DAY 241
CHALLENGE
“St. Jerome (c. 347–420), the foremost Scripture scholar of his day, didn’t accept the deuterocanonical books as Scripture.”
DEFENSE
Jerome’s attitude is ambiguous and may have changed over time. Furthermore, no one Church Father can settle the canon.
While learning to translate Hebrew, Jerome was in contact with non- Christian Jews who were intellectual descendants of the Pharisees and therefore rejected the deuterocanonicals (see Days 255 and 257). Under this influence, he at least for a time rejected their canonicity.
This is indicated in the prologues to the Vulgate, where he says certain books are non-canonical (e.g., he says this of Wisdom, Sirach, Judith, and Tobit in the prologue to Kings). In other cases, he says a book is not read among Hebrew-speaking Jews but does not clearly state his own view (e.g., he says this of Baruch in the prologue to Jeremiah).
Nevertheless, Jerome shows deference to the judgment of the Church. In the prologue to Judith, he tells his patron that “because this book is found by the Nicene Council [of A.D. 325] to have been counted among the number of the Sacred Scriptures, I have acquiesced to your request” to translate it. This is interesting because we have only partial records of First Nicaea, and we don’t otherwise know what this ecumenical council said concerning the canon.
Jerome’s deference to Church authority was also illustrated when he later defended the deuterocanonical portions of Daniel, writing: “What sin have I committed in following the judgment of the church- es?” (Against Rufinus 2:33). In the same place he stated that what he said concerning Daniel in his prologues was what non-Christian Jews said but was not his own view. This may indicate Jerome changed his mind or that his reporting of Jewish views may not indicate his own view.
Jerome’s deference to the Church is correct. The guidance of the Holy Spirit is given to the Church as a whole. No one Church Father, however prominent, can settle the canon of Scripture, and on this subject Jerome was in the minority (see Day 273).
TIP
Appealing to Jerome on this subject is often a matter of convenience. Despite his status as a Scripture scholar, people making this challenge pay little attention to his widespread support of Catholic doctrines using Scripture (see Jimmy Akin, The Fathers Know Best).