[Grateful2God]

The doctrine of Purgatory is based on references which Luther chose to remove from his bible. The reasoning he gave was because the apocryphal canon was not used by the Hebrews, at a time when he was trying to rid himself of the vestiges of the Catholic Church, and was attempting to win over the Jews. My point with the NT books that he wished to remove but replace, was that he was no longer messing with the OT, but now the NT as well, to support his own beliefs/issues/interests.

This kind of thinking, especially given his change in attitude toward the Jews later on, is to a Catholic a total discredit to Luther's ideas. This is the same as another doubting/recurring the Catholic Sacred Tradition.

Therefore, deciding that Maccabees is not a point of discussion is rendering the discussion one-sided.
Thank you for reading it over...

[ealgeone]

This discussion of the formation of the OT canon may be of interest to you. I have put in italics anything quoted from the source to avoid confusion.

An honest read will indicate the status of the apocrypha as being canon was not officially settled for the rcc until Trent in 1546.

The reader should also draw the conclusion that Jerome, not Luther, held more sway over the decision to relegate the apocrypha to a secondary status.

The reader will also note that Origen and Athanasius also were centers of influence in not including these books as canon.

So here we have again some ECFs that are in favor of inclusion and some against.

I have found this is the case with all of the points of contention we discuss on these threads.

Four primary factors influenced Jerome's criteria for inclusion or rejection of the apocrypha.

Obviously, the inferior rank to which the deuteros were relegated by authorities like Origen, Athanasius, and Jerome, was due to too rigid a conception of canonicity, one demanding that a book, to be entitled to this supreme dignity,

1)must be received by all,

2)must have the sanction of Jewish antiquity, and

3)must moreover be adapted not only to edification,

4) but also to the "confirmation of the doctrine of the Church", to borrow Jerome's phrase.

The last one is the most telling as to why these books should be rejected.

These books did not conform to the doctrine of the Church then and they do not today.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03267a.htm

[Elsie]

The doctrine of Purgatory is based on references which Luther chose to remove from his bible.

Do you have a LINK to this bible?

I; for one; would like to see it.