How The Vatican Decides Which Books Belong in the Bible

How the Vatican Decides Which Books Belong in the Bible

The decision about which books to include in the Bible was not a unilateral one made by the Catholic Church in the modern sense. It was a much more complex process that evolved over centuries and involved multiple conferences and historical context.

Historical Context and The Nicaea Conference

Contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t the Catholic Church that exclusively made the decision on what books should be included in the Bible. It was a conference held in Nicaea in 325 AD that set the stage for the final decisions about the content.

In the early days of Christianity, Christian churches around the Mediterranean were independent and had different collections of scriptures. The Nicaea Conference, which was convened to address theological disputes, indirectly helped to standardize the text that would eventually become the Bible.

The Canon of Scripture in the 4th Century

The establishment of the Christian canon as we know it today took place in the 4th century, long before the Protestant Reformation. At this time, the only recognized Church was the Catholic Church. The early Christians believed that certain writings conveyed the life of Christ and the teachings of the Apostles, such as the Gospels, Epistles, and the Old Testament.

The early Church Fathers, such as Augustine of Hippo, played a crucial role in compiling these texts. They selected the books based on their perceived inspired nature and their relevance to Christian doctrine. The selection process was not arbitrary but rather a careful and deliberate one, undertaken over many years.

The Role of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation

Martin Luther, a few centuries later, challenged the inclusion of certain books, which he believed were inconsistent with his own theological interpretations. This led to a divergence in the Old Testament canon between Catholics and Protestants.

The Catholic Old Testament includes 7 additional books known as the deuterocanonical books or the Apocrypha, while Protestant versions adhere to the Old Testament canon based on the Masoretic Text. These Masoretic texts were finalized around the 11th century, while the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, was in widespread use long before that.

Jesus and the Septuagint

According to Catholic doctrine, Jesus quoted from the Septuagint, which was the gospel in Greek. Therefore, Catholics view the Septuagint as a significant and authoritative source. They argue that if it was good enough for Jesus, it should be good enough for them. This view is further reinforced by the Church Fathers who compiled the canon, which included these deuterocanonical books.

The final decisions on the canon were made at the Council of Hippo in 393 and the Council of Carthage in 397, affirming the inclusion of the 7 additional books in the Catholic Bible.

Keywords: Vatican, canon of scripture, Old Testament books