The Path to Salvation

[Wansvic]

I urged you to do your one research and you just go back to the same anti-Christian fabricated information. The most common anti-Catholic tactic, when confronted with legitimate documentation refuting a claim, is to move on with a long list of fallacious claims, ten, twenty, even a hundred, the more the better. See if you can research for yourself on just this one question about the 73 books of the Bible without jumping to more accusations. Here's where you can start. The most famous historical Catholic Bible, KJV aside, is the Latin Vulgate by Saint Jerome . Jerome made a footnote about the Jews not including the Deuterocanonicals in their canon, and this has brought many anti-Catholics incorrectly to claim Jerome was against their inclusion in the Bible. I think a much more common anti-Catholic story is that Catholic Church indeed had 73 books but claim Jerome was against it from the start. Again, Jerome was noting it and made it clear he would follow whatever decision was made by the Catholic Church. Yet you claim the books were not included until 1546! This is such an amateurish initial error, the Catholic Chuch has often reaffirmed various doctrine when heresy arose, and someone saw it reaffirmed at Trent and assumed it was the first time--but it is disturbing that the lie continues for so long, to me it shows the devil never sleeps. This should be easy to verify or refute, see how many 66 books Bibles you can find from the first thousand years of Christianity and post the results for us all.

I acknowledged my comment was misleading since I neglected to specify the books were not recognized as scripture until 1546.

And, I do agree the devil never sleeps, but for an entirely different reason than you. Jesus' answer to the devil's distortions could not be more clear, It is Written! This is the primary reason I lack confidence in Roman Catholic Church their practices directly contradict the very word of God. The attached list includes many erroneous practices brought about through their "prestigious" Councils.

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[Valletta]

I acknowledged my comment was misleading since I neglected to specify the books were not recognized as scripture until 1546.

You made the same error, rewording it does not correct it. While the Gospels were recognized as Holy Scripture and quickly used as readings at the Catholic masses in the first centuries of Christianity, from region to region there were differences in which texts were used. The Catholic Church set out to determine what was Holy Scripture, and what was not. This was a prayerful process that spanned centuries. Understand there were many beautiful texts examined, praising God but that did not make those texts Holy Scripture. Of course, any book that was not 100 percent in compliance with Catholic teaching was rejected. For the Apostles and other Catholics, Jesus Himself in the Holy Eucharist is our "New Covenant," or "New Testament." As the Catholic Church was choosing new books for the Bible those books began to be referred to as "books of the New Testament."
Have you examined the historical documentation for yourself? Saint Athanasius is credited with the first New Testament Biblical canon, his list is contained in his Thirty-Ninth Festal Letter of 367 A.D. This list was approved by Pope Damasus, and formally approved of by Councils at Hippo and Carthage in the late 300s. Pope Innocent I wrote a letter to the Bishop of Toulouse in 405 A.D. containing the list. The list was re-affirmed at Carthage in 419 A.D., by the Council of Florence 1442 A.D., and by the Council of Trent in 1546 A.D. The God-breathed books of the Bible are liturgical books, books that are used for the Catholic mass.
I take it that the search I asked you to do for yourself did not turn up a 66 book Bible from the first half of Christianity--that's because there are none. Although there were slight differences outside of Europe, in Europe the Bible consisted of 73 books until Protestants dropped seven of the books for their own version of the Bible during reformation times. They even, as part of Protestant tradition, use the same order of books that the Catholic Church established in the late 300s. Luther wanted more books dropped, but was unsuccessful. For example, Revelation remains in the Bible. When I say dropped I mean not recognized as Holy Scripture. The Deuterocanonicals were moved but remained within the bindings of the King James Bible until the 1800s.