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DECREE CONCERNING THE
CANONICAL SCRIPTURES
The sacred and holy, ecumenical, and general Synod of Trent,--lawfully
assembled in the Holy Ghost, the Same three legates of the Apostolic Sec presiding
therein,--keeping this - Page 18 -
always in view, that, errors
being removed, the purity itself of the Gospel be preserved in the Church;
which (Gospel), before promised through the prophets in the holy Scriptures,
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, first promulgated with His own mouth,
and then commanded to be preached by His Apostles to every creature, as the
fountain of all, both saving truth, and moral discipline; and seeing clearly
that this truth and discipline are contained in the written books, and the
unwritten traditions which, received by the Apostles from the mouth of Christ
himself, or from the Apostles themselves, the Holy Ghost dictating, have come
down even unto us, transmitted as it were from hand to hand; (the Synod) following
the examples of the orthodox Fathers, receives and venerates with an equal
affection of piety, and reverence, all the books both of the Old and of the New
Testament--seeing that one God is the author of both --as also the said
traditions, as well those appertaining to faith as to morals, as having been
dictated, either by Christ's own word of mouth, or by the Holy Ghost, and
preserved in the Catholic Church by a continuous succession. And it has thought
it meet that a list of the sacred books be inserted in this decree, lest a
doubt may arise in any one's mind, which are the books that are received by
this Synod. They are as set down here below: of the Old Testament: the five
books of Moses, to wit, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; Josue,
Judges, Ruth, four books of Kings, two of Paralipomenon, the first book of
Esdras, and the second which is entitled Nehemias; Tobias, Judith, Esther, Job,
the Davidical Psalter, consisting of a hundred and fifty psalms; the Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes, the Canticle of Canticles, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Isaias,
Jeremias, with Baruch; Ezechiel, Daniel; the twelve minor prophets, to wit,
Osee, Joel, Amos, Abdias, Jonas, Micheas, Nahum, Habacuc, Sophonias, Aggaeus,
Zacharias, Malachias; two books of the Machabees, the first and the second. Of
the New Testament: the four Gospels, according - Page 19 -
to
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; the Acts of the Apostles written by Luke the
Evangelist; fourteen epistles of Paul the apostle, (one) to the Romans, two to
the Corinthians, (one) to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the Philippians,
to the Colossians, two to the Thessalonians, two to Timothy, (one) to Titus, to
Philemon, to the Hebrews; two of Peter the apostle, three of John the apostle,
one of the apostle James, one of Jude the apostle, and the Apocalypse of John
the apostle. But if any one receive not, as sacred and canonical, the said
books entire with all their parts, as they have been used to be read in the
Catholic Church, and as they are contained in the old Latin vulgate edition;
and knowingly and deliberately contemn the traditions aforesaid; let him be
anathema. Let all, therefore, understand, in what order, and in what manner,
the said Synod, after having laid the foundation of the Confession of faith,
will proceed, and what testimonies and authorities it will mainly use in
confirming dogmas, and in restoring morals in the Church.
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