Art Sippo on The Canon of Scripture QUESTION from Matthew Tan Yew Hock August 27, 2001 I read the reply by Mrs. Suzanne Fortin on the Canon of Scripture and the Nicaea II Council (Ref 1 below).
Mrs. Fortin may be right that Nicaea II was not specific on the determination of the Canon on Scripture. She was in disagreement with Art Sippo's assertion (Ref 2).
However, further documentations given by Art Sippo (Ref 3) prove that the various Ecumenical Councils have always been using texts from the deutero-canonicals as scripture, and this is sufficient to prove that the deutero-canonicals always enjoyed the same authority as the proto-canonicals even before the Council of Trent. So, Art Sippo is probably right that the Church has always regarded the deuteron-canonicals as canonical books, following the Councils of Hippo and Carthage and many the Popes.
Would like to comment on this?
--- Reference Documents:
(1) http://www.saint-mike.org/Apologetics/QA/Answers/Church_History/h000211Gilmour.html
(2) http://www.geocities.com/Athens/3517/webster.html
(3) http://www.geocities.com/Athens/3517/webster1.html
ANSWER by Q & A Staff on August 30, 2001 Dear Matthew,
The Canon of Scripture was settled by a local Council in Rome (382), then reaffirmed at councils in Hippo (393) and Carthage (397 and 419). The Canon was also reaffirmed by Pope Innocent I in 405 in a correspondence with the Bishop of Toulouse.
This same canon was again (implicitly) affirmed at the Second Council of Nicaea (787)which approved the decrees of the second Council of Carthage (419).
Apart from this I have nothing further to add.
Thanks, Matthew.
God bless,
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