Thursday 19 March 2009

When was the first "infallible" pronouncement on the Canon?

I add this post, because Roman Catholicism seems to continue to falesly imply that Martin Luther excluded books from the established canon. Roman Catholicism seems to state that the Church alone establishes canon. However the following article, again from New Advent, makes it clear that the Roman Catholic version of the canon was not even officially defined and pronounced until as a response to Martin Luther and the Reform.

The most explicit definition of the Catholic Canon is that given by the Council of Trent, Session IV, 1546. For the Old Testament its catalogue reads as follows:

The five books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy), Josue, Judges, Ruth, the four books of Kings, two of Paralipomenon, the first and second of Esdras (which latter is called Nehemias), Tobias, Judith, Esther, Job, the Davidic Psalter (in number one hundred and fifty Psalms), Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Canticle of Canticles, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Isaias, Jeremias, with Baruch, Ezechiel, Daniel, the twelve minor Prophets (Osee, Joel, Amos, Abdias, Jonas, Micheas, Nahum, Habacuc, Sophonias, Aggeus, Zacharias, Malachias), two books of Machabees, the first and second.

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.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03267a.htm (Emphasis mine)
The point here is that Roman Catholicism must admit that until this decree, the canon had never been officially pronounced as "Received Canon", so it was impossible for Luther to tamper with the canon. Up until this point, there was still debate concerning which books should truly be included in Holy Scripture.

Further evidence of this can be found in the post entitled "10th to 15th century discord" which contains the following quotation (in French) concerning the Council of Trent:
. . . la promulgation de son Canon des Livres Saints . . . eut lieu le 8 avril 1546.
Encyclopédie de la Bible Catholique, Canon des Ecritures, p162
Another quote concerning the Council of Trent as the defining moment for the canon in Roman Catholic history can be found in a French Roman Catholic booklet on the Scriptures :
Il a fallu trois siècles à l'Eglise pour instituer le mot "canon" dans ce sens biblique . . . Néamoins, il faudra attendre bien des siècles pour que, répondant aux assauts culturels de la Renaissance et aux cassures doctrinales de la Réforme, le concile de Trente propose une définition dogmatique du canon des Ecritures.
(Cahiers Evangile : L'inspiration et le canon des ecritures, Histoire et théologie, Editions du Cerf, p39)
I just need to add here, that I am not in agreement with the afore-mentioned booklet when it discusses what it the definition of 'inspiration' of Scripture. Mainly because he seems to present the idea that the men God used to write Scripture were 'taken over' by the Holy Spirit, that they wrote as if possessed by the Holy Spirit, so without any control over what they wrote. This is contrary to all the evidence in Scripture. A major part of the propehcies given in the Old Testament were relayed to the prophet by God, which he then relayed to the people. Some prophets were even told to write down what they saw or heard. Even in the New Testament Paul states that a prophet has control over what he says (1 Corinthians 14:29-33).

Another quote from this booklet demonstrating that according to Roman Catholic litrature, the Apocrypha was determined as canon/scripture from the Council of Trent :
A la différence du Protestantisme, l'Eglise romaine a inclus dans son canon, et considère comme livres canoniques à part entière, les "Apocrpyhes de l'Ancien Testament" : elle les appelle pour sa part les "Deutérocanoniques". Le concile de Trente, à l'encontre des Réformateurs, a fait figurer ces livres dans la liste des "Livres saints", canoniques et inspirés. Il adoptait ainsi définitivement l'antique tradition de l'Eglise d'Occident défendue par Augustin.
(Cahiers Evangile : L'inspiration et le canon des ecritures, Histoire et théologie, Editions du Cerf, p47)
Et encore :
Il fallut attendre le concile de Trente, en sa IVème session, pour que la question de la canonicité des Livre saints fût abordée directement et traitée dogmatiquement . . . c'est le concile de Trente qui aborda et posa dogmatiquement la question du canon des Ecritures . . . il le fit dans le cadre de son immense tâche dogmatique . . . dès lors, le concile déclara quels livres rentraient dans le corps des Ecritures . . . et il adjoignit à son décret un cataologue des Livres canoniques.
(Cahiers Evangile : L'inspiration et le canon des ecritures, Histoire et théologie, Editions du Cerf, p52,53)

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