Expert: Sal - 5/31/2006

Question
Am I correct in understanding that the canon that Luther chose was the Palestinian, which was compiled in a hostile response to Christianity?
70-90 AD? Are my dates correct? What 7 books were rejected and why? Were there others that Luther attempted to remove and why? I have read that he did not care for the book of John, and several others.
I ask since there are so many people today that have an interest in the "hidden gospels" (non cannonical) but have never read the Bible in it's entirety.  

Answer
Hello Helen:

You are correct that Martin Luther chose the Palestinian canon of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). This canon was accepted as authoritative by the Jews at the Council of Jamnia in about 90A.D. Prior to this date the Jews had 2 separate canons, the shorter Palestinian and the longer Septuagint.

The missing 7 books of the Palestinian or Protestant canon are Judith, Wisdom, Baruch, Sirach, Tobit, and 1 & 2 Maccabees. Luther strongly denied the Catholic teaching that one can offer prayers and have priests offer sacrifice (the Mass) for the souls of the departed. He also strongly opposed giving money to the priest for this sacrifice. These beliefs put Luther in an untenable position. A Catholic could simply open his Bible to 2 Maccabees 12:42-46 and see that Judas Maccabees did precisely what the Catholic Church teaches should be done for the dead. He prayed for the dead and he sent money to Jerusalem for the priests to offer sacrifices for the souls of the dead. Even worse for Luther was that the Bible called these actions “very excellent and noble” (v. 43) and “holy and pious” (v. 45). So for Luther 2 Macc. had to go. The only way he could remove this book was to sacrifice 6 other books by reverting to the Palestinian canon. This despite the fact that the Apostles usually quoted from the Septuagint and the early Church used the Septuagint.

I haven’t heard of Luther wanting to remove John’s Gospel from the Bible. He did want to remove John’s Book of Revelation, as well as Hebrews and the Letter of James. Luther thought that these were too Jewish in that they stressed the importance of good works. They were all against his doctrine of “faith alone”.

Thanks for the question.

God Bless You,
Sal