanonizomena ) in regard to them. In 331, Constantine I commissioned Eusebius to deliver fifty Bibles for the Church of Constantinople . Athanasius recorded Alexandrian scribes around 340 preparing Bibles for Constans . Little else is known, though there

980-577: A list of the canon of the Old Testament and the New Testament, including the deuterocanonical books as canonical: Now the whole canon of Scripture on which we say this judgment is to be exercised, is contained in the following books: – Five books of Moses, that is, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; one book of Joshua the son of Nun; one of Judges; one short book called Ruth; next, four books of Kings [the two Books of Samuel and

1078-762: A part of the Jewish canon, describes Nehemiah ( c.  400 BC ) as having "founded a library and collected books about the kings and prophets, and the writings of David, and letters of kings about votive offerings" ( 2:13–15 ). The Book of Nehemiah suggests that the priest-scribe Ezra brought the Torah back from Babylon to Jerusalem and the Second Temple ( 8–9 ) around the same time period. Both 1 and 2 Maccabees suggest that Judas Maccabeus ( c.  167 BC ) likewise collected sacred books ( 3:42–50 , 2:13–15 , 15:6–9 ), indeed some scholars argue that

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1176-639: A standard by the early 5th century. The five excluded books were added in the Harklean Version (616 AD) of Thomas of Harqel . The standard United Bible Societies 1905 edition of the New Testament of the Peshitta was based on editions prepared by Syriacists Philip E. Pusey (d. 1880), George Gwilliam (d. 1914) and John Gwyn . All twenty seven books of the common western New Testament are included in this British & Foreign Bible Society's 1905 Peshitta edition. The first Council that accepted

1274-551: A staunch supporter of the contested books, found itself in entire accord with Rome on this question. Its ancient version, the Vetus Latina, had admitted all the Old Testament Scriptures. St. Augustine seems to theoretically recognize degrees of inspiration; in practice he employs protos and deuteros without any discrimination whatsoever. Moreover in his "De Doctrinâ Christianâ" he enumerates the components of

1372-402: A wider selection still. The acceptance of some of these books among early Christians was widespread, though not universal, and surviving Bibles from the early Church always include, with varying degrees of recognition, books now called deuterocanonical . Some say that their canonicity seems not to have been doubted in the Church until it was challenged by Jews after 100 AD, sometimes postulating

1470-555: Is plenty of speculation. For example, it is speculated that this may have provided motivation for canon lists, and that Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus are examples of these Bibles. Those codices contain almost a full version of the Septuagint ; Vaticanus lacks only 1–3 Maccabees and Sinaiticus lacks 2–3 Maccabees, 1 Esdras , Baruch and Letter of Jeremiah . Together with the Peshitta and Codex Alexandrinus , these are

1568-468: Is to "prefer those that are received by all Catholic Churches to those which some of them do not receive" (On Christian Doctrines 2.12). In the same passage, Augustine asserted that these dissenting churches should be outweighed by the opinions of "the more numerous and weightier churches", which would include Eastern Churches, the prestige of which Augustine stated moved him to include the Book of Hebrews among

1666-624: Is upon Mount Gerizim that sacrifices to God should be made—not in Jerusalem. Scholars nonetheless consult the Samaritan version when trying to determine the meaning of text of the original Pentateuch, as well as to trace the development of text-families. Some scrolls among the Dead Sea scrolls have been identified as proto-Samaritan Pentateuch text-type. Samaritans consider the Torah to be inspired scripture, but do not accept any other parts of

1764-804: The Nevi'im ("prophets"); and the eleven books of Ketuvim ("writings"). It is composed mainly in Biblical Hebrew , with portions in Aramaic . The Septuagint (in Koine Greek ), which closely resembles the Hebrew Bible but includes additional texts, is used as the Christian Greek Old Testament, at least in some liturgical contexts . The first part of Christian Bibles is the Old Testament , which contains, at minimum,

1862-708: The Benedictus , the Nunc dimittis from Luke's birth narrative, and the conclusion of the hymn that begins with the "Gloria in Excelsis". Beckwith states that manuscripts of anything like the capacity of Codex Alexandrinus were not used in the first centuries of the Christian era, and believes that the comprehensive codices of the Septuagint, which start appearing in the 4th century AD, are all of Christian origin. In

1960-629: The Catholic biblical canon consisting of 46 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament for a total of 73 books. The canons of the Church of England and English Presbyterians were decided definitively by the Thirty-Nine Articles (1563) and the Westminster Confession of Faith (1647), respectively. The Synod of Jerusalem (1672) established additional canons that are widely accepted throughout

2058-584: The Council of Carthage confirmed the canon issued at Hippo; the recurrence of the Old Testament part is stated: Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers , Deuteronomy , Joshua the son of Nun , Judges , Ruth , four books of Kings [1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings], two books of Paraleipomena [1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles], Job , the Psalter , five books of Solomon [ Proverbs , Ecclesiastes , Song of Songs , Wisdom of Solomon , and Ecclesiasticus ],

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2156-504: The Council of Florence (1439–1443) took place. With the approval of this ecumenical council , Pope Eugenius IV (in office 1431–1447) issued several papal bulls ( decrees ) with a view to restoring the Eastern churches , which the Catholic Church considered as schismatic bodies, into communion with Rome . Catholic theologians regard these documents as infallible statements of Catholic doctrine . The Decretum pro Jacobitis contains

2254-560: The Council of Laodicea , Athanasius , Cyril of Jerusalem , and Epiphanius of Salamis , the Book of Jeremiah forms a single book together with Baruch, Lamentations and the Letter of Jeremiah, also called the Epistle of Jeremiah.) The Synod of Hippo (in 393 AD), followed by the Council of Carthage (397) and the Council of Carthage (419) , may be the first councils that explicitly accepted

2352-568: The Council of Rome (382 AD) defined a list of books of scripture as canonical. It included most of the deuterocanonical books. Patristic and synodal lists from the 200s, 300s and 400s usually include selections of the deuterocanonical books. Canonical for the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Church, and the Church of the East: Canonical only for the Eastern Orthodox Church and

2450-435: The Eastern Orthodox Church . Various forms of Jewish Christianity persisted until around the fifth century, and canonized very different sets of books, including Jewish–Christian gospels which have been lost to history. These and many other works are classified as New Testament apocrypha by Pauline denominations. The Old and New Testament canons did not develop independently of each other and most primary sources for

2548-781: The Epistle of Jeremiah and the Maccabees . The twenty-two books of the Hebrews are the following: That which is called by us Genesis; Exodus; Leviticus; Numbers; Jesus, the son of Nave (Joshua book); Judges and Ruth in one book; the First and Second of Kings (1 Samuel and 2 Samuel) in one; the Third and Fourth of Kings (1 Kings and 2 Kings) in one; of the Chronicles, the First and Second in one; Esdras, First and Second (Ezra–Nehemiah) in one;

2646-747: The Hasmonean dynasty (140 BCE to 37 BCE) fixed the Jewish canon. Another version of the Torah, in the Samaritan alphabet , also exists. This text is associated with the Samaritans ( Hebrew : שומרונים ; Arabic : السامريون ), a people of whom the Jewish Encyclopedia states: "Their history as a distinct community begins with the taking of Samaria by the Assyrians in 722 BC." The Samaritan Pentateuch's relationship to

2744-581: The Hebrew Bible and Christian biblical canons, although the majority of manuscripts are shared in common. Different religious groups include different books in their biblical canons, in varying orders, and sometimes divide or combine books. The Jewish Tanakh (sometimes called the Hebrew Bible) contains 24 books divided into three parts: the five books of the Torah ("teaching"); the eight books of

2842-408: The Hebrew Bible contained 22 canonical books. The same number of 22 books was reported also by the Christian bishop Athanasius , but they might differ on the exact content (see below for Athanasius), as Josephus did not provide a detailed list. Origen of Alexandria ( c.  240 AD ), cited by Eusebius , described the Hebrew Bible as containing 22 canonical books. Among these books he listed

2940-647: The Lutheran Churches , the Anglican Communion accepts "the Apocrypha for instruction in life and manners, but not for the establishment of doctrine", and many "lectionary readings in The Book of Common Prayer are taken from the Apocrypha", with these lessons being "read in the same ways as those from the Old Testament". The Protestant Apocrypha contains three books (3 Esdras, 4 Esdras and

3038-532: The New Testament are taken from the Koine Greek Septuagint (LXX), editions of which include the deuterocanonical books, as well as apocrypha – both of which are called collectively anagignoskomena ("readable, worthy of reading"). No two Septuagint codices contain the same apocrypha. Greek Psalm manuscripts from the fifth century contain three New Testament "psalms": the Magnificat ,

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3136-631: The New Testament developed over time. Writings attributed to the apostles circulated among the earliest Christian communities. Possible apostolicity was a strong argument used to suggest the canonical status of a book. The Pauline epistles were circulating in collected forms by the end of the 1st century AD. Justin Martyr , in the early 2nd century, mentions the "memoirs of the Apostles", which Christians (Greek: Χριστιανός) called " gospels ", and which were considered to be authoritatively equal to

3234-516: The Old Testament canon . The Eastern Orthodox , Oriental Orthodox , and Assyrian churches may have differences in their lists of accepted books. Some Christian groups have other canonical books (open canon) which are considered holy scripture but not part of the Bible. Rabbinic Judaism ( Hebrew : יהדות רבנית ) recognizes the twenty-four books of the Masoretic Text , commonly called

3332-532: The Septuagint , the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. They date from 300 BC to 100 AD, before the separation of the Christian church from Judaism , and they are regularly found in old manuscripts and cited frequently by the Church Fathers , such as Clement of Rome , Clement of Alexandria , Origen , Irenaeus , Tertullian , among others. According to the Gelasian Decree ,

3430-662: The Tanakh ( תַּנַ"ךְ ) or Hebrew Bible . Evidence suggests that the process of canonization occurred between 200 BC and 200 AD, and a popular position is that the Torah was canonized c.  400 BC , the Prophets c.  200 BC , and the Writings c.  100 AD perhaps at a hypothetical Council of Jamnia —however, this position is increasingly criticised by modern scholars. According to Marc Zvi Brettler ,

3528-539: The West concerning the New Testament canon as it is today, with the exception of the Book of Revelation . In the 5th century the East too, with a few exceptions, came to accept the Book of Revelation and thus came into harmony on the matter of the New Testament canon. As the primary canon crystallised, non-canonical texts fell into relative disfavour and neglect. Before the Protestant Reformation ,

3626-553: The final chapter of the Gospel of Mark to be deuterocanonical. He also applies the term to the Book of Esther from the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The term was then taken up by other writers to apply specifically to those books of the Old Testament which had been recognised as canonical by the Councils of Rome (382 AD), Hippo (393 AD), Carthage (397 AD and 419 AD), Florence (1442 AD) and Trent (1546 AD), but which were not in

3724-677: The same communion and hold the same theological beliefs. The Peshitta is the standard version of the Bible for churches in the Syriac tradition . Most of the deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament are found in the Syriac, and the Wisdom of Sirach is held to have been translated from the Hebrew and not from the Septuagint . This New Testament, originally excluding certain disputed books (2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, Revelation), had become

3822-484: The " canon " (meaning a measuring line, rule, or principle) of accepted theological thought and those that promoted heresy. This played a major role in finalizing the structure of the collection of works called the Bible. It has been proposed that the initial impetus for the proto-orthodox Christian project of canonization flowed from opposition to the list produced by Marcion. A four-gospel canon (the Tetramorph )

3920-409: The 1960s onward, and the theory has now been largely discredited. The Talmud relates that some time before the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai relocated to the city of Yavneh, where he received permission from the Romans to found a school of halakha (Jewish religious law). The Mishnah , compiled at the end of the 2nd century, describes a debate over

4018-460: The 24 books of the Hebrew Bible divided into 39 ( Protestant ) or 46 ( Catholic [including deuterocanonical works]) books that are ordered differently. The second part is the New Testament , almost always containing 27 books: the four canonical gospels , Acts of the Apostles , 21 Epistles or letters and the Book of Revelation . The Catholic Church and Eastern Christian churches hold that certain deuterocanonical books and passages are part of

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4116-410: The 4th century or later. The people of the remnants of the Samaritans in modern-day Israel / Palestine retain their version of the Torah as fully and authoritatively canonical. They regard themselves as the true "guardians of the Law". This assertion is only re-enforced by the claim of the Samaritan community in Nablus (an area traditionally associated with the ancient city of Shechem ) to possess

4214-425: The Apocrypha". The fathers of Anabaptism, such as Menno Simons , quoted "them [the Apocrypha] with the same authority and nearly the same frequency as books of the Hebrew Bible" and the texts regarding the martyrdoms under Antiochus IV in 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees are held in high esteem by the Anabaptists, who historically faced persecution. Lutheran and Anglican lectionaries continue to include readings from

4312-564: The Apocrypha. In response to Martin Luther 's demands, the Council of Trent on 8 April 1546 approved the present Catholic Bible canon, which includes the deuterocanonical books , and the decision was confirmed by an anathema by vote (24 yea, 15 nay, 16 abstain). The council confirmed the same list as produced at the Council of Florence in 1442, Augustine's 397–419 Councils of Carthage , and probably Damasus' 382 Council of Rome . The Old Testament books that had been rejected by Luther were later termed "deuterocanonical", not indicating

4410-401: The Bible—probably a position also held by the Sadducees . They did not expand their canon by adding any Samaritan compositions. There is a Samaritan Book of Joshua ; however, this is a popular chronicle written in Arabic and is not considered to be scripture. Other non-canonical Samaritan religious texts include the Memar Markah ("Teaching of Markah") and the Defter (Prayerbook)—both from

4508-412: The DC as Apocrypha . Seven books are accepted as deuterocanonical by all the ancient churches: Tobit , Judith , Baruch , Ecclesiasticus , Wisdom , First and Second Maccabees and also the Greek additions to Esther and Daniel . In addition to these, the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Church include other books in their canons . The deuterocanonical books are included in

4606-566: The Epistle (of Jeremiah)". In Athanasius 's canonical books list (367 AD) the Book of Baruch and the Letter of Jeremiah are included while Esther is omitted. At the same time, he mentioned that the Wisdom of Solomon, the Wisdom of Sirach, Judith and Tobit, the book of Esther and also the Didache and The Shepherd of Hermas , while not being part of the Canon, "were appointed by the Fathers to be read". He excluded what he called "apocryphal writings" entirely. Epiphanius of Salamis ( c.  385 AD ) mentions that "there are 27 books given

4704-415: The Hebrew canon. Forms of the term “deuterocanonical” were adopted after the 16th century by the Eastern Orthodox Church to denote canonical books of the Septuagint not in the Hebrew Bible, a wider selection than that adopted by the Council of Trent, and also by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church to apply to works believed to be of Jewish origin translated in the Old Testament of the Ethiopic Bible ,

4802-426: The Hebrew canon. ...These ongoing debates suggest the paucity of evidence on which the hypothesis of the Council of Jamnia rests and raise the question whether it has not served its usefulness and should be relegated to the limbo of unestablished hypotheses. It should not be allowed to be considered a consensus established by mere repetition of assertion. The 20th-century evangelical scholar F. F. Bruce thought that it

4900-412: The Holy Scripture is so holy that they impart uncleanness; writings that are not holy, do not impart uncleanness. One text does speak of official action at Jabneh. It gives a blanket statement that "all Holy Scripture defile the hands", and adds "on the day they made R. Eleazar b. Azariah head of the college, the Song of Songs and Koheleth (Ecclesiastes) both render the hands unclean" (M. Yadayim 3.5). Of

4998-438: The Jewish scriptures outside the Torah and the Prophets were fluid, with different groups seeing authority in different books. The Book of Deuteronomy includes a prohibition against adding or subtracting ( 4:2 , 12:32 ) which might apply to the book itself (i.e. a "closed book", a prohibition against future scribal editing) or to the instruction received by Moses on Mount Sinai . The book of 2 Maccabees , itself not

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5096-519: The Jews by God, but they are counted as 22, however, like the letters of their Hebrew alphabet, because ten books are doubled and reckoned as five". He wrote in his Panarion that Jews had in their books the deuterocanonical Epistle of Jeremiah and Baruch, both combined with Jeremiah and Lamentations in only one book. While Wisdom of Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon were books of disputed canonicity. Augustine of Hippo ( c.  397 AD ), in his book On Christian Doctrine (Book II Chapter 8) , cites

5194-414: The Maccabees . (According to the Council of Laodicea , Athanasius , Cyril of Jerusalem , and Epiphanius of Salamis , the Book of Jeremiah forms a single book together with Baruch, Lamentations and the Letter of Jeremiah, also called the Epistle of Jeremiah.) The Apostolic Canons approved by the Eastern Council in Trullo in 692 AD (not recognized by the Catholic Church) states as venerable and sacred

5292-408: The Masoretic Text is still disputed. Some differences are minor, such as the ages of different people mentioned in genealogy, while others are major, such as a commandment to be monogamous, which appears only in the Samaritan version. More importantly, the Samaritan text also diverges from the Masoretic in stating that Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mount Gerizim —not Mount Sinai —and that it

5390-489: The New Testament, Hebrews 11:35 is understood by some as referring to an event that was recorded in one of the deuterocanonical books, 2 Maccabees . For instance, the author of Hebrews references oral tradition which spoke of an Old Testament prophet who was sawn in half in Hebrews 11:37, two verses after the 2nd Maccabees reference. Other New Testament authors such as Paul also reference or quote period literature. The Jewish historian Josephus ( c.  94 AD ) wrote that

5488-536: The Old Testament and that it was considered canonical by Jews and Christians. On the other hand, the contrary claim has been made: "In the catalogue of Melito, presented by Eusebius, after Proverbs, the word Wisdom occurs, which nearly all commentators have been of opinion is only another name for the same book, and not the name of the book now called 'The Wisdom of Solomon'." Cyril of Jerusalem ( c.  350 AD ) in his Catechetical Lectures cites as canonical books "Jeremiah one, including Baruch and Lamentations and

5586-541: The Old Testament. Marcion of Sinope was the first Christian leader in recorded history (though later considered heretical ) to propose and delineate a uniquely Christian canon (c. 140). This included 10 epistles from Paul , as well as an edited version of the Gospel of Luke , which today is known as the Gospel of Marcion . By doing this, he established a particular way of looking at religious texts that persists in Christian thought today. After Marcion, Christians began to divide texts into those that aligned well with

5684-494: The Oriental Orthodox Church: c.  100 BC – AD 100 (3:39–5:9) (3:39–5:9) Koine Greek, possibly originally Hebrew or Aramaic Deuterocanonical is a term coined in 1566 by the theologian Sixtus of Siena , who had converted to Catholicism from Judaism , to describe scriptural texts considered canonical by the Catholic Church, but which recognition was considered "secondary". For Sixtus, this term included portions of both Old and New Testaments. Sixtus considers

5782-408: The Prayer of Manasseh) that are accepted by many Eastern Orthodox Churches and Oriental Orthodox Churches as canonical, but are regarded as non-canonical by the Catholic Church and are therefore not included in modern Catholic Bibles. Anabaptists use the Luther Bible , which contains the intertestamental books; Amish wedding ceremonies include "the retelling of the marriage of Tobias and Sarah in

5880-421: The Psalms. Also of the historical books, one book of Job, one of Tobit, one of Esther, one of Judith, two of Maccabees, two of Ezra [Ezra, Nehemiah], two of Chronicles. In the 7th century Latin document the Muratorian fragment , which some scholars actually believe to be a copy of an earlier 170 AD Greek original, the book of the Wisdom of Solomon is counted by the church. Moreover, the epistle of Jude and two of

5978-436: The Qumran library of approximately 1,100 manuscripts found in the eleven caves at Qumran was not entirely produced at Qumran, but may have included part of the library of the Jerusalem Temple, that may have been hidden in the caves for safekeeping at the time the Temple was destroyed by Romans in 70 AD. Deuterocanonical and Apocryphal books included in the Septuagint are: The large majority of Old Testament references in

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6076-512: The Son of Nun; The Judges; Ruth; The Kings, iv. books [1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings]; The Chronicles, ii. books; Job; The Psalter; The Five books of Solomon [Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom of Solomon, and Ecclesiasticus]; The Twelve Books of the Prophets [Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi]; Isaiah; Jeremiah; Ezechiel; Daniel; Tobit; Judith; Esther; Ezra, ii. books [Ezra, Nehemiah]; Maccabees, ii. books. On 28 August 397,

6174-494: The West for the necessity of making sharp delineations with regard to the canon. They were more conscious of the gradation of spiritual quality among the books that they accepted (for example, the classification of Eusebius, see also Antilegomena ) and were less often disposed to assert that the books which they rejected possessed no spiritual quality at all. For example, the Trullan Synod of 691–692 , which Pope Sergius I (in office 687–701) rejected (see also Pentarchy ), endorsed

6272-430: The Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, Judith, Tobit and two books of Maccabees. Baruch is not specified by name in Rufinus's list, but it is in Cyril's, as though a part of Jeremiah, "Jeremiah, with Baruch, and the Lamentations and the Epistle." (Catech. 4, §36.) Pope Innocent I (405 AD) sent a letter to the bishop of Toulouse citing deuterocanonical books as a part of the Old Testament canon. Which books really are received in

6370-451: The above-mentioned (or, bearing the name of) John are counted (or, used) in the catholic [Church]; and [the book of] Wisdom, written by the friends of Solomon in his honour. In later copyings of the canons of the Council of Laodicea (from 364 AD) a canon list became appended to Canon 59, likely before the mid fifth century, which affirmed that Jeremiah, and Baruch, the Lamentations, and the Epistle (of Jeremiah) were canonical, while excluding

6468-409: The apocryphal books, only Ben Sira is mentioned by name in rabbinic sources and it continued to be circulated, copied and cited. No book is ever mentioned in the sources as being excluded from the canon at Jabneh. According to Lewis: The concept of the Council of Jamnia is an hypothesis to explain the canonization of the Writings (the third division of the Hebrew Bible) resulting in the closing of

6566-406: The book of Psalms; the Proverbs of Solomon; Ecclesiastes; the Song of Songs; Isaiah; Jeremiah, with Lamentations and the epistle (of Jeremiah) in one; Daniel; Ezekiel; Job; Esther. And besides these there are the Maccabees. Eusebius wrote in his Church History ( c.  324 AD ) that Bishop Melito of Sardis in the 2nd century AD considered the deuterocanonical Wisdom of Solomon as part of

6664-400: The books of the twelve prophets , Isaiah , Jeremiah , Ezechiel , Daniel , Tobit , Judith , Esther , two books of Esdras [Ezra, Nehemiah], two Books of the Maccabees . In 419 AD, the Council of Carthage in its canon 24 lists the deuterocanonical books as canonical scripture: The Canonical Scriptures are as follows: Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers , Deuteronomy , Joshua

6762-494: The books that would later be put in the New Testament canon except the Letter to Philemon , II Peter , III John , and the Epistle of Jude in Against Heresies , refers to the Shepherd of Hermas as "scripture" and appears to regard I Clement as authoritative. By the early 3rd century, Christian theologians like Origen of Alexandria may have been using—or at least were familiar with—the same 27 books found in modern New Testament editions, though there were still disputes over

6860-418: The canon specify both Old and New Testament books. For the biblical scripture for both Testaments, canonically accepted in major traditions of Christendom , see § Canons of various traditions . For churches which espouse sola scriptura it is necessary and critical to have a clear and complete list of the canonical books. For churches which espouse sacred Tradition or Magisterium as well as Scripture,

6958-466: The canon, this brief addition shows. These therefore are the things of which you desired to be informed. Five books of Moses, that is, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, and Joshua the son of Nun, and Judges, and the four books of Kings [the two Books of Samuel and the two books of Kings] together with Ruth, sixteen books of the Prophets, five books of Solomon [Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom of Solomon, and Ecclesiasticus], and

7056-416: The canonical writings, though he had reservation about its authorship. Philip Schaff says that "the council of Hippo in 393, and the third (according to another reckoning the sixth) council of Carthage in 397, under the influence of Augustine, who attended both, fixed the catholic canon of the Holy Scriptures, including the Apocrypha of the Old Testament, ... This decision of the transmarine church however,

7154-558: The canonicity of some of the writings (see also Antilegomena ). Likewise by 200, the Muratorian fragment shows that there existed a set of Christian writings somewhat similar to what is now the New Testament, which included four gospels and argued against objections to them. Thus, while there was a good measure of debate in the Early Church over the New Testament canon, the major writings were accepted by almost all Christians by

7252-455: The complete Old Testament. The Synod of Hippo (393) and the three of Carthage (393, 397, and 419), in which, doubtless, Augustine was the leading spirit, found it necessary to deal explicitly with the question of the Canon, and drew up identical lists from which no sacred books are excluded. These councils base their canon on tradition and liturgical usage. The Book of Sirach , whose Hebrew text

7350-526: The current New Testament canon except for four books: James , 2nd Peter , and the 2nd and 3rd epistles of John . He also included the Shepherd of Hermas which was later rejected. The religious scholar Bruce Metzger described Origen's efforts, saying "The process of canonization represented by Origen proceeded by way of selection, moving from many candidates for inclusion to fewer." In his Easter letter of 367, Patriarch Athanasius of Alexandria gave

7448-505: The debates of scholars, but the spiritual nourishment of the people of God...the factor which ultimately carried the day (for what was in the canon) was actual usage in the Church." The Early Church used the Old Testament , namely the Septuagint (LXX) among Greek speakers, with a canon perhaps as found in the Bryennios List or Melito's canon . The Apostles did not otherwise leave a defined set of new scriptures ; instead,

7546-611: The earliest extant Christian Bibles. There is no evidence among the canons of the First Council of Nicaea of any determination on the canon; however, Jerome (347–420), in his Prologue to Judith , makes the claim that the Book of Judith was "found by the Nicene Council to have been counted among the number of the Sacred Scriptures". The Eastern Churches had, in general, a weaker feeling than those in

7644-458: The first canon which includes a selection of books that did not appear in the Hebrew Bible ; the councils were under significant influence of Augustine of Hippo , who regarded the canon as already closed. Canon XXIV from the Synod of Hippo (in 393 AD) records the scriptures which are considered canonical; the Old Testament books as follows: Genesis; Exodus; Leviticus; Numbers; Deuteronomy; Joshua

7742-707: The first three books of Maccabees and Wisdom of Sirach . The Council of Florence (1442) promulgated a list of the books of the Bible, including the books of Judith, Esther, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch and two books of the Maccabees as Canonical books: Five books of Moses, namely Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; Joshua, Judges, Ruth, four books of Kings [1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings], two of Paralipomenon [1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles], Esdras [Ezra], Nehemiah, Tobit, Judith, Esther, Job, Psalms of David, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Baruch, Ezechiel, Daniel;

7840-535: The following lists of canonical writings: the Apostolic Canons (c. 385), the Synod of Laodicea (c. 363), the Third Synod of Carthage (c. 397), and the 39th Festal Letter of Athanasius (367). And yet, these lists do not agree. Similarly, the New Testament canons of the Syriac , Armenian , Egyptian Coptic and Ethiopian Churches all have minor differences, yet five of these Churches are part of

7938-421: The gospels are in accord with these things ... For the living creatures are quadriform and the gospel is quadriform [...] These things being so, all who destroy the form of the gospel are vain, unlearned, and also audacious; those [I mean] who represent the aspects of the gospel as being either more in number than as aforesaid, or, on the other hand, fewer. Irenaeus additionally quotes from passages of all

8036-569: The influence of Augustine of Hippo , who regarded the canon as already closed. Pope Damasus I 's Council of Rome in 382 (if the Decretum is correctly associated with it) issued a biblical canon identical to that mentioned above. Likewise, Damasus' commissioning of the Latin Vulgate edition of the Bible, c. 383, proved instrumental in the fixation of the canon in the West. In

8134-412: The issue can be more organic, as the Bible is an artifact of the church rather than vice versa . Theologian William J. Abraham has suggested that in the primitive church and patristic period the "primary purpose in canonizing Scripture was to provide an authorized list of books for use in worship. The primary setting envisaged for the use of Scripture was not that of the science of theology, or that of

8232-464: The middle of the 3rd century. Origen of Alexandria (184/85–253/54), an early scholar involved in the codification of the biblical canon, had a thorough education both in Christian theology and in pagan philosophy, but was posthumously condemned at the Second Council of Constantinople in 553 since some of his teachings were considered to be heresy. Origen's canon included all of the books in

8330-400: The names of these prophets are as follows: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi; then there are the four greater prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel. According to the monk Rufinus of Aquileia ( c.  400 AD ) the deuterocanonical books were not called canonical but ecclesiastical books. In this category Rufinus includes

8428-472: The oldest existing copy of the Torah—one that they believe to have been penned by Abisha, a grandson of Aaron . The canon of the Catholic Church was affirmed by the Council of Rome (AD 382), the Synod of Hippo (AD 393), two of the Councils of Carthage (AD 397 and 419), the Council of Florence (AD 1431–1449) and finally, as an article of faith, by the Council of Trent (AD 1545–1563). Those established

8526-852: The other deuterocanonical books. According to Decretum Gelasianum , which is a work written by an anonymous scholar between 519 and 553, the Council of Rome (382 AD) cites a list of books of scripture presented as having been made canonical. This list mentions all the deuterocanonical books as a part of the Old Testament canon: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Kings IV books [1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings], Chronicles II books, 150 Psalms , three books of Solomon [Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs], Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Isaiah, Jeremiah with Cinoth i.e. his lamentations , Ezechiel, Daniel, Hosea, Amos, Micah, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum, Habbakuk Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Job, Tobit, Esdras II books [Ezra, Nehemiah], Ester, Judith, Maccabees II books. (According to

8624-559: The present Catholic canon (the Canon of Trent of 1546) may have been the Synod of Hippo Regius , held in North Africa in 393. A brief summary of the acts was read at and accepted by the Council of Carthage (397) and also the Council of Carthage (419) . These Councils took place under the authority of Augustine of Hippo (354–430), who regarded the canon as already closed. Augustine of Hippo declared without qualification that one

8722-410: The son of Nun , Judges , Ruth , four books of Kings [1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings], two books of Chronicles , Job , the Psalter , five books of Solomon [Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom of Solomon, and Ecclesiasticus], the books of the twelve prophets , Isaiah , Jeremiah , Ezechiel , Daniel , Tobit , Judith , Esther , two books of Esdras [Ezra, Nehemiah], two Books of

8820-441: The status of some books of Ketuvim , and in particular over whether or not they render the hands "impure" . Yadaim 3:5 calls attention to a debate over Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes . The Megillat Taanit , in a discussion of days when fasting is prohibited but that are not noted in the Bible, mentions the holiday of Purim . Based on these, and a few similar references, Heinrich Graetz concluded in 1871 that there had been

8918-407: The subject. The first is the so-called "Decretal of Gelasius", the essential part of which is now generally attributed to a synod convoked by Pope Damasus in the year 382. The other is the Canon of Innocent I, sent in 405 to a Gallican bishop in answer to an inquiry. Both contain all the deuterocanonicals, without any distinction, and are identical with the catalogue of Trent. The African Church, always

9016-564: The twelve minor prophets, namely Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi; two books of the Maccabees. Biblical canon A biblical canon is a set of texts (also called "books") which a particular Jewish or Christian religious community regards as part of the Bible . The English word canon comes from the Greek κανών kanōn , meaning " rule " or " measuring stick ". The use of

9114-528: The two books of Kings], and two of Chronicles, Job, and Tobias, and Esther, and Judith, and the two books of Maccabees, and the two of Ezra [Ezra, Nehemiah]; one book of the Psalms of David; and three books of Solomon, that is to say Proverbs, Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes. For two books, one called Wisdom and the other Ecclesiasticus. Twelve separate books of the prophets which are connected with one another, and having never been disjoined, are reckoned as one book;

9212-623: The word "canon" to refer to a set of religious scriptures was first used by David Ruhnken , in the 18th century. Various biblical canons have developed through debate and agreement on the part of the religious authorities of their respective faiths and denominations. Some books, such as the Jewish–Christian gospels , have been excluded from various canons altogether, but many disputed books are considered to be biblical apocrypha or deuterocanonical by many, while some denominations may consider them fully canonical. Differences exist between

9310-776: Was already known from the Cairo Geniza , has been found in two of the Dead Sea Scrolls (2QSir or 2Q18, 11QPs_a or 11Q5) in Hebrew. Another Hebrew scroll of Sirach has been found in Masada (MasSir). Five fragments from the Book of Tobit have been found in Qumran written in Aramaic and in one written in Hebrew (papyri 4Q, nos. 196–200). The Letter of Jeremiah (or Baruch chapter 6) has been found in cave 7 (papyrus 7Q2 ) in Greek . Recent scholars have suggested that

9408-526: Was asserted by Irenaeus (c. 130 – c. 202 AD) in the following quote: It is not possible that the gospels can be either more or fewer in number than they are. For, since there are four-quarters of the earth in which we live, and four universal winds, while the church is scattered throughout all the world, and the 'pillar and ground' of the church is the gospel and the spirit of life, it is fitting that she should have four pillars breathing out immortality on every side, and vivifying men afresh [...] Therefore

9506-482: Was not the issue and debate was not connected with Jabneh... Moreover, specific canonical discussion at Jabneh is attested only for Chronicles and Song of Songs. Both circulated prior to Jabneh. There was vigorous debate between Beth Shammai and Beth Hillel over Chronicles and Song; Beth Hillel affirmed that both "defile the hands", the rabbinic principle (enunciated in Mishnah Yadayim 3:5) according to which

9604-578: Was subject to ratification; and the concurrence of the Roman see it received when Innocent I and Gelasius I (414 AD) repeated the same index of biblical books. This canon remained undisturbed till the sixteenth century, and was sanctioned by the council of Trent at its fourth session." According to Lee Martin McDonald, the Revelation was added to the list in 419. These councils were convened under

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