Question: I was just wondering about the book of Sirach. Does the Catholic Church recognize this as part of Sacred Scripture?
The Book of Sirach is part of the canon of Scripture for Catholics (canon=what we consider sacred scripture and what makes up the Bible).
Many Protestant denominations do not recognize the Book of Sirach as part of the Bible. The book of Sirach, along with Wisdom, Tobit, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Judith, and Baruch, are what are referred to as "deuterocanonical books" (which means "second canon" or, for Protestants, the "apocrypha" (meaning "hidden texts"). For Catholics, these books are part of the Old Testament. They are sacred Scripture.
The very brief and oversimplified version of why these seven books are not part of the canon for Protestants is that they were removed from the canon of Scripture at the time of the Reformation for doctrinal reasons. These seven books were important in the tradition of Jews for many years, and were regarded as part as the Christian canon from the earliest times of the Church. But they were originally written in Greek, not Hebrew like the rest of the Old Testament. Though they were held in high regard by the Jews, when the Hebrew canon was "closed" or set sometime in the early second century (the Christian Bible was also still coming together at this time), these books were not included. One reason is that they were not written in Hebrew. However, members of the Christian Church held these books as inspired, and considered them as part of the "Old Testament" or Hebrew scriptures. Thus, Catholic Bibles have these additional seven books in the Old Testament.
At the time of the Reformation, Martin Luther thought that these seven books should not be part of the Old Testament because the Jewish people had not chosen to include them in their canon. Thus, Protestants do not consider these books to be Sacred Scripture.
You can read more about this at the following sites:
http://www.catholic.com/library/Old_Testament_Canon.asp
http://www.envoymagazine.com/backissues/1.2/marapril_story2.html
Many Protestant denominations do not recognize the Book of Sirach as part of the Bible. The book of Sirach, along with Wisdom, Tobit, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Judith, and Baruch, are what are referred to as "deuterocanonical books" (which means "second canon" or, for Protestants, the "apocrypha" (meaning "hidden texts"). For Catholics, these books are part of the Old Testament. They are sacred Scripture.
The very brief and oversimplified version of why these seven books are not part of the canon for Protestants is that they were removed from the canon of Scripture at the time of the Reformation for doctrinal reasons. These seven books were important in the tradition of Jews for many years, and were regarded as part as the Christian canon from the earliest times of the Church. But they were originally written in Greek, not Hebrew like the rest of the Old Testament. Though they were held in high regard by the Jews, when the Hebrew canon was "closed" or set sometime in the early second century (the Christian Bible was also still coming together at this time), these books were not included. One reason is that they were not written in Hebrew. However, members of the Christian Church held these books as inspired, and considered them as part of the "Old Testament" or Hebrew scriptures. Thus, Catholic Bibles have these additional seven books in the Old Testament.
At the time of the Reformation, Martin Luther thought that these seven books should not be part of the Old Testament because the Jewish people had not chosen to include them in their canon. Thus, Protestants do not consider these books to be Sacred Scripture.
You can read more about this at the following sites:
http://www.catholic.com/library/Old_Testament_Canon.asp
http://www.envoymagazine.com/backissues/1.2/marapril_story2.html
posted by staff | 4:03 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home