—This is the Aristean account, 3rd century BC, of the translating of the
Septuagint accepted by many of the Fathers, e.g., St. Justin Martyr, St.
Irenaeus of Lyons, St. Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, St. Cyril of
Jerusalem and St. Augustine.
Pope Damasus, Decree on the Canon of Sacred Scripture 2 (382 AD)
“Likewise it has been said: now indeed we must treat of the divine
Scriptures, what the universal Catholic Church accepts and what she ought
to shun ... Likewise Wisdom one book, Ecclesiasticus one book ... Likewise
the order of the histories. Job one book, Tobias one book, Esdras two
books, Esther one book, Judith one book, Maccabees two books.”
St. Augustine of Hippo, Against the Letter of Mani 5, 6 (397 AD)
“If you should find someone who does not yet believe in the Gospel, what
would you answer him when he says: ‘I do not believe?’ Indeed, I would
not believe in the Gospel myself if the authority of the Catholic Church did
not influence me to do so.”
St. Jerome, On the Three Solomonic Books Preface (c. 398 AD)
“There is also the book of Jesus, son of Sirach ... and another book,
Wisdom, attributed to Solomon ... the second was never known in Hebrew,
for its very style bespeaks Greek eloquence; and some of the older authors
affirm that it is a work of Philo the Jew. Just as the Church reads Judith
and Tobias and the Books of Maccabees, but does not accept them as
belonging among the canonical Scriptures, so too let her read these two
volumes for the edification of the people but not for the purpose of
confirming the authority of the Church’s teachings.”
St. Rufinus of Aquileia, Explanation of the Apostles’ Creed 35 & 36
(404 AD)
“These are the writings which the Fathers included in the canon, and on
which they desired the affirmations of our faith to be based. At the same
time we should appreciate that there are certain books which our
predecessors designated ‘ecclesiastical’ rather than ‘canonical.’ Thus, there
is the Wisdom of Solomon, as we call it; and another Wisdom, ascribed to
the son of Sirach ... The Book of Tobias belongs to the same class, as do
Judith and the books of the Maccabees. In the New Testament we have the
little work known as The Book of the Shepherd, or Hermas, and the book
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