So that should be the first red flag that something is really wrong with this line of argumentation that he doesnt even know which part of the Bible were dealing with, Old Testament or New Testament. But North Africa at the time is a major hub of Christianity, and its listing which books are in the Bible. 5 refresh the downtrodden but give nothing to the proud. I mean, all of that is abundantly supported. And moreover, simply the writings prior to the Reformation themselves. There was no support for purgatory, so. So what happens? Sirach 6:5-17 GNT - Friendship - If you are polite and - Bible Gateway Sirach, CHAPTER 26 | USCCB I totally understand if all of that is a little more detailed than youre hoping for, or wanting. Catholic.org - with thousands of pages of magisterial content. And so they bless God. Number two, they have to be offered release and say no. Book of Sirach - Wikipedia 2Do good to the righteous and reward will be yours. First of all, we know these books were not rejected by the early church, as weve just seen. Philip Schaff, who is a Protestant theologian and one of the finest historians of the early church from the 19th century, meaning hes in the 19th century, but hes dealing with early Christianity. Well, lets talk a little bit about the books and then about why we can trust the books. But second, the reader wrote in and said, Hey, it sounds like the reformers removed seven books from the Bible. Therefore, he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin. This is the kind of theology that Todd Friel is saying is bad and wrong. And as I said, I dont think Jerome would make that argument, because we see from his own conduct that he didnt view himself as greater than a church council. First, they bless God, because he knows all things, and this was revealed in this moment very profoundly to them. Cf. Copyright 2019-2023 USCCB, please review our Privacy Policy. Catholic Online YouTube - over 4,800 Catholic videos. 3 Cling to him and do not leave him, so that you may be honoured at the end of your days. He says in verse 43, In doing this, he acted very well and honorably, taking account of the resurrection. First Corinthians three, not first Corinthians four. They knew what the books were even prior to the being codified. Deus enim honoravit patrem in filiis: et judicium matris exquirens, firmavit in filios. 5 If you are polite and courteous, you will enjoy the friendship of many people. 9 You who fear the Lord, hope for those good gifts of his, everlasting joy and mercy. And the answer is he translated them with a note saying, But these arent actually the Bible. Whats amazing about all of this is that hes really If you were to take all of these claims, and just assume that the opposite of everything he says is true, you would have a really good case against the Protestant Bible. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more all for only $19.99. 12 Like a thirsty traveller she will open her mouth and drink any water she comes across; she will sit down in front of every tent-peg and open her quiver to any arrow. Ah, the importance of knowing our biblical history. Its not the case that they added them in the 16th century, and its not the case that they added them in response to the Protestant reformation. But Jerome disagreed with what everybody else said. and your kindness will have its effect. 2 Healing itself comes from the Most High, like a gift received from a king. Thats one reason it matters. We have the same books in the same order. We regularly pray the Nicaean Creed. This is in chronological order, seemingly. That its not enough to just hope for earthly glory. Save on BibleGateway+ with code FAITH. So you dont have anyone in the early church believing what Luther does about justification, but you do have them believing in these seven books, and you do have them believing and praying for the dead. The apocryphal books, a collection of writings that were actually rejected early by the church, were now, suddenly, courtesy of the Council of Trent in 1545, which took about four years to complete, they started to add those books to the canon. All rights reserved. CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) - NEW ADVENT Thats what Martin Luther and later Protestant reformers did with the Bible. Thus the wicked, the double-tongued! You might notice that Friel said, Oh, Jerome was commissioned to translate the Vulgate into Latin. And you might say, Well, commissioned by who? Commissioned by the Pope, because there was enough clarity about which books should be considered canonical, that it was important to bind them into a single volume called Book or Bible, and thats what he did. The author was Jesus the son of Sirach of Jerusalem, who flourished about two hundred years before Christ. Now, you already saw the Council of Florence about a century prior. * [26:1718] The lampstand and the columns were located in the holy place of the ancient tabernacle (Ex 25:3140; 26:32). This is also present in Second Maccabees seven. Thank you. Sirach, CHAPTER 11 | USCCB Why did they do that? And he starts talking about, Oh, dont listen to people who say there was no Bible prior to the Council of Nicaea. Thats not the question at all. We have to also save ourselves through good work. Thats not the way this Thats an inaccurate understanding of purgatory. Revised Standard Version (RSV). Join us for 'Speakin' with the Deacons' and Get Your Questions Answered! 1 All wisdom * is from the Lord. So Im not the only person to notice this. Protestant authors are really clear about this. The reason I say it should be an easy historical question is that scholars are unanimous on this, because you simply need to read the evidence and youll see there were clearly seven books in the Bible that were removed by the reformers. Okay, so I think you can see all of that was false. THE WISDOM OF BEN SIRA (ECCLESIASTICUS) The Wisdom of Ben Sira derives its title from the author, "Yeshua [Jesus], son of Eleazar, son of Sira" (50:27). Why do I say that? So Ill give you a couple examples. Or whoever, steadfastly fearing him, was forsaken? The sayings are generally grouped. Now, I could quibble with some of his history here, but Im not going to, because I think hes actually making an important point, one that hes going to violate later. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law. Dont go that way. 16 Like the sun rising over the mountains of the Lord, such is the beauty of a good wife in a well-run house. CHAPTER 6. So if First and Second Maccabees belongs in the Bible, or even if First and Second Maccabees are theologically orthodox, right? 6 Trust him and he will uphold you, follow a straight path and hope in him. Okay, so this is picking nits, and I acknowledge that, but thats not First Corinthians four, its First Corinthians three that I assume hes talking about, unless hes got some other verse in mind. Its not just that it looks a lot like First Maccabees, looks like it was patterned off of it. 5 since gold is tested in the fire, and the chosen in the furnace of humiliation. That it is not the case that the Catholic Church added seven books. But the usual passage in First Corinthians that gets pointed to in purgatory debates is First Corinthians 3:10-15, in which St. Paul describes himself as a skilled master builder who laid a foundation, and the foundation of course is Jesus Christ. Im getting a little ahead of myself. Hes looking at First Maccabees, well then look at Second Maccabees next. CHAPTER 12. I suppose you could argue First Corinthians four, but that has more to do with works than it does salvation. It's one of the deuterocanonical books that are part of the Old Testament. 3 A good wife is a generous gift. 2 For the Lord sets a father in honor over his children. Luther realized that it wasnt just Second Maccabees that contradicted sola fide, its also the Epistle of James, famously in James 2:24, it says, So you see the justification is not by faith alone. Luther adds the word alone to Romans 3:28, to say that justification is by faith alone, where the actual uncorrupted text says, Justification is by faith, apart from works of the law, which is what Catholics believe. Now, the reason I feel it necessary to say that is because there are Protestants who say the opposite, in spite of all of the evidence. And you have Protestants today who still pretend that this isnt the case, and that actually, he was just accepting the books that hed already been given, and then the Catholic Church was the one doing this. And its very clear that Florence has what we would call the deuterocanon, what Protestants would call the apocrypha. I want to turn back to the Ben Witherington III article from Christian History from 2017, where he talks about how the early Protestant Bibles, despite Luther having these doubts about them, despite him lowering seven books to a second tier status, he doesnt totally remove them. Early Protestant bibles also did, and then Witherington goes on, he says, In fact, none of the major Bible translations that emerged during the German, Swiss, or English reformations produced a Bible of simply 66 books., He says, It is true that beyond the 66 books, these other seven or more were viewed as deuterocanonical, hence the term apocrypha, but never, nonetheless, they were still seen as having some authority. So you dont have the production of the modern 66 book Protestant Bible prior to the Reformation, and you dont even have it really at the time of the Reformation, at least not in the early days. Why did they do that? They tear the skin of his head with the hair, and ask him, Will you eat, rather than have your body punished limb by limb? He then replies in Hebrew, No. Therefore, he in turn underwent tortures as the first brother had done, and when he was at his last breath, he said, You accursed wretch. And he says, Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, each mans work will become manifest for the day. I have a friend who says one of them supports purgatory, and thats why. That would make it really unique, because all the other examples are coming from scripture. New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. The Roman Catholic Church is one of four religious denominations that have Sirach and the other deuterocanonical books as part of their Bible.