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Hi Dan,
The definitive and authoritative list of the Canon of Sacred Scripture
of the Old Testament was given by the Ecumenical (and hence infallible)
Council of Trent in 1546. It is:
- The five books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy)
- Josue
- Judges
- Ruth
- the four books of Kings
- two books of Paralipomenon (Chronicles)
- the first and second books of Esdras (which latter is called Nehemias)
- Tobias
- Judith
- Esther
- Job
- the Davidic Psalter (in number one hundred and fifty Psalms)
- Proverbs
- Ecclesiastes
- the Canticle of Canticles
- Wisdom
- Ecclesiasticus (Sirach)
- Isaiah
- Jeremias
- Baruch
- Ezekiel
- Daniel
- the twelve minor Prophets (Osee, Joel, Amos, Abdias, Jonas, Micheas,
Nahum, Habakkuk, Sophonias, Aggeus, Zechariah, Malachias) and
- the two books of Machabees, the first and second
The names here differ from modern conventions, and the list omits
the fact that there are sections to Daniel and Esther which are not
in Protestant Bibles, but the list matches the books in a New American Bible (NAB).
See the list at:
It's fair to say that this list was first compiled by Pope Damascus
in 382 A.D. His list of the Old Testament contained all of the Deuterocanonicals
— that's the term for the disputed books beyond the count of 66.
It was also the first definitive list of the New Testament books.
The definitive and authoritative list of the Canon of Sacred Scripture
of the New Testament is:
- Matthew
- Mark
- Luke
- John
- Acts of the Apostles
- Romans
- 1 Corinthians
- 2 Corinthians
- Galatians
- Ephesians
- Philippians
- Colossians
- 1 Thessalonians
- 2 Thessalonians
- 1 Timothy
- 2 Timothy
- Titus
- Philemon
- Hebrews
- James
- 1 Peter
- 2 Peter
- 1 John
- 2 John
- 3 John
- Jude
- Revelation
All our separated brethren accept the decision that Roman Catholic
bishops made, guided by the Holy Spirit, on what books make up the
New Testament canon. There is no disagreement between what Catholics
and Protestants use for the canon of the New Testament.
If you want great detail on this question, including patristic references,
see the Catholic Encyclopedia article at:
<Canon of the Old Testament from New Advent>.
More patristic references and a wealth of other valuable information
(more readable than the previous article) are available at:
<Questions and answers on the Canon of Scripture> from the Nazareth Resource Library;
see the second set of articles.
These are excellent articles I highly
recommend from a respected Catholic author and speaker. Even more
authoritative than me, and perfect for printing out and handing to
the members of your church.
There is really no question whatsoever that Catholics accept more
than 66 books in their canon. Otherwise, the volume of Protestants
attempting to refute our canon would be silent! They would have nothing
to object to. I mean, it's rather simple: Go to any bookstore, look
for a Bible labeled "Catholic", and examine the table of
contents. That's all there is to it.
Hope this helps,
Eric Ewanco
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