Why Catholic Bibles Are Bigger (20 page)

There follows the history of Susanna, which the Hebrew
(text) does not contain in the Book of Daniel. It calls it a fable, not that it
denies the history, but because it is falsely stated there, that the priests
were stoned, whom Jeremiah testifies to have been burned: and because we
fabled
it to have been written by Daniel, whereas it was written by a certain Greek.
[537]

Jerome himself is quite plain in this matter; he twice
records his opinion that the Deuterocanonical sections of Daniel are “a fable”
[538]
—meaning, without
any doubt, that he considers them to be fictional, fantastic, or mythological.
Peter, however, unable to bear the sight of his hero at direct loggerheads with
the official Church, chooses to imagine that Jerome was commenting upon some
alleged claim that Daniel himself authored the passages in question. It is
remarkable to see how highly prized Jerome’s reputation was that an otherwise
orthodox writer would go to such lengths to bring him in line with the rest of
Christianity.

John Beleth  (d. ca. 1180)

This noted theologian of Paris edited the order of readings
for the
Divine Office
in his Rationale
Divinorum Officiorum
. In it,
he followed the same order as Honorius of Autun, noted above, which includes
the Deuterocanon.
[539]

Anonymous Writer (mid-12th century)

An anonymous writer of the twelfth century (likely a monk)
bore witnesses to the received canon of his day in these words:

[After enumerating the Protocanonical books]… Besides
the aforesaid there are five books which are called by the Hebrews apocryphal,
that is to say hidden and doubtful, but the Church honors these and receives
them. The first is Wisdom: the second Ecclesiasticus [Sir]; the third, Tobias,
the fourth Judith, the fifth, Maccabees.
[540]

John of Salisbury (1115–1180)

A native of England, John was appointed to the papal court
by Henry II. He later returned to England and was advanced through various
offices by St. Thomas á Becket. After Becket’s martyrdom, John was appointed
the bishop of Chartres.

John of Salisbury is rightly counted among those who
rejected the Deuterocanon. In
Letter
143, he wrote:

Since, therefore, concerning the number of the books,
I read many and different opinions of the Fathers,
following Jerome,
a doctor of the Catholic Church, whom I hold most approved in establishing the
foundations of Scripture
, I firmly believe that, as there are twenty-two
Hebrew letters, thus there are twenty-two books of the Old Testament, arranged
in three orders… and these are found in the Prologue of the Book of Kings which
Jerome called the Galeatum Principium of all Scripture…But the book of Wisdom,
Ecclesiasticus, Judith, Tobias, and Pastor,
as the same Father asserts
,
are not in the Canon, neither is the book of Maccabees, which is divided in
two.
[541]

John of Salisbury clearly depends on Jerome and his
so-called “helmeted” preface. Even the wording, however, demonstrates his
recognition that Jerome’s is a minority opinion: “Jerome…whom
I
hold
most approved…”

Peter of Blois (1130–1203)

Quite a contrast is the opinion of Peter of Blois, a
statesman and theologian who studied in Tours, Bologna, and Paris. He became
chancellor of the Archbishop of Canterbury and Archdeacon of Bath in AD 1176.
Following Isidore’s fourfold division of the Old Testament books, Peter wrote:

These books [the Deuterocanon] the Jews place apart
among the apocrypha; but the Church of Christ honors them among the divine
books and promulgates them.
[542]

Peter rests his belief on the authority of the Church of
Christ, not on his private estimation of which early writer may have been most
brilliant.

The Fourth Lateran Council (1213–1215)

A very impressive number of patriarchs, metropolitans,
bishops, abbots, and priors attended this important Church Council. Section 70
of the Council’s remains contains two quotes from the Book of Sirach with the
solemn introduction, “It is written.”
[543]

Albert the Great (1206–1280)

Often called “the Great” or the “Universal Doctor” (Doctor
Universalis), Albert was known for his unparalleled erudition. He met a
youthful student, Thomas Aquinas, who studied under him; particularly by means
of this tutorage, Albert had an enormous influence over theology of his day.

Albert never addresses the issue of the canon per se, but
his usage indicates that he understood them to be Scripture. Albert defends the
inclusion of Baruch as Scripture against Jerome’s contentions. In his works, he
uses the entire Deuterocanon in a manner indistinguishable from the other books
of Scripture.
[544]

Bonaventure (1217–1274)

Another Doctor of the Church, Bonaventure was the
Cardinal-Bishop of Albano and the Minister General of the Friars Minor. His
writings and teachings were quite influential in later theology and Christian
philosophy.

Bonaventure provides a list of twenty-six books of Scripture
which includes the Deuterocanon.
[545]
Elsewhere, he happens to have picked the book of Wisdom to
explain various types of causality, and in so doing, provided us with a
particularly succinct statement of his opinion of it:

The efficient cause of the book is threefold:
God who inspired it, Solomon who produced it,
and Philo who compiled it.
[546]

Clearly, we must count the Seraphic Doctor among those who
held the Deuterocanon to be inspired Scripture.

Alexander Neckam (1157–1217)

Alexander Neckam, professor of the famed University of
Paris, wrote a commentary that focused of difficult passages of Scripture. In
it, he plainly accepts the Deuteroncanon as the inspired Word of God.
[547]

Robert Grosseteste (1235–1253)

Robert Grosseteste was bishop of Lincoln, England. He quotes
the books of Maccabees, Wisdom, and Sirach as Scripture in his letters.

Hugh of St. Cher (ca. 1200–1263)

Hugh joined the Dominican order, and later became a teacher
in the school at Sorbonne. Eventually he was made a Cardinal. Like several
before him, Hugh penned a list of the books of Scripture in Latin verse. After
enumerating the Protocanon, he included the Deuterocanon under the title
Apocrypha.
[548]
 
However, again, the term “apocrypha” has been redefined. In another place, Hugh
writes:

The palace of the king is made up of four things: the
foundation is the Law: the walls are the Prophets and the Epistles: the roof is
the Gospels, and the ornaments are the Hagiographa and the Apocrypha.
[549]

In the preface to his
Commentary on Sirach
, Hugh
states that the books of the Deuterocanon are accepted only for moral
instruction and not for the confirmation of dogma.

Hugh of St. Cher clearly adopts Jerome’s abridged canon and
attempts to reconcile it with ordinary Church usage. Like others we have seen,
Hugh neither adheres completely to Jerome nor rejects his views
outright—because, though he is willing to label them apocrypha, Hugh still
considers the Deuterocanon to be Scripture
in some sense
.

Thomas Aquinas (ca. 1224–1274)

In terms of influence on Christian theology, arguably no
individual since Augustine has had as much of an impact as the Angelic Doctor,
St. Thomas Aquinas. St. Thomas was a prodigious writer, but scholars need not
go beyond his most famous work to learn that he accepted the disputed books as
nothing less than the Word of God. In his monumental
Summa Theologiae
St. Thomas uses the books of the Deuterocanon as authoritative sources
throughout, very frequently quoting them with the solemn formula “It is written.”
[550]
 

Attempts have been made to make St. Thomas oppose the
inspiration and canonicity of the Deuterocanon, but these assertions have
gained few followers.
[551]
A simple summary of how Aquinas used the Deuterocanon is sufficient to dispel
any doubts as to his opinion of its inspired status. He states plainly, for
example, that the book of Wisdom contains the words of “Divine Wisdom.”
[552]
At times, St.
Thomas explicitly calls Wisdom the Holy Scripture,
[553]
quoting it as an authentic part of the Old
Testament.
[554]
Passages from Wisdom are put on the lips of Christ, who is
the
Divine
Wisdom.
[555]
  In
the article
Whether every lie is a sin?
Aquinas defends the Book of
Judith against the accusation (later employed by Anti-Catholics) that it
propagates a moral error by showing God commending Judith’s lie to Holofernes.
St. Thomas answers:

Some, however, are commended
in the
Scriptures,
not on account of perfect virtue, but for a certain virtuous
disposition, seeing that it was owing to some praiseworthy sentiment that they
were moved to do certain undue things. It is thus that Judith is praised, not
for lying to Holofernes, but for her desire to save the people, to which end
she exposed herself to danger. And yet one might also say that her words
contain truth in some mystical sense.
[556]

St. Thomas’ answer is predicated on the assumption that
Judith is an authentic part of Scripture. Tobit is seen as Scripture.
[557]
  First
Maccabees is included among other citations from the Old Testament without
qualification.
[558]
Based on 2 Maccabees, St. Thomas responds to difficulties as to whether
suffrages can be made for the damned.
[559]
He interprets Baruch 3:38 as a prophecy concerning Christ.
[560]
These are examples
taken only from one book of Thomas Aquinas. Suffice it to say, St. Thomas
accepted the Deuterocanon as Scripture in its fullest sense.

Robert Helot (1290–1340)

This English Dominican theologian follows Augustine’s
canonical list in his work
On Christian Doctrine
as noted in his
lectures on the Book of Wisdom:

St. Augustine expressly declares in his Christian
Doctrine (II.9) that the Book of Wisdom should be enumerated in the Sacred
Scriptures; for, enumerating the books of the Canon of the Bible, he says thus
of Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus:’ Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus, since they have
merited to be received in authority, are reckoned among the prophetic books.”
Wherefore,
it is evident that the book is counted among the Canonical Scriptures in the
Church,
though the contrary is held by the Jews… and therefore, although by
the Jews rejected, the books are of great authority among the faithful.
[561]

Thomas Netter (Thomas Waldensis) (1375–1430)

An English Carmelite theologian, Thomas Netter was educated
at Oxford. His writings were very popular in his time and commonly touched upon
questions of Scripture. Netter opposed Wycliffe and argued that the Church had
the authority to establish the canon.
[562]
He believed the question of the canon had already been
authoritatively settled by the so-called
Decree of Gelasius
, which
espoused the Deuterocanon.

The Council of Vienne (1311–1312)

The Council of Vienne was a local council that met to
address the problems with the Order of Knights Templar and various
ecclesiastical abuses and practices. It is thought that something between 114
and 300 bishops attended this council. Like the councils before it, the Council
of Vienne authoritatively quotes the Deuterocanonical books in its decrees. For
example, in section 14, the Council Fathers quote Sirach 24:23. Wisdom 5:6 is
quoted in section 24 of the same Council. Sirach 24:28-29 and 1:5 are quoted as
the words of God. Susanna (Daniel 13:42) is also used in section 38.
[563]

Nicholas of Lyra (1340)

This Parisian theologian and famed convert from Judaism
rejected the Deuterocanon.
[564]
The reason for Nicholas’ adoption of the shorter canon is easily
discernible—the influence of Jerome. In his
Commentary on Ezra
, Nicholas
writes:

I intend, for the present, to pass over the books of
Tobias, Judith, and Maccabees, although they are historical; because they are
not in the Canon of the Jews or Christians. Jerome, indeed, says they are
reckoned among the apocrypha.
[565]

Like those writers before and after him who opposed the
Deuterocanon, Nicholas of Lyra is content to rest upon the authority of Jerome.

Andrew Horne (d. 1345)

This English lawyer’s writings betray certain doubts about
the authority of the Deuterocanon. Arguing that all law is based upon
Scripture, Horne finds only the canonical books authoritative.

Besides these there are other books in the Old
Testament, although they are not authorized as Canonicals, as
Tobit,
Judith, Maccabees, Ecclesiasticus
[Sir].
[566]

Although Horne did not believe the Dueterocanon should be
used as fundamental texts for law, he did, nevertheless, note that they are
part of the Old Testament, if only because of utility.

William of Occam (ca. 1285–1347)

William of Occam was an English philosopher and member of
the Gray Friars. Pope John XXII excommunicated him for his support of Louis of
Bavaria’s stand against the Pope. However, historians believe that he was
reconciled to the Church before his death in 1347. William is, perhaps, most
famous for the “Occam’s razor” analogy. We should also note that his philosophy
laid the foundation for a stream of theological thought called Nominalism. By
the time of Luther, Nominalism (or the “via moderna”) had become dominant in
many universities.