Cathoic Trivia: More or Less

How did the Catholic Bible end up with more books than the Protestant one? The issue of what constitutes the canon, or list of books recognized as scripture, is a complex one.

The short answer is that the Reformers eliminated books that had been accepted by the faithful until the time of the Reformation. Both Catholics and Protestants accept 27 books of the New Testament (though some of the reformers, notably Luther, wanted to eliminate some of those).

The longer answer goes like this: Protestants reverted to a shorter Old Testament Canon (The Jerusalem canon, used by the Pharisees) that excluded 7 books (the deutrocanonical books, or the Apocrypha) that were used by the Jews in the Diaspora, but were not used universally by other Jewish sects. The 7 books (which were included in the Septuagent or Alexandrian canon) had been included in the Catholic canon as a result of a number of synods (regional meetings of Bishops) dating back to the 2nd Century. The Catholic faithful used the books as a result of the Sacred Tradition passed on from the Apostles, through the Bishops, to the faithful.

Modern scholars found the 7 disputed books among the fragments of the dead sea scrolls, underscoring their early use. They also now note that of 360 references to the Old Testament in the New, 300 are from the Septuagent version of scriptures, indicating that the Apostles used the Septuagent. In addition, Christ’s reference in Luke 12:31-21 of the foolish rich man parallels a story from the book of Tobit, and the mocking language of the crowds at the Crucifixion recorded in the Gospels parallels language in Wisdom. It seems clear from scholarship, as well as Sacred Tradition, that the Apostles used the Septuagent. The Catholic Church is Apostolic, and so we use the canon that the Apostles used, and have no authority to change it.

It is often claimed that Constantine forced the Canon on the Church; in fact, the canon had been well established prior to his rule. He did authorize the creating of additional copies, which were very expensive.

It is also claimed that the Catholic canon was not established until the Council of Trent. This ignores the history and pronouncements of councils and synods which had considered the issue before the Reformation as well as ignoring both the practice of the church and Sacred Tradition which had included these books from early times. The Council of Trent did consider the issue of canon, but only because the Reformers had called into question what really constituted scripture. The Council merely re-affirmed the Church’s historic position and practice to reassert it against the challenges of the Reformation.

Interestingly, the German Reformers elected to remove the 7 deuterocanonical books, but the English reformers did not. The first edition of the King James Bible contained them, and the Episcopal church still uses these books in its lectionary.