Pre-Trent Ecumenical Councils
http://matt1618.freeyellow.com/deut.html
It is often said by Protestant apologists that the Council of Trent was the first council to affirm the Scriptural status of the Deuterocanonical books. Well, besides the fact that Rome in the 5th Century affirmed these books in a binding manner, we can see that in Ecumenical Councils from the 8th century forward, the Deuterocanonical books were quoted to affirm dogmatic teachings and disciplines. I give references from Dr. Sippos book
Deuterocanonical Quotations from the Ecumenical Councils:
Nicea II: Canon 16 (787) - Sirach 1:25 (scripture)
Constantinople IV: Canon 10 (869) - Sirach 11:7 (scripture)
Lateran IV: Section 70 (1215) - Sirach 2:12, 3:28** (it is written)
Vienne: Section 14 (1311) - Sirach 24:17
Section 24 (1311) - Wisdom 5:6**
Section 38 (1312) - Sirach 24:31, 1:5; Susannah/Daniel 13:42**
Basle/Florence: Session 21(1435) - Sirach 18:23 (scripture)
Session 3 (1438) - Wisdom 10:20 (it is written)
Session 6 (1439) - Tobit 12:20**
Session 7 (1439) - Susannah/Daniel 13:9
Session 9 (1440) - Wisdom 5:21**
(**These citation I could not find in research, but all the other ones I could find. The numbering of the ones I could not find is based on the Dhouay Rheims translation. The ones I could find in the Dhouay Rheims but I could not find in my search of the Council citations. Dr. Art Sippo, in his previous research, did verify those citations. A Father Tanner, who did this study, is the one who originally found these citations. In email, Dr. Sippo wrote that he verified that he could find those citations, but since I could not, I leave the citation there, with the qualifier that I could not find these ones in the Councils. I give the citations that I could find (9 citations in the period of 7 centuries of Councils, down below.)**
I will here give some of the above citations. These Ecumenical Councils are called to affirm various dogmatic decrees and disciplines. I went into the actual canons and sessions and here is a sampling of how the Deuterocanonical books were actually used: Nicea II: Canon 16 (787):
All indulgence and adornment bestowed on the body is alien to the priestly order. Therefore all those bishops and clerics who deck themselves out in brilliant and showy clothes should be called to order, and if they persist let them be punished. The same holds for those who use perfumes. However, since the root of bitterness has sprouted, there has appeared in the catholic church the plague of a heresy which delights in the defamation of Christians. Those who adopt this heresy not only heap insults on representational art, but also reject all forms of reverence and make a mockery of those who live pious and holy lives, thus fulfilling in their own regard that saying of scripture, for the sinner piety is an abomination.(Sir. 1:25) So if persons are found who make fun of those who wear simple and respectful clothing, they should be corrected with punishment. Indeed, from the earliest times all those ordained to the priesthood have been accustomed to present themselves in public dressed in modest and respectful clothing, and anyone who adds to his apparel for the sake of decoration and not out of necessity deserves, as the great Basil remarked, to be accused of “vainglory”. Neither did anyone dress in variegated clothes made of silk, nor did they add various coloured ornaments to the fringes of their garments. They had heard the tongue that spoke God’s words declare, Those who dress in soft clothes are in the houses of kings.
So in this canon of a solemn Ecumenical Council, the book of Sirach is quoted matter of factly as Scripture. Any idea that Trent is the first Ecumenical Council to refer to these books as Scripture is thus off by about 8 centuries. And the citation given is done in passing. It is such that it is taken for granted that all assume that it is Scripture. The Council does not have to make a declaration that Sirach is Scripture. It is just assumed so.
Here is canon 10 of Constantinople IV, 869.
As divine scripture clearly proclaims Do not find fault before you investigate, and understand first and then find fault, (Sir. 11:7) and does our law judge a person without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?. Consequently this holy and universal synod justly and fittingly declares and lays down that no lay person or monk or cleric should separate himself from communion with his own patriarch before a careful enquiry and judgment in synod, even if he alleges that he knows of some crime perpetrated by his patriarch, and he must not refuse to include his patriarch’s name during the divine mysteries or offices
Sirach is quoted in this Ecumenical Council as Divine Scripture. It has binding force on Christians.
Next, Lateran IV, in 1215 continues the tradition of Ecumenical Councils quoting Deuterocanonicals as Scripture in section 70:
Jewish converts may not retain their old rite
Certain people who have come voluntarily to the waters of sacred baptism, as we learnt, do not wholly cast off the old person in order to put on the new more perfectly. For, in keeping remnants of their former rite, they upset the decorum of the Christian religion by such a mixing. Since it is written, cursed is he who enters the land by two paths, (Sirach 2:12) and a garment that is woven from linen and wool together should not be put on, we therefore decree that such people shall be wholly prevented by the prelates of churches from observing their old rite, so that those who freely offered themselves to the Christian religion may be kept to its observance by a salutary and necessary coercion. For it is a lesser evil not to know the Lord’s way than to go back on it after having known it.
The Council uses the term It is written, identifying the passage from the book of Sirach as Scripture.
In the next century, the Council of Vienne, Section 14 refers to Sirach (1311) as well:
[That nothing unbecoming or corrupt find its way into that field of the Lord, namely the sacred order of the black monks, or anything grow into a ruinous crop, but rather that the flowers of honour and integrity may there produce much fruit, (Sir. 24:17) we decree as follows.
Sirach is cited as proof of the need for integrity to lay the Biblical foundation for the decree that will follow. Its biblical veracity is assumed by the Council Fathers.
Here is part of section 38 of the Council of Vienne, 1312:
I came out of paradise, I said: I will water my garden of plants. (Sir. 24:31) Thus speaks the heavenly cultivator, who is truly the source of wisdom, God’s Word, begotten by the Father from eternity, (Sirach 1:5) yet remaining in the Father.
The Council of Vienne continues the tradition of quoting a Deuterocanonical book.
Next, we have the Council of Florence in 1435:
[How the canonical hours should be recited outside choir]
This holy synod admonishes all holders of benefices, or those in holy orders, since they are bound to the canonical hours, if they wish their prayers to be acceptable to God, to recite the day and night offices, not in a mumble or between their teeth, nor swallowing or abbreviating their words, nor intermingling conversation and laughter, but, whether they are alone or with others, reverently and distinctly and in such a place as will not diminish devotion, for which they ought to dispose and prepare themselves, as the scripture says: Before prayer prepare your soul, and do not be like someone who tempts God. Sirach 18:23
Sirach is again quoted as Scripture.
Next, we have the Book of Wisdom, as quoted in the Council of Florence, Section 3, 1438, Section 3:
Merchants of all kinds, who have gone to Basel on account of the former council, shall depart under the same pain of excommunication. If there are some who ignore these orders of ours, daring perhaps to convey goods after the time-limit to those at Basel persisting in contumacy, since it is written that the righteous plundered the ungodly, (Wisdom 10:20) such persons may be despoiled without penalty by any of the faithful and their goods shall be ceded to the first takers.
The book of Wisdom is clearly cited as Scripture. The Council goes on to punish those who misuse the Scripture. However, the quotation from Wisdom is clearly recognized as Scripture. Florence, in 1439, Session 7 (1439) gives us another citation of another Deuterocanonical book: Susannah/Daniel 13:9
In this, those utterly pernicious men, masking their malice with the rosy colour of a truth of the faith, gave to the council of Constance an evil and mischievous meaning completely opposed to its true teaching, imitating in this the teaching of other schismatics and heretics who always amass for their support fabricated errors and impious dogmas drawn from their perverse interpretation of the divine scriptures and the holy fathers.
Finally, completely perverting their mind and turning away their eyes from looking to heaven or remembering righteous judgments, (Susannah/Daniel 13:9) after the manner of Dioscorus and the infamous synod of Ephesus, they proceeded to a declaratory sentence of deprivation, as they claimed, from the dignity and office of the supreme apostolate, a poisonous and execrable pronouncement involving an unforgivable crime.
After all the citations of the Fathers who unanimously referred to these books as Scripture, we have a continuous record of Ecumenical Councils quoting from the Deuterocanonicals up to the point of the reformation. Thus, the Popes confirmation in the 5th century of the Council of Carthages list of the Deuterocanonical books alongside the Protocanonical books as inspired, is played out in the ensuing Ecumenical Councils who quoted the Deuterocanonicals as Scripture. Any attempt to say that the Council of Trent was the first Ecumenical Council to affirm these books are Scripture, is belied by the fact that numerous Councils previous to Trent over numerous centuries referred to these books as Scripture, and all assumed they were Scripture. There is no record of any Father at any of these Councils objecting to the use of these Deuterocanonicals in these solemn Councils.
It is often said by Protestant apologists that the Council of Trent was the first council to affirm the Scriptural status of the Deuterocanonical books. Well, besides the fact that Rome in the 5th Century affirmed these books in a binding manner, we can see that in Ecumenical Councils from the 8th century forward, the Deuterocanonical books were quoted to affirm dogmatic teachings and disciplines. I give references from Dr. Sippos piece here: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/3517/sippo/webster1.html.
Deuterocanonical Quotations from the Ecumenical Councils:(**These citation I could not find in research, but all the other ones I could find. The numbering of the ones I could not find is based on the Dhouay Rheims translation. The ones I could find in the Dhouay Rheims but I could not find in my search of the Council citations. Dr. Art Sippo, in his previous research, did verify those citations. A Father Tanner, who did this study, is the one who originally found these citations. In email, Dr. Sippo wrote that he verified that he could find those citations, but since I could not, I leave the citation there, with the qualifier that I could not find these ones in the Councils. I give the citations that I could find (9 citations in the period of 7 centuries of Councils, down below.)**Nicea II: Canon 16 (787) - Sirach 1:25 (scripture)
Constantinople IV: Canon 10 (869) - Sirach 11:7 (scripture)
Lateran IV: Section 70 (1215) - Sirach 2:12, 3:28** (it is written)
Vienne: Section 14 (1311) - Sirach 24:17
Section 24 (1311) - Wisdom 5:6**
Section 38 (1312) - Sirach 24:31, 1:5; Susannah/Daniel 13:42**
Basle/Florence: Session 21(1435) - Sirach 18:23 (scripture)
Session 3 (1438) - Wisdom 10:20 (it is written)
Session 6 (1439) - Tobit 12:20**
Session 7 (1439) - Susannah/Daniel 13:9
Session 9 (1440) - Wisdom 5:21**
I will here give some of the above citations. These Ecumenical Councils are called to affirm various dogmatic decrees and disciplines. I went into the actual canons and sessions and here is a sampling of how the Deuterocanonical books were actually used: Nicea II: Canon 16 (787):
All indulgence and adornment bestowed on the body is alien to the priestly order. Therefore all those bishops and clerics who deck themselves out in brilliant and showy clothes should be called to order, and if they persist let them be punished. The same holds for those who use perfumes. However, since the root of bitterness has sprouted, there has appeared in the catholic church the plague of a heresy which delights in the defamation of Christians. Those who adopt this heresy not only heap insults on representational art, but also reject all forms of reverence and make a mockery of those who live pious and holy lives, thus fulfilling in their own regard that saying of scripture, for the sinner piety is an abomination.(Sir. 1:25) So if persons are found who make fun of those who wear simple and respectful clothing, they should be corrected with punishment. Indeed, from the earliest times all those ordained to the priesthood have been accustomed to present themselves in public dressed in modest and respectful clothing, and anyone who adds to his apparel for the sake of decoration and not out of necessity deserves, as the great Basil remarked, to be accused of "vainglory". Neither did anyone dress in variegated clothes made of silk, nor did they add various coloured ornaments to the fringes of their garments. They had heard the tongue that spoke God's words declare, Those who dress in soft clothes are in the houses of kings.So in this canon of a solemn Ecumenical Council, the book of Sirach is quoted matter of factly as Scripture. Any idea that Trent is the first Ecumenical Council to refer to these books as Scripture is thus off by about 8 centuries. And the citation given is done in passing. It is such that it is taken for granted that all assume that it is Scripture. The Council does not have to make a declaration that Sirach is Scripture. It is just assumed so.
Here is canon 10 of Constantinople IV, 869.
As divine scripture clearly proclaims Do not find fault before you investigate, and understand first and then find fault, (Sir. 11:7) and does our law judge a person without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?. Consequently this holy and universal synod justly and fittingly declares and lays down that no lay person or monk or cleric should separate himself from communion with his own patriarch before a careful enquiry and judgment in synod, even if he alleges that he knows of some crime perpetrated by his patriarch, and he must not refuse to include his patriarch's name during the divine mysteries or officesSirach is quoted in this Ecumenical Council as Divine Scripture. It has binding force on Christians.
Next, Lateran IV, in 1215 continues the tradition of Ecumenical Councils quoting Deuterocanonicals as Scripture in section 70:
Jewish converts may not retain their old riteThe Council uses the term It is written, identifying the passage from the book of Sirach as Scripture.Certain people who have come voluntarily to the waters of sacred baptism, as we learnt, do not wholly cast off the old person in order to put on the new more perfectly. For, in keeping remnants of their former rite, they upset the decorum of the Christian religion by such a mixing. Since it is written, cursed is he who enters the land by two paths, (Sirach 2:12) and a garment that is woven from linen and wool together should not be put on, we therefore decree that such people shall be wholly prevented by the prelates of churches from observing their old rite, so that those who freely offered themselves to the Christian religion may be kept to its observance by a salutary and necessary coercion. For it is a lesser evil not to know the Lord's way than to go back on it after having known it.
In the next century, the Council of Vienne, Section 14 refers to Sirach (1311) as well:
[That nothing unbecoming or corrupt find its way into that field of the Lord, namely the sacred order of the black monks, or anything grow into a ruinous crop, but rather that the flowers of honour and integrity may there produce much fruit, (Sir. 24:17) we decree as follows.Sirach is cited as proof of the need for integrity to lay the Biblical foundation for the decree that will follow. Its biblical veracity is assumed by the Council Fathers.
Here is part of section 38 of the Council of Vienne, 1312:
I came out of paradise, I said: I will water my garden of plants. (Sir. 24:31) Thus speaks the heavenly cultivator, who is truly the source of wisdom, God's Word, begotten by the Father from eternity, (Sirach 1:5) yet remaining in the Father.The Council of Vienne continues the tradition of quoting a Deuterocanonical book.
Next, we have the Council of Florence in 1435:
[How the canonical hours should be recited outside choir]Sirach is again quoted as Scripture.This holy synod admonishes all holders of benefices, or those in holy orders, since they are bound to the canonical hours, if they wish their prayers to be acceptable to God, to recite the day and night offices, not in a mumble or between their teeth, nor swallowing or abbreviating their words, nor intermingling conversation and laughter, but, whether they are alone or with others, reverently and distinctly and in such a place as will not diminish devotion, for which they ought to dispose and prepare themselves, as the scripture says: Before prayer prepare your soul, and do not be like someone who tempts God. Sirach 18:23
Next, we have the Book of Wisdom, as quoted in the Council of Florence, Section 3, 1438, Section 3:
Merchants of all kinds, who have gone to Basel on account of the former council, shall depart under the same pain of excommunication. If there are some who ignore these orders of ours, daring perhaps to convey goods after the time-limit to those at Basel persisting in contumacy, since it is written that the righteous plundered the ungodly, (Wisdom 10:20) such persons may be despoiled without penalty by any of the faithful and their goods shall be ceded to the first takers.The book of Wisdom is clearly cited as Scripture. The Council goes on to punish those who misuse the Scripture. However, the quotation from Wisdom is clearly recognized as Scripture. Florence, in 1439, Session 7 (1439) gives us another citation of another Deuterocanonical book: Susannah/Daniel 13:9
In this, those utterly pernicious men, masking their malice with the rosy colour of a truth of the faith, gave to the council of Constance an evil and mischievous meaning completely opposed to its true teaching, imitating in this the teaching of other schismatics and heretics who always amass for their support fabricated errors and impious dogmas drawn from their perverse interpretation of the divine scriptures and the holy fathers.After all the citations of the Fathers who unanimously referred to these books as Scripture, we have a continuous record of Ecumenical Councils quoting from the Deuterocanonicals up to the point of the reformation. Thus, the Popes confirmation in the 5th century of the Council of Carthages list of the Deuterocanonical books alongside the Protocanonical books as inspired, is played out in the ensuing Ecumenical Councils who quoted the Deuterocanonicals as Scripture. Any attempt to say that the Council of Trent was the first Ecumenical Council to affirm these books are Scripture, is belied by the fact that numerous Councils previous to Trent over numerous centuries referred to these books as Scripture, and all assumed they were Scripture. There is no record of any Father at any of these Councils objecting to the use of these Deuterocanonicals in these solemn Councils.Finally, completely perverting their mind and turning away their eyes from looking to heaven or remembering righteous judgments, (Susannah/Daniel 13:9) after the manner of Dioscorus and the infamous synod of Ephesus, they proceeded to a declaratory sentence of deprivation, as they claimed, from the dignity and office of the supreme apostolate, a poisonous and execrable pronouncement involving an unforgivable crime.
Talk about obfuscation of the truth with voluminous half-truths, the FACT is that these were not "binding" as in fact debate was allowed and continued right into Trent, as documented, and it not simply Protestant apologists who assert that the Council of Trent was the first council to infallibly set the canon, but your far more weighty RC sources.
Why can't you simply admit that the canon was still the subject of uncensored debate until Trent finally provided the first infallible decree of it? Those are the FACTS!
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Canon of the New Testament, (1917), states (emphasis mine throughout the proceeding),
► The Canon of the New Testament, like that of the Old, is the result of a development, of a process at once stimulated by disputes with doubters, both within and without the Church, and retarded by certain obscurities and natural hesitations, and which did not reach its final term until the dogmatic definition of the Tridentine Council. (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03274a.htm)
► "The Tridentine decrees from which the above list is extracted was the first infallible and effectually promulgated pronouncement on the Canon, addressed to the Church Universal. (Catholic Encyclopedia, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03267a.htm;
► According to Catholic doctrine, the proximate criterion of the biblical canon is the infallible decision of the Church. This decision was not given until rather late in the history of the Church at the Council of Trent...The Council of Trent definitively settled the matter of the Old Testament Canon. That this had not been done previously is apparent from the uncertainty that persisted up to the time of Trent" (New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. II, Bible, III (Canon), p. 390; Canon, Biblical, p. 29; Bible, III (Canon), p. 390).
► The Catholic Study Bible, Oxford University Press, 1990, p. RG27: "The final definitive list of biblical books (including the seven additional Old Testament books) was only drawn up at the council of Trent in 1546. Most Christians had followed St. Augustine and included the 'Apocrypha' in the canon, but St. Jerome, who excluded them, had always had his defenders." (Joseph Lienhard, The Bible, The Church, And Authority [Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1995], p. 59)
► "...an official, definitive list of inspired writings did not exist in the Catholic Church until the Council of Trent (Yves Congar, French Dominican cardinal and theologian, in Tradition and Traditions" [New York: Macmillan, 1966], p. 38).
► As Catholic Church historian and recognized authority on Trent (2400 page history, and author of over 700 books, etc.), Hubert Jedin (1900-1980) observes, it also put a full stop to the 1000-year-old development of the biblical canon (History of the Council of Trent [London, 1961] 91, quoted by Raymond Edward Brown, American Roman Catholic priest and Biblical scholar, in The New Jerome biblical commentary, p. 1168)
►The question of the deutero-canonical books will not be settled before the sixteenth century. As late as the second half of the thirteenth, St Bonaventure used as canonical the third book of Esdras and the prayer of Manasses, whereas St Albert the Great and St Thomas doubted their canonical value. (George H. Tavard, Holy Writ or Holy Church: The Crisis of the Protestant Reformation (London: Burns & Oates, 1959), pp. 16-17)
►It may be a surprise to some to know that the canon, or official list of books of the Bible, was not explicitly defined by the Church until the 16th century though there was a clear listing as early as the fourth century. (Leonard Foley, O.F.M., Believing in Jesus: A Popular Overview of the Catholic Faith, rev. ed. (St. Anthony Messenger Press, 1985, p. 21)
► "For the first fifteen centuries of Christianity, no Christian Church put forth a definitive list of biblical books. Most Christians had followed St. Augustine and included the 'Apocrypha' in the canon, but St. Jerome, who excluded them, had always had his defenders." (Joseph Lienhard, S.J., A.B., classics, Fordham University, The Bible, The Church, And Authority; [Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1995], p. 59)
►Among those dissenting at Trent was Augustinian friar, Italian theologian and cardinal and papal legate Girolamo Seripando. As Hubert_Jedin explained. he was aligned with the leaders of a minority that was outstanding for its theological scholarship at the Council of Trent. Jedin writes that his position was
► Tobias, Judith, the Book of Wisdom, the books of Esdras, Ecclesiasticus, the books of the Maccabees, and Baruch are only "canonici et ecclesiastici" and make up the canon morum in contrast to the canon fidei. These, Seripando says in the words of St. Jerome, are suited for the edification of the people, but they are not authentic, that is, not sufficient to prove a dogma. Seripando emphasized that in spite of the Florentine canon the question of a twofold canon was still open and was treated as such by learned men in the Church. Without doubt he was thinking of Cardinal Cajetan, who in his commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews accepted St. Jerome's view which had had supporters throughout the Middle Ages. (Hubert Jedin, Papal Legate At The Council Of Trent (St Louis: B. Herder Book Co., 1947), pp. 270-271) On the eve of the Reformation, it was not only Luther who had problems with the extent of the New Testament canon. Doubts were being expressed even by some of the loyal sons of the Church. Luther's opponent at Augsburg, Cardinal Cajetan, following Jerome, expressed doubts concerning the canonicity of Hebrews, James, 2 and 3 John, and Jude. Of the latter three he states, "They are of less authority than those which are certainly Holy Scripture."63
Erasmus likewise expressed doubts concerning Revelation as well as the apostolicity of James, Hebrews and 2 Peter. It was only as the Protestant Reformation progressed, and Luther's willingness to excise books from the canon threatened Rome that, at Trent, the Roman Catholic Church hardened its consensus stand on the extent of the New Testament canon into a conciliar pronouncement.64 http://bible.org/article/evangelicals-and-canon-new-testament#P136_48836
Theologian Cardinal Cajetan also stated,
"Here we close our commentaries on the historical books of the Old Testament. For the rest (that is, Judith, Tobit, and the books of Maccabees) are counted by St. Jerome out of the canonical books, and are placed amongst the apocrypha, along with Wisdom and Ecciesiasticus, as is plain from the Protogus Galeatus. Nor be thou disturbed, like a raw scholar, if thou shouldest find anywhere, either in the sacred councils or the sacred doctors, these books reckoned as canonical. For the words as well of councils as of doctors are to be reduced to the correction of Jerome. Cardinal Cajetan, "Commentary on all the Authentic Historical Books of the Old Testament," Bruce Metzger, An Introduction to the Apocrypha (New York: Oxford, 1957), p. 180.)
►Cajetan was also highly regarded by many, even if opposed by others: The Catholic Encyclopedia states, "It has been significantly said of Cajetan that his positive teaching was regarded as a guide for others and his silence as an implicit censure. His rectitude, candour, and moderation were praised even by his enemies. Always obedient, and submitting his works to ecclesiastical authority, he presented a striking contrast to the leaders of heresy and revolt, whom he strove to save from their folly." http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03145c.htm
► The late (liberal) British bishop and Scripture scholar B.F. Westcott reported, Some proposed to follow the judgment of Cardinal Caietan [as sometimes spelled] and distinguish two classes of books, as, it was argued, had been the intention of Augustine. Others wished to draw the line of distinction yet more exactly, and form three classes, (1) the Acknowledged Books, (2) the Disputed Books of the New Testament, as having been afterwards generally received, (3) the Apocrypha of the Old Testament. (B.F. Westcott, The Bible In The Church, p. 256)
And there is more: http://peacebyjesus.tripod.com/ancients_on_scripture.html#2