
 

Good point.  The New Testament does not quote Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther,
Ruth, Job, Ecclesiastes, or Song of Songs, just as it does not quote
from the Deuterocanon.  But if the non-quotation of the former does not
disqualify them, neither does the non-quotation of the later.  And the
Wisodm of Solomon was quite clearly an influence on St. Paul, especially
in the letter to the Romans (cf especially Romans 1.18-32 and Wisdom
13-14).

[stuff deleted]

 
True.  Not all accepted them as Scripture, though niether were all the
books of the New Testament so accepted, which puts to the lie the whole
argument of the books being excluded because they were debated and not
universally accepted.  Hebrews, the Apocalypse, 2 Peter, Esther, and
others were debated at various times, but eventually retained.  As for
the Codexes you mention, both Vaticanus and Sinaitcus include the
Deuterocanon, bothe of the New and Old Testaments, and Vaticanus (I
think) inlcudes 1 Clement, the Shepard of Hermas, and the Epistle of
Baranabas.  As for the Muratorian Canon, it deals with the New Testament
only, though it is very valuable in its witness to those books.



	You're not wrong!  It is a `tradition of men' to exlcude them, as I
will explain below.

"That nothing be read in the Church under the nmae of Divine Scripture,
except the canonical Scriptures, and the canoncial Scriptures are -
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth,
Four books of Kingdoms [being 1&2 Samuel and 1&2 Kings], Two books of
Paralpomenon [being 1&2 Chronicles], Job, the Psalter of David, the Five
books of Solomon [being Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom of
Solomon, and [misatributed to him] the Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach],
The books of the Twelve (Minor) Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah [being
Jeremiah, the Lamentations, Baruch, and the Letter, all of which were
formerly counted as one], Ezekiel, Daniel, Tobit, Judith, Esther, Two
books of Ezra [being Ezra and Nehemiah], Two books of Maccabees.  And of
the New Testament: Four books of the Gospel, One book of the Acts of the
Apostles, Thirteen letters of Paul the Apostle, One Letter of the same
to the Hebrews, two of Peter the Apostle, Three of John, One of the
Apostle Jude, One of the Apostle James, One book of the Apocalypse of
John."
	-Council of Hippo, Statute 36, (393 AD)

	This same list was promulgated again at the Third Council of Carthage
(397 AD), and at the Sixth Council of Carthage (419 AD) - at which
council the same list was enumerated with the words "Because we have
recieved from the Fathers that these are the books to be read in the
Church."  Which ought to quiet those who assert "in the name of Holy
Scripture we do understand those books of whose authority there was
never any doubt in the Church," as the Episcopal Church does in removing
the Deuterocanon from the realm of Scripture.  (Though the Episcopalians
hold them in high regard and read them in the Church, they are not
counted as Scripture by them, and may not be used to prove dogma.  The
Lutherans hold out similarly.)
	Earlier mention of the so-called Apocrypha as divine scripture can also
be found, and below I inlcude only a portion of the quotes calling it
divine scripture that could be found among the writings of the Fathers.

"And this is the reason why the Law of the old Testament is reckoned as
consisting of twenty-two books: so that they may correspond to the
number of letters [in the Hebrew alphabet].... It is to be noted also
that by adding to these Tobias and Judith, there are twenty-four books,
corresponding to the number of letters used by the Greeks."
	-St. Hillary of Poitiers, "Commentaries on the Psalms," prologue, 15 (365 AD)

"The twenty-two books according to the Hebrews are .... Jeremiah, with
Lamentations and the Letter, reckoned as one .... and [also] there is
Maccabees."
	-Origen, "Commentaries on the Psalms," Psalm 1 (245 AD)

"Divine Scripture, addressing itself to those who love themselves and to
the boastful .... says most excellently [Baruch 3.16-19 follows]."
	-St. Clement of Alexandria, "The Instuctor of Children," 2, 3, 36, 3, (203 AD)

"....I learned accurately the books of the Old Testament ... Proverbs of
Solomon, and also Wisdom ..."
	-St. Melito of Sardes, fragment found in Eusebius' "History of the
Church," and dating from crica 177 AD, Book 4, 26, 14

"It is likewise decreed: Now, indeed, we must treat of the divine
Scriptures: what the universal Catholic Church accepts and what she must
shun.  The list of the Old Testament .... Wisdom, one book;
Ecclesiasticus, one book .... Tobit, one book .... Judith, one book; of
Maccabees, two books."
	-St. Damasus I, Pope, "The Decree of Damsus," section 2 (382 AD)