Saturday, June 5, 2010

The deuterocanonical books of the Bible

As you may or may not know, the protestant bibles contain the same number of books in the Catholic bible, with the exception of 7 books in the old testament . These 7 books are known as the deuterocanonical books .These books are Wisdom,1 and 2 Maccabees,Tobit,parts of Esther and Daniel ,Judith,Sirach and Baruch. There is really one reason why the 7 books are not in protestant bibles.However, protestants maintain that the Jews did not include them in their Hebrew Canon.They claim that since the Jews did not accept them they did not accept them .In 90AD the Jews had the council of Jamnia .They were of course very anti christian and rejecting Christ while deciding the Hebrew Canon . They decided this late canon to counter the Christian faith that was growing .One of the requirements that they claim, was that the books needed to be written in Hebrew.Of course I believe the requirements really meant nothing in this case.They knew that Jesus and his apostles followed the 7 books. Jesus even quoted from these books. These books were studied and read by Christians . The Dead Sea scrolls written in 250 BC confirm that the 7 were indeed written in Hebrew . The Dead Sea scrolls were found in 1947 . They were lost before the protestant reformation .Protestants may have these books in their bibles today if the Dead Sea Scrolls had been found before then . The Protestant reformation began in the 1500s with Martin Luther . He was a priest who disagreed with the teachings of the Church. He pushed the message that we are saved by faith alone . They called this theory "Solo Fide" . Many protestants believe that we are saved by faith alone, and push that message everyday. They have been misguided . The subjects of alms giving,purgatory/prayers for the dead ,and saint intercession are all in the 7 deuterocanonical books .Those subjects are all taught by the Church. They however , conflict with Solo Fide. The protestants may not realize that those teachings are also found in the New testament(If you read my previous blog you will be able to see that purgatory and prayers for the dead are in the New testament).
There are many connection between the 7 Books and the New testament .I will go over some of them here :Turn your Bibles to the book of Sirach chapter 11:18-19 then after reading those verses , turn to Luke 12:18-19. Jesus is refering to Sirach 11:18-19 when he is speaking in Luke 12:18-19. He preached that riches do not matter and should not matter.In The Wisdom of Solomon we see clear prophecy of Jesus Christ .Read Wisdom chapter 2:12-24 .This is direct prophecy of Jesus Christ. Read Wisdom 2:13 and Matthew 27:43 (one after the other)The same message is present in both verses, about Jesus claiming to be son of God and having knowledge of God . Read Wisdom 2:16 and John 5:18 .They have the same message. If you read the rest of chapter 2 you will realize that the prophecy was clear as day.The book of Sirach 11:5 lines up with Luke 1:52.Read Matthew 6:19-21 and Sirach 14:3-16 They both line up the subject of the use of wealth. Since many protestants go by Paul's teachings , I will make some connections: Sirach 3:1-16 involves the subject of duties towards parents .Read Ephesians 6:2-4 and you will find that Paul spread the same message . Read Sirach 3:19 and 1Cor 1:26-29 and will find the same message . Read Romans 3:9 and you will find the same message in Sirach 11:5.
Once again I have showed you that Pauls teachings line up with the Catholic Church . In John 10:22 the Feast of the Dedication is mentioned . The feast of the dedication is known to the Jews as Hanukkah .They celebrate it today. Hanukkah is only mentioned in the 1and 2 Maccabees. The Jews celebrate Hanukkah because it took place in 1and 2 Maccabees . Also prayers for the dead( you will find in my blog on Purgatory/prayers for the dead) are found in 2 Maccabees 12:38-46 as well as in Paul's teachings( 1Corininthians,2 Timothy,1Thessaloninians.)
Many Protestants will give the date of the Council of Trent in 1547, as the day the 7 deuterocanonical books were accepted .In 393 AD , the Council of hippo met.In that meeting it was decided that the 7 deuterocanonical books would be accepted . The Council of Carthage in 397AD and 419AD also confirmed this .The Council of Florance in 1442 and Council of Tent in 1547 also recognized the acceptance of the 7 deuterocanonical books . Pope Clement, who was Pope from 88-97 Ad, quoted from Wisdom 2:24 in chapter 3 of his epistle . He also quoted Judith 8:30 in chapter 55 of his epistle ,he wrote in 90 AD. Polycarp(died 156 AD) quoted from Tobit in his epistle. The Epistle of Barnabas cites Wisdom as scripture. Bishop Iranaeus of Lyon (115AD-202AD)quoted from Baruch as scripture. Its a good thing we cleared that up.I just wanted to point out that the early church fathers did indeed accept the deuterocanonical books . Paul in Acts 17:10-15 visited Beroea where Greeks were .They studied scripture that would have been g the deuterocanonical books as well.They accepted Paul's teachings .Paul knew that they studied scripture and would have told them that they were studying non scriptural books if it were so.
I recommend you all read the deuterocanonical books of the Bible. As you can now see ,the deuterocaonical are scripture . Now, The Protestant Bibles do not have them because they conflict with their teachings not God's teachings .They will say," If we are saved by faith alone , not bound to the commandments ,then there can be no purgatory ,or a need for praying for the dead." You will find those words coming from many scripture protestants . They also don't believe that Saints can pray for us or intercede for us. I will talk about that in another blog soon. almsgiving is not one of their favorite subjects .That would mean doing good things for others such as giving money to those who need it .Of course its all over the New testament .If they accepted these teachings , that would mean that they would have to change their own .But wouldn't they rather do things Gods way then their way?

May God Bless all of you , Frankie

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