CANON OF SCRIPTURE SALVATION HISTORY The Church has

CANON OF SCRIPTURE SALVATION HISTORY

The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures as she venerated the Body of the Lord: both nourish and govern the whole Christian life (CCC 141).

I AM GOING TO TEACH YOU 3 THINGS ABOUT THE CANON 1. The canon is the sacred list of books in the Bible 2. The Canon was compiled for the liturgy (the Mass!) to reveal the person of Jesus 3. It was by way of Apostolic Tradition that the Catholic Church decided the Canon

1) WHAT IS THE CANON? • It is the official list of divinely inspired books in the Bible • Means “measuring rod” in Greek

2) WHY WAS THE BIBLE PUT TOGETHER? • The Bible was put together by early Christians to read in the liturgy (the Mass)! • People wanted to know about the life of Christ from those who knew Him • People did not have access to their own Bibles and would get the readings the same way we do at Mass today. This happened for a thousand years.

3) HOW DID THE CHURCH DECIDE WHICH BOOKS TO INCLUDE? • Apostolic Tradition: the full teaching of Jesus Christ, handed on to the Apostles • Each book of the Bible had to meet certain criteria: • 1) Orthodoxy: is the book in line with the teachings of Jesus? • 2) Apostolicity: is the book in line with the teachings of the Apostles? • 3) Catholicity: was the book being used universally in the liturgy of the early Christian Churches?

• Council of Carthage: earliest work on the canon (300’s) for Liturgy • Council of Trent (1546): officially decided the canon for common people Just as the Holy Spirit co-authored Scripture with man, so too did the Holy Spirit inspire the bishops who chose which books to include in the Bible