The first reading from today is from the book of Sirach (also called Ecclesiasticus…not to be confused with the book of Ecclesiastes). In it we read about the prophet Elijah. A hero of Hebrew scripture for the many amazing deeds he performed. He raised someone from the dead. He conquered the supporters of the pagan god, Baal. Returned to heaven in a fiery whirlwind. He was the real deal. In fact, it is Elijah who was one of the figures present at Jesus’ Transfiguration. Elijah representing the prophets and Moses representing the Law. This is the Gospel selection for today.
But what I want to focus on today in this reflection is the book of Sirach itself. I will apologize ahead of time because it is very likely that you will find my writings for today a bit on the dry side. But necessary.
Sirach is one of seven books in the Catholic Bible which are not present in the Protestant Bible. These books (Sirach, Wisdom, Judith, Tobit, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and additional parts of Daniel and Esther) are called the Deuterocanonical books…the “second canon.”
The reason that this is an important topic, in my opinion, is that it is frequently an attack on the Catholic Church that the Church added these books to the Bible over the centuries. The Protestants, led by Martin Luther, took them out to return the Scriptures to their rightful original content. Implying that the Catholic Church added them to defend mistaken doctrine such as the idea of purgatory or praying/sacrificing to the dead. Let’s look at the validity of this argument.
The Hebrew Scripture, also known as the Tenakh, includes the Torah. It is the first 5 books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The Sadducees considered these as being the only legitimate word of God. The Pharisees also followed additional works. The Prophets and the Writings. All together these numbered 39 books in what we now call the Old Testament. And this is the way it stood until around the 3rd and 4th centuries BC.
At this time, the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek. The predominant language at the time. This translation included the 7 books of the Deuterocanon. Bringing the number of books in the Hebrew Scripture to 46. It is important to note that there had not been any attempt to canonize the scriptures at this point. Meaning, no one had convened a council to declare which books were valid and should be included or excluded. It was just widely accepted from this time forward that this was the accepted text. In fact, this translation, termed the Septuagint, was the version read and quoted by Jesus and the Apostles. Along with the majority of Jews at the time.
Around 90 AD Rabbis canonized the Tenack into 39 books, not including the 7 deuterocanonical books. One suspected reason is that they did not want to use a set of Scriptures that were being used by the new Christian sect. It is also believed that they found error with the added seven books in regard to the Greek translation from Hebrew.
The Councils of Nicea, Hippo and Carthage canonized the Bible in the 3rd and 4th centuries and included the books of the Septuagint (46), along with the books of the New Testament (27). A total of 73 books. And this was the Bible read by Christians since. That is, until the Protestant reformation of the 16th Century led by Martin Luther. In breaking with the Church, Luther also broke with the bible. In his first version of the Protestant Bible, Luther eliminated 25 books including the Torah, the books of the Deuterocanon, 3 of the Gospels, several of the Epistles and Revelation. In the end, the Protestant Bible eliminated the seven books of the Deuterocanon bringing the number of Old Testament books to 39 and 27 from the New Testament, or a total of 66 books.
Why did Luther remove the 7 books, and also wanted to remove the others, especially the book of James? It is believed that Luther rejected the ideas of purgatory and prayer to the dead. Both concepts being supported in the deuterocanonical books. And James (which eventually was retained in the Protestant Bible) was a target of Luther because James supported the concept that “faith without works is dead” (James Chapter 2). A tenant strongly condemned by Luther.
So, when Catholics are accused of adding books to the Bible, the reality is that they were removed at the time of the Reformation. Removed from a translation that had been the backbone of Scripture for over 18 centuries and confirmed by several Church Councils.
And now you know, the Rest of the Story.
