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Michuta on the Apocrypha/Deuterocanonicals in 1 Clement
Beginning around page 56, Michuta tries to argue that “the earliest Christians considered the Deuterocanonical books to be divinely inspired.” His first example is 1 Clement – a book whose authorship is unknown, but is sometimes ascribed to Clement of Rome. Michuta argues that 1 Clement 3:4 “quotes Wisdom 2:24.” (p. 57) 1 Clement 3:4For…
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Sabas on The Twenty-Two Greek Letters and Their Significance
I had heard of a number of authors who testify to the fact that the Jewish canon is (and has for millenia been) twenty-two books. It was interesting to see confirmation of this fact in “Mysteries of the Greek Alphabet.” The surprising thing about this is that the author chalks up the canon of the…
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Twenty-Four Elders – Twenty-Four Books
People sometimes see what they want in allegory. If a modern Protestant sees the number 66 in an allegory, he naturally thinks of the 66 books of the Bible. If the chapter divisions in Isaiah were original, we would be tempted to place significance on that point. If a modern Protestant sees 27 or 39…
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William Webster and the Canon of the Old Testament
William Webster has published a very helpful and well-researched booklet (187 pp.) entitled, “The Old Testament Canon and the Apocrypha.” The book is organized into three sections (chapters): The Canon of the Jews From the Jews to Jerome From Jerome to the Reformation Webster synthesizes a number of other writers, including the excellent work of…
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Tobit – One Reason to Reject its Alleged Canonicity
The book of Tobit is told from a first person perspective by a man called “Tobit.” The book begins: “The book of the words of Tobit, son of Tobiel, the son of Ananiel, the son of Aduel, the son of Gabael, of the seed of Asael, of the tribe of Nephthali …” (Tobit 1:1). One…
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False Dichotomy Between Infallible Church and "Subjective, Individualistic" Conclusions
Over at the GreenBaggins blog, in a comment box, Roman Catholic Bryan Cross wrote: If we deny that the Church has such a gift [a gift (or charism) of infallibility in matters of faith and morals], then we are left with a subjective, individualistic, “changes hearts” criterion of canonicity, and such a subjective criterion is,…
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The Modern Roman Canon and the Book of Esdras A
The following was originally written by Sir Henry H. Howorth, as “The Modern Roman Canon and the Book of Esdras A,” The Journal of Theological Studies, Volume VII, pp. 343-54 (Oxford: 1906). I’m simply republishing this as a scholarly discussion of the issue of Septuagint Esdras 1 or “Esdras A” (Ἔσδρας Α) and the North…
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Canon Debate – Are Tobit, Baruch, and other Deuterocanonicals Inspired Scripture?
On August 12, 2010, I debated on the topic of the canon of Scripture with Mr. William Albrecht (Roman Catholic). The issue was whether the Apocrypha (what the Roman Catholics call the Deuterocanonicals) are inspired Scripture. I demonstrated that they could not be, since they make various mistakes, particularly focusing on Baruch and Tobit. Additionally,…
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>Canon Debate with William Albrecht
>Yesterday, Mr. William Albrecht (Roman Catholic) and I (Reformed) debated the topic of the Canon of Scripture, specifically the question of whether the so-called Deuterocanonical books and parts of books are Scripture (link to mp3). The most interesting part of the debate, as I believe Mr. Albrecht would agree, were the four cross-examination segments immediately…
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Michuta Contra Athanasius
Athanasius’ canon of Scripture, presented in his 39th Festal letter is famous. It’s not nearly as famous as his “Athanasius Contra Mundum” rejection of the Arian heresy, but it is probably the second most famous aspect of Athanasius’ life today (his excellent letter to Marcellinus on the Psalms was famous in ancient times and perhaps…