Pat Arensberg: the canon of Scripture

“It was by the apostolic Tradition that the Church discerned which writings are to be included in the list of sacred books.”  -Dei Verbum #8

What was the measuring stick that the Church used to determine which books were inspired, and therefore deserving of being included in the canon of Scripture, and which books were merely human?  There were several:

1. Does the message of the book in question conform to the message alive within the Tradition of the Church?
2. Can the book be attributed to someone who knew Jesus?  (The Gnostic Gospels were rejected for many reasons, but one of the main reasons is because they were all written in the late third or early fourth century)
3. Is the book used in only one or a few locations, or is it universally used?  The thinking was that if the Holy Spirit inspired the book then it would have a broad acceptance and not just a local following.

There were many local Councils (or meetings of Bishops) that discussed this and there was basically universal agreement after them (Council of Hippo in 393 a.d. and the Council of Carthage in 397 a.d.).  However, the Church often does not define things until someone is rejecting the truth.  The Church does not feel compelled to teach/clarify or define things that everyone accepts.  So, the Universal Church did not define which books were definitively in Scripture until the Council of Trent in 1545 a.d.  But, please remember that this is because of the Church from about the 4th century forward accepted the books of the Bible as defined by Hippo and Carthage).

Finally, I would like to remind the gentle reader that none of the books of the Bible were written in English.  Anytime you crack open a Bible it is a very good thing, but remember that you are reading an interpretation.  Because any time you translate a document you must make decisions about how to translate certain words and concepts.  So, be careful about trying to arrive at doctrinal conclusions using just an English Bible!

About Pat Arensberg Patrick Arensberg is the Director of Religious Education for the Archdiocese of Mobile. Previously, he taught for 17 years at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School, where he served as Chairman of the Theology Department. He attended the Gregorian University in Rome and holds an M.A. in Theology from Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. He is married to Connie and they live in Mobile with their 5 children.