DISPELLING THE PROTESTANT MYTH OF THE “UNCANONICAL” DEUTEROCANONICAL BOOKS

HOW THE NEW TESTAMENT QUOTES AND REFERENCES THE BOOKS MARTIN LUTHER AND THE REFORMERS DISMISSED

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” 

- 2 Timothy 3:16-17

By Bp. Joseph (Ancient Church of the West) 

INTRODUCTION 

From the earliest days of the Church, Christians have read and proclaimed the Word of God from the Septuagint version, the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, translated by seventy scholars in Alexandria, roughly 300 years before Christ. This was the Bible of the Apostles, the Scriptures Christ Himself heard in the synagogues, and the version quoted by the New Testament writers. Crucially, this canon included books later dismissed by Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformers, the so-called “Deuterocanonical” books. Far from being marginal or secondary, these writings were integral to the theological and devotional life of the first Christians and foundational to their teachings. 

THE SEPTUAGINT AND THE ANCIENT CANON

The Septuagint (LXX) was translated between the 3rd and 1st centuries BC for the Jewish diaspora in Alexandria. By the time of Christ, it was already authoritative in Greek-speaking synagogues throughout the Mediterranean. The New Testament overwhelmingly quotes from the LXX, not the later Hebrew Masoretic text, often with wording that differs significantly from the later Hebrew.

The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls has further confirmed the antiquity of the Septuagint’s readings. Scrolls from Qumran contain texts in Hebrew and Aramaic that match the LXX against the Masoretic, proving that the longer canon and its readings were not “Christian inventions” but part of Judaism before Christ, and subsequently altered or edited out of the later Rabbinic tradition. 

After the rise of Christianity, many Jewish communities, seeking to differentiate themselves from the growing Church, tightened their canon, largely excluding books not preserved in the Pharisaical Hebrew tradition. This process culminated centuries later in the work of the Masoretes (7th–9th century AD), whose text underlies most Protestant Old Testaments, mistakenly believed to be the “originals.” We now know definitely that the Masoretic canon was not the canon of Christ or the Apostles, and only contains a portion of what Early Christians understood to be authoritative. The witness of St. Justin Martyr and Photios the Great, all point clearly to this conflict between the Early Christian and Rabbinic Jewish community. 

The oldest complete Christian Bibles, such as Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, and Codex Alexandrinus, include the Deuterocanonical books without distinction from the rest of Scripture. The early Fathers, Councils, and liturgies cite them as inspired, to be read in Church, and a part of the Christian life and experience, based on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 

NEW TESTAMENT REFERENCES TO THE DEUTEROCANONICAL BOOKS

The following are clear examples where the New Testament quotes, paraphrases, or closely alludes to these books (and closely related Jewish writings such as 1 Enoch):

• Matthew 11:28–30 and Sirach 51:23–27 (yoke and rest for the soul)

• Luke 6:31 and Tobit 4:15 (Golden Rule)

• John 10:22 and 1 Maccabees 4:59 (Feast of Dedication)

• Romans 1:19–23 and Wisdom of Solomon 13–14 (condemnation of idolatry)

• Romans 9:21 and Wisdom of Solomon 15:7 (potter and clay)

• 1 Corinthians 2:9 and Isaiah 64:4 + Sirach 1:10 (hidden wisdom)

• 1 Corinthians 6:13 and Sirach 36:20 (food for belly, belly for food)

• 1 Corinthians 10:9–10 and Wisdom of Solomon 16–18 (plagues in wilderness)

• 1 Corinthians 11:10 and Tobit 6–8 (angels observing marriage/modesty)

• Ephesians 6:14–17 and Wisdom of Solomon 5:17–20 (armor of God)

• Hebrews 1:3 and Wisdom of Solomon 7:26 (radiance of God’s glory)

• Hebrews 11:35 and 2 Maccabees 7 (martyrs and better resurrection)

• James 1:19 and Sirach 5:11 (swift to hear, slow to speak)

• James 2:23 and 1 Maccabees 2:52 (Abraham’s righteousness)

• 1 Peter 1:6–7 and Wisdom of Solomon 3:5–6 (tested like gold in fire)

• Jude 9 and Assumption of Moses (Michael disputing with devil)

• Jude 14–15 and 1 Enoch 1:9 (Lord coming with holy ones)

• Revelation 1:4 and Tobit 12:15 (seven angels before God)

These parallels prove that the Apostles and Evangelists did not regard the Deuterocanonical books as uninspired “apocrypha,” but as part of the sacred deposit of Scripture. They are quoted, used as the basis of teaching, and clarify otherwise mysterious metaphysical points that the Apostles themselves do not explain, such as St. Paul’s insistence on female head coverings. 

WHY THE REFORMERS REJECTED THESE BOOKS

Luther’s rejection of the Deuterocanonical books was not based on historical use by the Church but upon significant theological disagreement. Several teachings in these books posed a problem for Reformation doctrines:

1. Intercession of Saints – In 2 Maccabees 15:14, the prophet Jeremiah is seen praying for the people of God from heaven. This contradicts the Reformers’ denial of heavenly intercession. Reformers desired to get rid of any form of mediation, in order to deflate the claims of the Roman Catholic Church, which, although self-referential and sometimes corrupt, were based on such passages. 

2. Prayer for the Dead – 2 Maccabees 12:44–45 explicitly teaches that prayers and sacrifices for the dead are holy and effective. This undercuts Protestant rejection of purgatory, the possibility of post-life and pre-Final Judgment repentance, and the centrality of the communion of saints.

3. Angelic Mediation – Tobit 12:12, 15 shows angels presenting the prayers of the faithful before God, affirming a heavenly liturgy and the mediation so rejected by the Reformers.

4. Exemplary Saints and Martyrs – The Maccabean martyrs (2 Maccabees 7) die with a bold hope of resurrection, paralleling Hebrews 11. This highlights a pre-Christian faith in life after death and resurrection, and an inheritance the Church embraced.

5. Theological Richness – Wisdom, Sirach, and Baruch develop themes of divine wisdom, creation, and God’s plan in ways that underpin Christ’s teaching and apostolic preaching. Their rejection impoverishes the biblical witness.

HOW THE PARALLELS UNDERMINE THE PROTESTANT CANON

The Protestant canon, following Jerome’s personal hesitations (which were overruled by the Church in his own time), and Martin Luther’s personal doctrinal convictions, excises books that the Apostles freely used and the Early Church used for the establishment of doctrine. These omissions sever key intertextual connections that illuminate New Testament teaching:

• The “armor of God” in Ephesians is far richer when read with Wisdom 5:17–20, where the same divine armor metaphor first appears.

• Christ’s “yoke” and “rest” in Matthew is a direct echo of Sirach’s invitation to Wisdom.

• The resurrection hope in Hebrews 11:35 is incomprehensible without 2 Maccabees 7, where this concept is clearly presented, despite being absent in many other places in the Old Testament’s spiritual worldview. 

• Jude’s quotation of 1 Enoch and reference to the Assumption of Moses demonstrate the Apostles’ use of a broader sacred library than the Protestant Old Testament, lending authority to the apocalyptic Jewish literature in the Enoch tradition, which teaches Logos Theology, the “Two Powers in Heaven” interpretation, and the idea that a saint may be ascended into glory by God’s will into a semi-angelic state. These points are all important for understand the Book of Revelation and how Christ’s Second Coming was interpreted by those who first heard the Gospel. 

When these connections are restored, the seamless unity of God’s revelation across the Old and New Testaments becomes clear. Far from being “uninspired,” the Deuterocanonical books are woven into the warp and woof of the New Testament’s theology. They contribute, rather than detract, to the full understanding and application of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, revealed by God the Word, for our salvation! 

SUMMARY

The Early Church’s Bible was the Septuagint, complete with the Deuterocanonical Books that Luther and the Reformers later removed, in a misguided attempt to remove idolatry and overemphasis on the saints. Archaeology, textual scholarship, and the witness of the Fathers all confirm that this was the ancient canon of Christ and the Apostles, and was unquestioned by the Church until 1500 years after the time of the Apostles. The removal of these books was a doctrinal choice, not a return to some “original” biblical standard.

To read Scripture as the first Christians did means embracing the full canon as preserved in the ancient Church, the fullness of the truth of Jesus Christ, as preserved in the Ancient Church, and not the truncated version shaped by post-Christian rabbinic decisions and Protestant political polemics. The Deuterocanonical books belong to the household of faith, and the New Testament itself stands as their chief witness.

COLLECT

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who didst inspire thy holy Apostles and Evangelists to declare unto us the whole counsel of thy Word, and to set forth in the New Testament those things which were foreshadowed in the Law, the Prophets, and the writings of the Saints of old; Grant unto us grace faithfully to receive all those Scriptures which thy Church from the beginning hath embraced, that we may be nourished by their doctrine, strengthened by their examples, and comforted by their promises; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.