Catholic Defense Of Deuterocanonical Books
The Catholic Church affirms that the Deuterocanonical books are an integral part of the Old Testament canon, holding them to be divinely inspired and authoritative Scripture [5]. This position was formally defined at the Council of Trent in the 16th century, which listed these books alongside those accepted by Protestants, asserting that God is their author and they were written by the dictation of the Holy Spirit [1].
The term "Deuterocanonical" (meaning "second canon") is used by Catholics to distinguish these books from the "Protocanonical" books, which are universally accepted by both Catholics and Protestants. The Deuterocanonical books include Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Baruch, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and additions to Esther and Daniel [1].
Historically, the inclusion of these books in the Christian canon has roots in early Christian practice. Augustine of Hippo, a prominent Church Father, considered the Book of Wisdom to hold the authority of canonical Scripture, noting its long-standing use and veneration within the Church [2]. He also advised that a skillful interpreter of sacred writings should read all canonical books [7]. Augustine's view reflects a broader patristic acceptance of these texts, which were part of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament widely used by early Christians [2].
However, the status of these books was not without debate in antiquity. Some early Christian writers, while valuing these texts, did not always place them on the same level as the Protocanonical books. For instance, some patristic authors distinguished between canonical books and those read for edification but not for establishing doctrine [10].
During the Reformation, Protestant reformers, including Martin Luther and John Calvin, challenged the canonical status of the Deuterocanonical books. They generally relegated these books to an appendix, considering them useful for reading but not for establishing doctrine, often referring to them as "Apocrypha" [3, 8]. The Anglican tradition, for example, states that while these books are read for "example of life and instruction of manners," they are not to be used "to establish any doctrine" [6]. This stance contrasts with the Catholic view, which sees no such distinction in authority between the Protocanonical and Deuterocanonical books [1].
The Eastern Orthodox Church also accepts the Deuterocanonical books, often referring to them as "Anagignoskomena" (meaning "readable things"), and considers them to be genuine parts of the Old Testament, though sometimes with nuanced distinctions regarding their doctrinal weight compared to the Protocanonical books [4, 9].
The Catholic defense of the Deuterocanonical books rests on several pillars: the consistent use and acceptance of these books in the Septuagint by the early Church, their inclusion in early Christian biblical manuscripts, and their affirmation by Church councils, culminating in the definitive declaration at Trent [1, 5]. The Catholic Church emphasizes that the inspiration of Scripture means God is the author, acting through human writers, and thus all books recognized as canonical share this divine authorship [5].
Sources
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, section 33: § 2. Roman Catholic Doctrine concerning the Scriptures. On this subject Romanists agree with Protestants, (1.) In teaching the plenary inspiration and consequent infallible authority of the sacred writings. Of these writings the Council of Trent says that God is their author, and that they were written by the dictation of the Holy Spirit (“ Spiritu sancto dictante. ”) 105 (2.) They agree with us in receiving into the sacred canon all the books which we regard as of divine authority. Romanists differ from Protestants in regard to the Scrip”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 5: Augustine — Anti-Pelagian — CHAP. 27.--THE BOOK OF WISDOM OBTAINS IN THE CHURCH THE AUTHORITY OF CANONICAL SCRIPTURE.: And since these things are so, the judgment of the book of Wisdom ought not to be repudiated, since for so long a course of years that book has deserved to be read in the Church of Christ from the station of the readers of the Church of Christ, and to be heard by all Christians, from bishops downwards, even to the lowest lay believers, penitents, and catechumens, with the veneration paid to divine authority. For assuredly, if, from those who have been before me in”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 60: “We shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God,” ( Rom. 14:10, 11 ). But we cannot in this way interpret what is said in the Apocalypse: “Every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever,” ( Rev. 5:13 ). This I readily admit;”
- CCEL/NPNF (Eastern Orthodox) “John Chrysostom, Homilies on John & Hebrews: this he usually does with great success, since the Catholic doctrine of the true and perfect Godhead, united in One Person with true and perfect Manhood, affords a key that easily opens texts which most stubbornly resist any confused notion of an inferior Divinity, or an unreal Humanity. The texts urged by the heretic, put to this test, are found not really to belong to him. They are not even arguments so far for his view of the case, but perfectly consistent with the truth always held by the Church. There may remain a few cases, after attentive stu”
- Catechism of the Catholic Church (Catholic) “Catechism of the Catholic Church, 3. the written Gospels. "The sacred authors, in writing the four Gospels, (part 3): "All Sacred Scripture is but one book, and that one book is Christ, because all divine Scripture speaks of Christ, and all divine Scripture is fulfilled in Christ" (Hugh of St. Victor, De arca Noe 2, 8: PL 176, 642). 135 "The Sacred Scriptures contain the Word of God and, because they are inspired, they are truly the Word of God" (DV 24). 136 God is the author of Sacred Scripture because he inspired its human authors; he acts in them and by means of them. He thus gives assuranc”
- Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion (Anglican) “Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion (Anglican, 1571), Of the Names and Number of the Canonical Books: Of the Names and Number of the Canonical Books”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 2: Augustine — City of God, Christian Doctrine — CHAP. 8.--THE CANONICAL BOOKS. (part 1): 12. But let us now go back to consider the third step here mentioned, for it is about it that I have set myself to speak and reason as the Lord shall grant me wisdom. The most skillful interpreter of the sacred writings, then, will be he who in the first place has read them all and retained them in his knowledge, if not yet with full understanding, still with such knowledge as reading gives,--those of them, at least, that arc called canonical. For he will read the others with greater safety when”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 29: says, “That they may believe the Father and the Son, each in his own name and person.” These things, I think, sufficiently refute the effrontery of those who endeavour to blind the simple by pretending the authority of Tertullian. 29. Assuredly, whosoever will compare the writings of the ancient fathers with each other, will not find any thing in Irenaeus different from what is taught by those who come after him. Justin is one of the most ancient, and he agrees with us out and out. Let them object that, by him and others, the Fathe”
- CCEL (Eastern Orthodox) “John of Damascus, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, section 8: should be some distinction between these who are thus joined together—that is, that those that exist mutually in each other should be different in reality, and not in mode of conception only; for that which is simply one is not said to exist in itself, or to interpenetrate itself.…Lastly, this is to be especially considered—that this circumincession of the Divine Persons is indeed a very great mystery, which we ought rather religiously to adore than curiously to pry into. No similitude can be devised which shall be in ever”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 3: Augustine — On the Holy Trinity — CHAP. 8.--OF THE METHOD TO BE PURSUED IN CATECHISING THOSE WHO HAVE HAD A LIBERAL EDUCATION. (part 2): and of skillfully applied diligence on the part of these expounders;(3) and, in the case of the canonical Scriptures, commending above all the most salutary modesty (of language) displayed alongside their wonderful loftiness (of subject); while, in those other productions you notice, in accordance with the 291 characteristic faculty of each several writer, a style of a more sonorous and, as it were more rounded eloquence adapted to minds that are”