Catholic Biblical Apologetics

Apologetics without apology!

What does the Roman Catholic Church teach about ...? ... and why?

This website surveys the origin and development of Roman Catholic Christianity from the period of the apostolic church, through the post-apostolic church and into the conciliar movement. Principal attention is paid to the biblical basis of both doctrine and dogma as well as the role of paradosis (i.e. handing on the truth) in the history of the Church. Particular attention is also paid to the hierarchical founding and succession of leadership throughout the centuries.

This is a set of lecture notes used since 1985 to teach the basis for key doctrines and dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church. The objectives of the course were, and are:

To present the biblical basis for the origin and development of the Roman Catholic Church.
To present the development of the canon of Scripture and evolution of biblical teaching in the Church.
To understand the role of paradosis/tradition in the oral transmission of revelation.
To study the Council of Jerusalem, described in the 15^th chapter of The Acts of the Apostles and its role in the development of doctrine in the conciliar movement in the Church.
To understand the revelation, doctrinal development and practice of the sacramental life in the history of the Church.
To study the role of the Holy Spirit as teaching authority in the Church.
To study the revelation and development of hierarchical authority in the Church.
To understand the hierarchy of truths in the Church as well as the role of private devotion and personal growth in holiness.

The course grew out of the need for the authors to continually answer questions about their faith tradition and their work. (Both authors are active members of Catholic parish communities in the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia. Dr. Robert Schihl was a Professor and Associate Dean of the School of Communication and the Arts at Regent University. Paul Flanagan is a consultant specializing in preparing people for technology based changes.) At the time these notes were first prepared, the authors were spending time in their faith community answering questions about their Protestant Evangelical workplaces (Mr. Flanagan was then a senior executive at the Christian Broadcasting Network), and time in their workplaces answering similar questions about their Roman Catholic faith community. These notes are the result of more than a decade of facilitating dialogue among those who wish to learn more about what the Roman Catholic Church teaches and why.

Comparison of Terms for Disputed Books

Protestant Christian		Catholic Christian
"apocryphal" books		"deuterocanonical" books
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)		Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)
Wisdom of Solomon		Wisdom of Solomon
Baruch		Baruch
Tobit		Tobit
Judith		Judith
Greek Esther (Esther 10:4-10)		Greek Esther
Greek Daniel		Greek Daniel
	Song of the Three Young Men, Dan 3:24-90;
	Susanna, Dan 13;
	Bel and the Dragon, Dan 14
1 Maccabees		1 Maccabees
2 Maccabees		2 Maccabees
1 Esdras
2 Esdras
Prayer of Manasseh

Protestant Christian"pseudepigrapha" books
Catholic Christian"apocryphal" books

Old Testament works

Enoch Literature; Esdras Literature (1-2 Esdras); Baruch Literature (2-3 Baruch);
Psalms of Solomon; Testaments of the Twelve Apostles; Sibylline Oracles;
Letter of Aristeus to Philocrates; Assumption of Moses;
Maccabean Literature (3-4 Maccabees); Prayer of Manasseh

New Testament works

Didache; Apocalypses of Peter, Paul, Thomas; 1-2 Clement;
Gospels of Thomas, Philip, Peter, Hebrews; Hermas;
Acts of Pilate; Barnabas; Protoevangelium of James;
To the Laodiceans; Various Papyruses; To Seneca;
Epistola Apostolorum; Acts of John, Paul, Andrew, Thomas.

The key point is the terminology.

Thanks for the ping. Is the distinction you're highlighting that "apocrypha" means uninspired and "deuterocanonical" means inspired?

If so, then one thing I still do not understand is how the Catholic Church explains that it has not added to scripture. Deuterocanonical appears to mean "second canon", and it seems that it took over one thousand years to establish this second canon after the first canon was closed. If so, is a third or fourth canon possibly to come (within the realm of theoretical possibility) that will also be considered inspired? Does the Magisterium have the theoretical power to do such if it was in agreement? I am thinking of books that are now considered apocrypha by Catholics, but may gain more favor in the future, or to theoretically yet undiscovered books which (would) appear to have a similar pedigree to books in the canon now.

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