Changes

The Biblical [[New Testament]] was taking shape by the end of the first century when the [[Gospels]] and the letters of [[Paul]] were already being circulated.  The heretic [[Marcion]] attempted to remove some books around 140 A.D., showing that there was already a grouping of books that were accepted as authentic. Twenty of the 27 books of the New Testament were accepted early in the history of Christianity, while the other seven that make up the Scriptures were subjects of dispute by a minority of biblical scholars. When [[Constantine]] first made Christianity a legal religion in the [[Roman Empire]] in the early 300s, he called together leading Christians from the East and West parts of the empire to iron out the principles of Christianity, including cementing the canon. Subsequent councils such as the Council of Hippo (393) and the Third Council of Carthage (397), dealt with minor questions of authenticity, and set forth the first-ever listing of all 27 books of the New Testament, and 46 books of the Old Testament, a canon of 73 books of the Bible, which remained unchanged for 1200 years. Still, 7 books of the Old Testament (and parts of 2 other books) and 7 books of the New Testament, 14 total, while accepted by the majority of Christian scholars and church leaders as part of the Biblical canon, continued to be debated by a minority of independent scholars, from the 4th through the 16th centuries. Since the 16th century these 14 books have been designated ''deuterocanonical'', as distinct from the ''protocanonical'' books universally accepted without debate from the 1st century of the church. The deuterocanonical Old Testament scriptural texts are:

The Biblical [[New Testament]] was taking shape by the end of the first century when the [[Gospels]] and the letters of [[Paul]] were already being circulated.  The heretic [[Marcion]] attempted to remove some books around 140 A.D., showing that there was already a grouping of books that were accepted as authentic. Twenty of the 27 books of the New Testament were accepted early in the history of Christianity, while the other seven that make up the Scriptures were subjects of dispute by a minority of biblical scholars. When [[Constantine]] first made Christianity a legal religion in the [[Roman Empire]] in the early 300s, he called together leading Christians from the East and West parts of the empire to iron out the principles of Christianity, including cementing the canon. Subsequent councils such as the Council of Hippo (393) and the Third Council of Carthage (397), dealt with minor questions of authenticity, and set forth the first-ever listing of all 27 books of the New Testament, and 46 books of the Old Testament, a canon of 73 books of the Bible, which remained unchanged for 1200 years. Still, 7 books of the Old Testament (and parts of 2 other books) and 7 books of the New Testament, 14 total, while accepted by the majority of Christian scholars and church leaders as part of the Biblical canon, continued to be debated by a minority of independent scholars, from the 4th through the 16th centuries. Since the 16th century these 14 books have been designated ''deuterocanonical'', as distinct from the ''protocanonical'' books universally accepted without debate from the 1st century of the church. The deuterocanonical Old Testament scriptural texts are:

*Tobit

*[[Book of Tobit|Tobit]]

*Judith

*[[Book of Judith|Judith]]

*Greek rabbinical Additions to Esther (Vulgate Esther 10:4-16:24)[26]

*[[Rest of Esther (Bible)|Greek rabbinical Additions to Esther]] (Vulgate Esther 10:4-16:24)

*Wisdom (or Wisdom of Solomon)

*[[Book of Wisdom|Wisdom (or Wisdom of Solomon)]]

*Wisdom of Jesus ben Sira (or Sirach or Ecclesiasticus)

*[[Book of Sirach|Wisdom of Jesus ben Sira (or Sirach or Ecclesiasticus)]]

*Baruch, including the Letter of Jeremiah (Additions to Jeremiah in the Septuagint)[27]

*[[Book of Baruch|Baruch]], including the [[Epistle of Jeremiah|Letter of Jeremiah]] (Additions to Jeremiah in the Septuagint)

*Greek rabbinical Additions to Daniel:

*Greek rabbinical Additions to Daniel:

:*Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children (Vulgate Daniel 3:24-90)

:*[[The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children|Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children]] (Vulgate Daniel 3:24-90)

:*Susanna (Vulgate Daniel 13, Septuagint prologue)

:*[[Story of Susanna|Susanna]] (Vulgate Daniel 13, Septuagint prologue to Daniel)

:*Bel and the Dragon (Vulgate Daniel 14, Septuagint epilogue)

:*[[Bel and the Dragon]] (Vulgate Daniel 14, Septuagint epilogue of Daniel)

*1 Maccabees

*[[1 Maccabees]]

*2 Maccabees

*[[2 Maccabees]]

The term deuterocanonical is sometimes used to describe the canonical ''antilegomena'', those books of the New Testament which, like the deuterocanonicals of the Old Testament, while accepted by the majority of Christian believers, were not universally accepted by the early Church, but which are now included in the 27 books of the New Testament recognized by almost all Christians since the time of the Third Council of Carthage (397). The deuterocanonicals of the New Testament are as follows:

The term deuterocanonical is sometimes used to describe the canonical ''antilegomena'', those books of the New Testament which, like the deuterocanonicals of the Old Testament, while accepted by the majority of Christian believers, were not universally accepted by the early Church, but which are now included in the 27 books of the New Testament recognized by almost all Christians since the time of the Third Council of Carthage (397). The deuterocanonicals of the New Testament are as follows:

*The Epistle to the Hebrews

*[[Hebrews|The Epistle to the Hebrews]]

*The Epistle of James

*[[James|The Epistle of James]]

*The Second Epistle of Peter

*[[2 Peter|The Second Epistle of Peter]]

*The Second Epistle of John

*[[2 John|The Second Epistle of John]]

*The Third Epistle of John

*[[3 John|The Third Epistle of John]]

*The Epistle of Jude

*[[Jude|The Epistle of Jude]]

*The Apocalypse of John (also known as the Book of Revelation)

*[[Revelation|The Apocalypse of John (also known as the Book of Revelation)]]

The meaning of the term "deuterocanonical" is therefore not identical with "apocryphal". For the Catholic Church, a formal [[Dogma|dogmatic]] proclamation was made at the [[Council of Trent]], that the Bible the Church had been using and the books it contained "with all their parts" was correct, in reaction to the [[Protestant Reformation]]'s rejection of 7 of the deuterocanonical works as [[apocrypha]], together with those parts of 2 other canonical books which had been long debated (parts of Esther and Daniel). However, [[1 Esdras]], [[2 Esdras]] and [[Prayer of Manasseh]] were not included in the canon of the Catholic Bible defined by the Council of Trent, although they were part of the Vulgate, but they were subsequently placed in an appendix to the definitive [[Clementine Vulgate]], "''lest they be lost altogether''". This definitively closed 1400 years of intermittant debate over the traditional canon of the Bible in the Catholic Church, and declared henceforth [http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/anathema ''anathema'' (cursed)] any one who persisted in holding any dissenting opinion in the matter (''see'' [http://biblehub.com/multi/1_corinthians/16-22.htm 1 Corinthians 16:22]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=galatians%201:6-9&version=KJV Galatians 1:6-9]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans%2013:1-2&version=KJV Romans 13:1-2]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=hebrews%2013:17&version=KJV Hebrews 13:17]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2peter%201:20&version=KJV 2 Peter 1:20] and [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2peter%203:16-17&version=KJV 3:16-17]; [http://biblehub.com/multi/jude/1-8.htm Jude 8], [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=jude%201:16-19&version=KJV 16-19]; [http://biblehub.com/multi/revelation/22-19.htm  Revelation 22:19]). [[Martin Luther]] had initially placed 4 of the New Testament deuterocanonical books in an appendix after the New Testament of his German Bible, judging them to be unscriptural and hostile to the gospel of Christ: Hebrews, James, Jude and Revelation.<ref>[http://www.bible-researcher.com/antilegomena.html Luther's Treatment of the 'Disputed Books' of the New Testament] (bible-researcher.com/antilegomena)<br/>See [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZUAuAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=Martin+Luther+on+the+Book+of+Tobit&source=bl&ots=o2f-ODSQ5i&sig=5akAGrPB7QUCRHbiEqqWxg5Egek&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hqmUVLrgM8_4yQS19IGgAw&ved=0CFYQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=Martin%20Luther%20on%20the%20Book%20of%20Tobit&f=false Martin Luther's Table Talk, by Martin Luther, translated by William Hazlitt, Alexander Chalmers. Bell & Daldy, 1872. pages 11-13] (books.google.com)</ref> When [[Protestantism|Protestant leaders]] approached the leaders of the separated [[Orthodox Church]] with their revised canon of 66 books, they were rebuffed. [[Orthodox Church|Orthodoxy in the east]] was never confronted with a need to officially define the canon of the Bible and has continued to use the Septuagint as passed down from the time of the apostles of the ancient Church in the 1st century to the present day. The 1611 [[King James Bible]], put together after the [[Church of England]] had broken away from the Catholic Church under [[Henry VIII]] ([[Act of Supremacy]] 1534), included the 7 Old Testament deuterocanonical books and the deuterocanonical parts of the 2 other canonical books, but removed them from the Old Testament and placed them in a separate section, and the Church of England continued to use the deuterocanonicals in the liturgy until forbidden by the [[Long Parliament]] in 1644.  By the 1800s [[Protestant]] Bibles began to omit some of the deuterocanonical books altogether as ''The Apocrypha'', while retaining the other deuterocanonicals, Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude and Revelation. In 1885 the Oxford University Press officially removed the Apocrypha, excluding it from all subsequent Oxford printed editions of the Bible.<ref>[http://www.handsonapologetics.com/King%20James%20Bible.html The "Inconvenient Tale" of the Original King James Bible, By Gary Michuta] (handsonapologetics.com)</ref> A common Protestant teaching is that the Apocrypha were never part of the Bible, but were added to the Bible by the Antichrist Catholic Popes at the Council of Trent, and that they contain doctrines of the Devil.<ref>[http://matt1618.freeyellow.com/cloud.html Refuting an Attack on the Deuterocanonicals. A Response to 11 ‘reasons’ that the Deuterocanonicals Should be Thrown Out of the Bible, By Matt1618. Introduction] (matt1618.freeyellow.com)<br/>[http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/haldane_booksotnt.html#two The Books of the Old and New Testaments Canonical and Inspired; with remarks on the Apocrypha, by Robert Haldane, Esq. of Scotland. Boston: published by the American Doctinal Tract Society, Perkins and Marvin, agents. 1840]<br/>[http://www.temcat.com/L-9-History/AntichristAndReformation.pdf The Antichrist and the Protestant Reformation, by Steve Wohlberg] (AntichristAndReformation.pdf)<br/>[http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/apocryph.htm Why the Apocrypha Isn't in the Bible.] (jesus-is-lord.com)<br/>[http://carm.org/errors-apocrypha Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry: Errors in the Apocrypha, by Matt Slick] (carm.org)<br/>[http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Roman%20Catholicism/rcc16-apocrypha.htm False Religions: Roman Catholicism. The Apocrypha Exposed!] (jesus-is-savior.com)</ref><blockquote>"''Yes, Catholicism is straight out of the pits of hell, but so is Lutheranism!''" (The Truth About Martin Luther, Dr. Max D. Younce, Th.D.<ref>[http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Lutherans/truth_about_martin_luther.htm The truth about Martin Luther. Dr. Max D. Younce, Th.D.)] (jesus-is-savior.com)</ref>)</blockquote>

The meaning of the term "deuterocanonical" is therefore not identical with "apocryphal". For the Catholic Church, a formal [[Dogma|dogmatic]] proclamation was made at the [[Council of Trent]], that the Bible the Church had been using and the books it contained "with all their parts" was correct, in reaction to the [[Protestant Reformation]]'s rejection of 7 of the deuterocanonical works as [[apocrypha]], together with those parts of 2 other canonical books which had been long debated (parts of Esther and Daniel). However, [[1 Esdras]], [[2 Esdras]] and [[Prayer of Manasseh]] were not included in the canon of the Catholic Bible defined by the Council of Trent, although they were part of the Vulgate, but they were subsequently placed in an appendix to the definitive [[Clementine Vulgate]], "''lest they be lost altogether''". This definitively closed 1400 years of intermittant debate over the traditional canon of the Bible in the Catholic Church, and declared henceforth [http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/anathema ''anathema'' (cursed)] any one who persisted in holding any dissenting opinion in the matter <ref>"But if any one receive not, as sacred and canonical, the said books entire with all their parts, as they have been used to be read in the Catholic Church, and as they are contained in the old Latin vulgate edition; and knowingly and deliberately contemn the traditions aforesaid; let him be anathema."[http://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/ct04.html The Council of Trent. The Fourth Session. The canons and decrees of the sacred and oecumenical Council of Trent, Trans. J. Waterworth (London: Dolman, 1848), 17-21. <nowiki>[Page 17]</nowiki> SESSION THE FOURTH Celebrated on the eighth day of the month of April, in the year MDXLVI. DECREE CONCERNING THE CANONICAL SCRIPTURES]</ref> (''see'' [http://biblehub.com/multi/1_corinthians/16-22.htm 1 Corinthians 16:22]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=galatians%201:6-9&version=KJV Galatians 1:6-9]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans%2013:1-2&version=KJV Romans 13:1-2]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=hebrews%2013:17&version=KJV Hebrews 13:17]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2peter%201:20&version=KJV 2 Peter 1:20] and [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2peter%203:16-17&version=KJV 3:16-17]; [http://biblehub.com/multi/jude/1-8.htm Jude 8], [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=jude%201:16-19&version=KJV 16-19]; [http://biblehub.com/multi/revelation/22-19.htm  Revelation 22:19]). [[Martin Luther]] had initially placed 4 of the New Testament deuterocanonical books in an appendix after the New Testament of his German Bible, judging them to be unscriptural and hostile to the gospel of Christ: Hebrews, James, Jude and Revelation.<ref>[http://www.bible-researcher.com/antilegomena.html Luther's Treatment of the 'Disputed Books' of the New Testament] (bible-researcher.com/antilegomena)<br/>See [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZUAuAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=Martin+Luther+on+the+Book+of+Tobit&source=bl&ots=o2f-ODSQ5i&sig=5akAGrPB7QUCRHbiEqqWxg5Egek&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hqmUVLrgM8_4yQS19IGgAw&ved=0CFYQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=Martin%20Luther%20on%20the%20Book%20of%20Tobit&f=false Martin Luther's Table Talk, by Martin Luther, translated by William Hazlitt, Alexander Chalmers. Bell & Daldy, 1872. pages 11-13] (books.google.com)</ref> When [[Protestantism|Protestant leaders]] approached the leaders of the separated [[Orthodox Church]] with their revised canon of 66 books, they were rebuffed. [[Orthodox Church|Orthodoxy in the east]] was never confronted with a need to officially define the canon of the Bible and has continued to use the Septuagint as passed down from the time of the apostles of the ancient Church in the 1st century to the present day. The 1611 [[King James Bible]], put together after the [[Church of England]] had broken away from the Catholic Church under [[Henry VIII]] ([[Act of Supremacy]] 1534), included the 7 Old Testament deuterocanonical books and the deuterocanonical parts of the 2 other canonical books, but removed them from the Old Testament and placed them in a separate section, and the Church of England continued to use the deuterocanonicals in the liturgy until forbidden by the [[Long Parliament]] in 1644.<ref>[http://bcw-project.org/church-and-state/first-civil-war/oxford-parliament Oxford Parliament 1644-45] (bcw-project.org), <br/>[http://www.timetravel-britain.com/articles/christmas/ban.shtml The Puritan Ban on Christmas, by Martha Doe] (timetravel-britain.com), <br/>[http://www.sonlightclass.com/Notes/CanonOfScripture/2012-12-02.pdf Canon of Scripture] (sonlightclass.com/Notes/CanonOfScripture/2012-12-02)</ref> By the 1800s [[Protestant]] Bibles began to omit some of the deuterocanonical books altogether as ''The Apocrypha'', while retaining the other deuterocanonicals, Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude and Revelation. In 1885 the Oxford University Press, pressured by Protestant groups, officially removed the Apocrypha, excluding it from all subsequent Oxford printed editions of the King James Version of the Bible, but still making it available as a separate collection in a separate volume.<ref>[http://www.handsonapologetics.com/King%20James%20Bible.html The "Inconvenient Tale" of the Original King James Bible, By Gary Michuta] (handsonapologetics.com)</ref> However, more recently (1973) Oxford began publishing some editions of the Oxford Annotated Bible which also include the apocryphal and deuterocanonical books used by the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek and Slavonic Orthodox Churches, as well as churches of the Anglican Communion (including The Episcopal Church); these editions are titled "''[New] Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha''"; also available are ''English Standard Version Bible with Apocrypha'' and ''The New English Bible: With the Apocrypha (Oxford Study Edition)''.<ref>See also [http://www.tyndalearchive.com/scriptures/index.htm Tyndale Archive: Index to English Translations of the Bible (more than 100 versions)]. This source lists the following Bibles with Apocrypha (listed here in chronological order):

For database resource, see—<br/>'''BibleWorks Software for Biblical Exegesis & Research''', [http://kb.bibleworksllc.com/ikb/questions.php?questionid=173 What Bible Versions in BibleWorks Contain the Apocrypha?] (kb.bibleworksllc.com)</ref> A common Protestant teaching is that the Apocrypha were never part of the Bible, but were added to the Bible by the Antichrist Catholic Popes at the Council of Trent, and that they contain doctrines of the Devil.<ref>[http://matt1618.freeyellow.com/cloud.html Refuting an Attack on the Deuterocanonicals. A Response to 11 ‘reasons’ that the Deuterocanonicals Should be Thrown Out of the Bible, By Matt1618. Introduction] (matt1618.freeyellow.com)<br/>[http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/haldane_booksotnt.html#two The Books of the Old and New Testaments Canonical and Inspired; with remarks on the Apocrypha, by Robert Haldane, Esq. of Scotland. Boston: published by the American Doctinal Tract Society, Perkins and Marvin, agents. 1840]<br/>[http://www.temcat.com/L-9-History/AntichristAndReformation.pdf The Antichrist and the Protestant Reformation, by Steve Wohlberg] (AntichristAndReformation.pdf)<br/>[http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/apocryph.htm Why the Apocrypha Isn't in the Bible.] (jesus-is-lord.com)<br/>[http://carm.org/errors-apocrypha Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry: Errors in the Apocrypha, by Matt Slick] (carm.org)<br/>[http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Roman%20Catholicism/rcc16-apocrypha.htm False Religions: Roman Catholicism. The Apocrypha Exposed!] (jesus-is-savior.com)</ref><blockquote>"''Yes, Catholicism is straight out of the pits of hell, but so is Lutheranism!''" (The Truth About Martin Luther, Dr. Max D. Younce, Th.D.<ref>[http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Lutherans/truth_about_martin_luther.htm The truth about Martin Luther. Dr. Max D. Younce, Th.D.)] (jesus-is-savior.com)</ref>)</blockquote>

Orthodox Christians do not usually speak of "the canon of Scripture" but do think of the writings as "canonical", the difference being that the canonical writings are judged as being faithful to the dogma of the Church.  The Orthodox Church has never defined the Old Testament canon, but they have been using the same one since the early times of the Church. The Orthodox Old Testament canonical books are these:

Orthodox Christians do not usually speak of "the canon of Scripture" but do think of the writings as "canonical", the difference being that the canonical writings are judged as being faithful to the dogma of the Church.  The Orthodox Church has never defined the Old Testament canon, but they have been using the same one since the early times of the Church. The Orthodox Old Testament canonical books are these:

*JUDGES

*JUDGES

*RUTH

*RUTH

*KINGS I (SAMUEL I)

*KINGS I (1 Samuel)

*KINGS II (SAMUEL II)

*KINGS II (2 Samuel)

*KINGS III (1 Kings)

*KINGS III (1 Kings)

*KINGS IV (2 Kings)

*KINGS IV (2 Kings)

*MACCABEES II

*MACCABEES II

*MACCABEES III

*MACCABEES III

*PSALMS (Psalm 150 with Psalm 151)

*PSALMS (Psalm 150 with appended Psalm 151)

*JOB

*JOB

*PROVERBS OF SOLOMON

*PROVERBS OF SOLOMON

*[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1292150/Worlds-illustrated-Christian-bible-discovered-Ethiopian-monastery.html World's first illustrated Christian bible discovered at Ethiopian monastery, By Daily Mail Reporter. Updated: 11:33 EST, 5 July 2010] Carbon dating gives a date between 330 and 650.</ref>

*[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1292150/Worlds-illustrated-Christian-bible-discovered-Ethiopian-monastery.html World's first illustrated Christian bible discovered at Ethiopian monastery, By Daily Mail Reporter. Updated: 11:33 EST, 5 July 2010] Carbon dating gives a date between 330 and 650.</ref>

These are the following:

These 81 books are the following:

<br/>A. '''The Holy Books of the Old Testament'''

<br/>A. '''The Holy Books of the Old Testament'''

<br/>1. Genesis

<br/>1. Genesis

<br/>35. Didascalia

<br/>35. Didascalia

The particular Biblical canon which any individual person accepts as finally and definitively authoritative, is directly determined by the specific claim of authority presented by the defining person or group or organization or religious body which that individual person perceives as authentic (see [[Logical fallacy]]). The [[Religious Society of Friends|Friends (Quakers)]] do not define any writing as canonical but what each person, "led by the spirit and light of Christ", has determined to be scripture or recognizes as inspired.<ref>See the essay [http://www.newmanreader.org/works/essays/volume2/private.html Private Judgment [British Critic, July 1841]] (newmanreader.org)</ref><blockquote>"Now the Lord's power was so mighty upon me, and so strong in me, that I could not hold, but was made to cry out and say, "Oh! no; it is not the scriptures;" and told them it was the Holy Spirit, by which the holy men of God gave forth the scriptures, whereby opinions, religions, and judgments were to be tried; for it led into all Truth, and so gave the knowledge of all Truth." —''from the'' Journal of [[George Fox]].<ref>[http://www.qis.net/~daruma/foxbible.html GEORGE FOX'S TEACHING ON THE PLACE OF SCRIPTURE] (qis.net)</ref></blockquote>

The particular Biblical canon which any individual person accepts as finally and definitively authoritative, is directly determined by the specific claim of authority presented by that particular canon-defining person or group or organization or religious body which the individual person perceives as authentic (see [[Logical fallacy]]). The [[Religious Society of Friends|Friends (Quakers)]] do not define any writing as canonical but what each person, "led by the spirit and light of Christ", has determined to be scripture or recognizes as inspired.<ref>See the essay [http://www.newmanreader.org/works/essays/volume2/private.html Private Judgment [British Critic, July 1841]] (newmanreader.org)</ref><blockquote>"Now the Lord's power was so mighty upon me, and so strong in me, that I could not hold, but was made to cry out and say, "Oh! no; it is not the scriptures;" and told them it was the Holy Spirit, by which the holy men of God gave forth the scriptures, whereby opinions, religions, and judgments were to be tried; for it led into all Truth, and so gave the knowledge of all Truth." —''from the'' Journal of [[George Fox]].<ref>[http://www.qis.net/~daruma/foxbible.html GEORGE FOX'S TEACHING ON THE PLACE OF SCRIPTURE] (qis.net)</ref></blockquote>

See [[Apostolic succession]]

See [[Apostolic succession]]