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maintain that there never was a council at Jamnia, but instead it was a well-respected rabbinical school. "There is no evidence that any list of books was drawn up at Jamnia." (p 1040).
The Deuterocanonical Books in the Early Church
"In the first century the Christian Bible had simply been the Old Testament (read in the Septuagint version). Authority resided in this scripture and in the words of the Lord, which long circulated in oral tradition, as is apparent in the letter of Clement to the Corinthians." ("The Early Church" Henry Chadwick p 42) The LXX version was also used by the authors of the New Testament. Most scholars date the New Testament books to various dates between 75 AD and about 150 AD depending on the book. The authors of scripture, writing in Greek, cite the Septuagint version Old Testament books since the Septuagint was in Greek. As the Christian Church grew and started separating from Judaism, the Jews also began to codify a set of books that where inspired. (Either in response to Christianity or to divisions between the different Jewish schools.) In the NJBC they assert that the discussions with early Christians also contributed to the decisions of what OT books constituted scripture. In "The Early Church" Henry Chadwick points out that it was only after Christian appeals to the Septuagint became embarrassing that more literal (to the Hebrew) translations became favored by the Greek synagogue (p 12). Some rabbis even denounced the making of the Septuagint as a sin like the worship of the golden calf!
It was in these early years of Church formation that the two distinct Old Testaments were codified. The Jews did not have access to the entire LXX texts in original Hebrew; using this as a basis, they rejected the Deuterocanonical books as not being inspired.
Jerome Versus Augustine
Until the 4th century most Christians used the LXX as the basis for the OT. Of course there was a considerable amount of literature floating around that was also considered scripture and the early Church councils dealt to a large degree with this issue. What exactly constituted scripture?
Surprisingly Saint Jerome, whose Latin vulgate translation became the official translation of the Catholic Church, did not want to include the Deuterocanonical books in the translation. Jerome lived in Palestine and was aware of the Hebrew canon that had developed. His contemporary Saint Augustine arguing from tradition, wanted them included in new vulgate translation. After conferring with Pope Damasus and realizing most people sided with Augustine, Jerome included the Deuterocanonical books in his translation. (It is important to note that many in Rome were opposed to anything Jerome did -- he was not well liked in the ancient capital.)
Jerome's vulgate, although not the only translation in the Church, was widely regarded and used in the Western world. The Septuagint along with Greek texts was widely used in the Eastern Church.
So What Happened?
For many years throughout Christendom the bible, with the Septuagint, was used. Martin Luther's break from Catholicism and the development of the idea of “faith alone” as the basis for salvation gave the reformers a chance to question books in the bible that did not support this view. The reformers particulary attacked Hebrews, Revelation, and the Deuterocanonical books. Since the New Testament books had already been agreed upon at the council at Carthage in 395AD, the idea of removing Hebrews and Revelation from the bible was not widely embraced. The Deuterocanonicals, however, did not fare so well. Some reformation churches included them in scripture and others did not. Finally the Church was forced to formally recognized what books had been traditionally used. This was done at the council of Trent, and this
list, based on traditional Christian teaching is the list of books used by Catholic today.
Baptism of Infants
Suggests baptism of all, entire household including children Acts 2:38-39; Acts 16:15; Acts 16:33; 1 Cor 1:16
Necessity of baptism
Circumcision (normally performed on infants) replaced by baptism Col 2:11-12
Papacy/Infallibility
“It is easier to believe that God made one person infallible than to believe that he made fifty-one out of every one hundred infallible.” -- G. K. Chesterton
Peter always mentioned first, as foremost apostle Mt 10:1-4; Mk 3:16-19; Lk 6:14-16; Acts 1:13; Lk 9:32
Peter speaks for the apostles Mt 18:21; Mk 8:29; Lk 12:41; Jn 6:69
Pentecost: Peter who first preached Acts 2:14-40
Peter worked first healing Acts 3:6-7
Gentiles to be baptized revealed to Peter Acts 10:46-48
Simon is Cephas (Aramaic: Kepha for rock) Jn 1:42
"on this Rock I will build my Church; Peter given keys to Kingdom; Given power to bind and loose" Mt 16:18-19
Keys as symbol of authority
"feed my sheep" Jn 21:17
"Simon strengthen your brethren"
"Vicars" of Christ Lk 10:1-2; 16; Jn 13:20; 2 Cor 5:20; Gal 4:14; Acts 5:1-5 |
