The Bible: The Final Council of Carthage.

The Second and final Council of Carthage dealing with what books the Catholic Church would choose to be read in the Churches, decided that the books of the Septuaginta, a Greek translation of the Old Testament, because they were widely used in the Church, would be used in the new Canon of Scripture.   ,What this meant is that certain books 1st and 2nd Maccabees, Sirach, Wisdom, Baruch,   Tobit and Judith; as well as parts of Daniel and Esther would be used.    A thousand years later at the Protestant Reformation these books were removed from the Protestant translation of the Bible and the reason is not clear.   In the New Testament the letter of James was removed from the New Testament by some Protestants because it conflicted with their "Faith alone is needed" doctrine.   Be that as it may, after nearly 400 years of Church History and the writings of the Fathers, we had a Bible which was put together by Catholics Bishops and declared trustworthy and using its infallibility of the Church was called the "Word of God".   The decisions of the Council were sent to Pope Boniface who ratified them, so that the whole Church, the Pope, the Bishops, the clergy and the laity were in full agreement.   Whether I am considered triumphalist in speaking the truth or not, that the Bible is a Catholic Book, originating in the Catholic Church is beyond question.   That the Bible is the Word of God, whether I am triumphalist in speaking the truth or not, that the bible is the Word of God is a catholic teaching which predated the Protestant Reformation by a thousand years, is beyond question.

I do not seek to promote Catholicism over Protestantism but I must acknowledge that there is a Catholic understanding of Scripture which is radically different from the Protestant understanding, and the notion that we can all come together under its authority is a false one.   The Bible gets its authority from the Catholic Church, the Catholic Church does not get its authority from the Bible.

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