[JHavard]

You no doubt understand that the Bible isn't St. Jeromes' creation, it is the Catholic Churchs' under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and that the discovery of ancient Hebrew copies of some of the Deuterocanonicals at Qumran proves that Jeromes' personal comments were unfounded. Jeromes' job was to translate not determine Canon. The Septuagint, or Alexandrian Canon, came into existence at least 225 years prior to the Hebrew Canon at Jamnia in 100 AD. Also, take a look at what St. Augustine had to say in response to St. Jeromes' prudential statements regarding the Deuterocanonicals, as well as the Councils of Nicaea, Hippo and Carthage.

It was Jerome’s creation from the Hebrew text which your Church accepted as fully inspired all except the apocrypha books, which you decreed inspired and canonical in 1546AD. They were in Jerome’s Bible, and they were read in the church at times, but there had been no official laws stating it.

There was no need of a Canon Law to decree the Hebrew Old Testament canonical, or the 27 books of the New Testament, it was a given. It was the addition of the apocrypha that made the Canon Law necessary, so you could legally enforce it on others.

The Qumran proves nothing, except that there are a few fragments of Tobit that may have been translated from Greek to Hebrew before they were hidden away. Whose to say they didn’t enjoy reading a fictional book now and then? I forget, were there any other writings or non- Biblical books with them besides the Bible?

JH :)

[Stubborn]

It was Jerome’s creation from the Hebrew text...........

So he only created a few books - kinda slid them in there on us on the sly - but all the others he actually translated? Yeah right.

This is a first. I have never heard that excuse as to why the books were removed - its the silliest excuse I have ever heard - so far.