Q and A on the Bible

By David Goldstein, Taken from his book "What Say You?" p. 244-289 Writer of the Bible "Who wrote the Bible?" "Well, who made the Bible?" Origin of Name "What is the origin and meaning of the word Bible?" Inspiration "What is meant by the Bible being inspired? Does it mean that God wrote the words therein?" Canon "What do you mean by the Canon of Scripture?" Christian Canon "When was the Christian canon of Scripture determined?" Catholic and Protestant Bibles "What is the difference between the Catholic and Protestant Bibles?" Apocrypha "What do Protestants mean when they speak of apocryphal books?" Truth of Canon "How do you know that the Catholic canon is true?" Biblical Discrepancy "To what is due the discrepancy, 73 books in one Bible and 66 in the other?" The Septuagint "If you were confronted, as I have been, with a demand for the reasons that warrant the use of the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, what would you say?" Unconvinced "What you say is interesting, yet I am not convinced. It is hard to believe that Protestants would not accept the Septuagint version of the Bible if it is valid." Forbid Laity to read the Bible "Is it not true that the Roman Catholic Church forbade the laity to read the Bible? Please answer Yes or No." Rule of Faith "You will agree, will you not, that the difference between the Protestant and Catholic religions is their rule of faith?" "The difference is this, we Protestants have the Bible as our rule of faith, whereas Catholics look to their Church to guide them. In other words, Protestants use their brains, while Catholics depend upon the brains of their Church. Thats all I have to say." Chained Bibles "Id like to ask you a question. Now dont dodge. Didnt your church chain the Bible during the Middle Ages, so as to keep the people ignorant of its contents?" Search the Scriptures "Did not our Lord say Search the Scriptures? What else could that mean but the Bible? It certainly does not refer to the Church."

Private Interpretation "You will admit that the intellectual calibre of the people is more highly developed through individual interpretation of the Bible than by depending upon authority? I do, therefore I stand by the Protestant principle of individual liberty, for private Bible judgment." Catholics Mental Slaves "Whats the use of talking to Catholics about religion? They are mental slaves. As soon as you corner them, they fall back upon their Church for knowledge of the Bible. Why dont they be Americans, free in religion, by doing their own thinking?" Right to Believe Anything "Well, I have a right to believe whatever I want to believe. That is one of the reasons why I am not a Catholic. I do not need priests to do my thinking." Abomination of Desolation "Dont you think that the abomination of desolation we read of in the Bible is being witnessed in our 1940 World War?" The Herd of Swine "Talking about the Bible, do you think it right, as Matthew 8 tells us, for Christ to drive the devils into a legion of swine, who were drowned? What would you say if I destroyed a stock of swine?" To Men of Good Will "Which is correct? The Protestant peace on earth, good will toward men, or the Catholic on earth peace to men of good will?" The Sabbath Day "The Commandment in the Bible says Keep the Sabbath holy. Who changed it from Saturday to Sunday? And by what right?" The Doxology "Why does not the Catholic Bible contain the doxology at the end of the Lords Prayer, as does the Protestant Bible? It is offering praise to God For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever." The Lords Prayer "Please explain the Lords Prayer. There are some parts that are puzzling to me." Lots Wife "I think the Bible would be a more interesting book if the fables therein were cut out of it. The story of Lots wife turning into a pillar of salt is one of a hundred of them." Ten Commandments "To what is the difference in the Roman Catholic and Protestant versions of the Ten Commandments attributed? Whatever your answer may be, dont you think the Commandments are out of date?" N. Y. University Students "Your answer to my question is bright, but it is not in accord with modern youth. Did you read this mornings announcement in the public press of the poll of 1,485 students in the N. Y. University School of Commerce and Finance? Here is a copy showing a great majority of them to have voted the Ten Commandments out of date."

Catholics believe That the Bible is Gods Word. That the Bible is composed of 46 books that were written before the birth of Jesus Christ, and 27 books written since that time, as defined by the Council of Carthage in 397 A.D. to form the canon of Scripture. Catholics believe 2

That the New Testament came after the Church; That the Church did not come after the New Testament. That before a line of the New Testament was written: Christ established his Church; The Apostles preached Christ and Him crucified; St. Peter converted 3,000 Jews; The Council of Jerusalem assembled; The Jewish law was abrogated. Catholics believe That before the last Book of the New Testament was written: The Catholic Church had celebrated her golden jubilee; The faith of Christ had been "proclaimed all over (the then known) world" (Rom. 1:8). Eleven of the twelve Apostles had died. Catholics believe That as late as the end of the second century, many churches, composed of believers in the doctrines of the Apostles, did not know of all the New Testament books. That is why St. Irenaeus, martyr, Father of the Church, disciple of St. John the Divine, could say, "If the Apostles had not left us any writings, would it not have been our duty to be guided by the rule of that tradition which they delivered to those to whom they entrusted the churches? A rule asserted by many of the barbarous nations believing in Christ, who, not possessing any written language, have the words of salvation written without paper and ink, in the hearts by the Spirit, and carefully preserve the ancient doctrines delivered to them." (Adv. Heresies, lib. iii, c. 4.). Catholics Believe That the authority for the inspiration, and interpretation, of the books in the Bible rests upon the living testimony of the maker of the Bible, Christs Church. THE BIBLE "Who wrote the Christian Bible?" No one wrote the Christian Bible. The Bible is a library of books, and libraries are not written, they are made. The books and letters in the Christian Bible were written by Moses, David, Isaiah, Matthew, John, Paul, Peter and numerous other inspired writers. ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE

"Well, who made the Christian Bible?" 3

The Catholic Church. This she did by collecting the Jewish and Christian writings extant, and selecting from them the books and letters that form the canon of Scripture, declaring them to be writings that were inspired by God. ORIGIN OF NAME

"What is the origin and meaning of the word Bible? " It came from the Greek word biblos which means the inner bark of the papyrus, paper-reed, from which paper was originally made, in Egypt. The Latin form "Biblia" spelled with a capital letter, came to mean "the Book of Books," "The Book" by way of pre-eminence, the inspired Book, etc. The Holy Scriptures were first called the Bible by St. Chrysostom, the Catholic Archbishop of Constantinople, in the 4th century. St. Jerome designated it more correctly the Divine Library. INSPIRATION

"What is meant by the Bible being inspired? Does it mean that God wrote the words therein?" No, the words were written by men, but the thought was under Divine guidance. Inspiration means that an extraordinary influence was exerted by the Holy Spirit that purified, elevated the moral natures of certain men, illumined their understanding and caused them, mediately or immediately, to write the books and letters that are in the Bible. CANON

"What do you mean by the Canon of Scripture? " The Canon of Scripture simply means the authentic collection of those writings declared to have been inspired by God. They are called canonical, whereas those writings that were rejected as uncanonical were called apocryphal, which means not of Divine origin, not inspired. CHRISTIAN CANON

"When was the Christian Canon of Scripture determined?" The Canon recognized by the Catholic Church for the past fifteen centuries (73 books) was specified in the Council of Laodicea in 367 A.D., and was definitely adopted in the Council of Carthage in 397 A.D., after being sent to the Pope for confirmation. While some of the books ratified by the Council of Carthage had always been considered to be canonical, others had been disputed. Finally at this Council a union of minds was reached as to the canonicity of the whole 73 books and epistles. 4

In the 16th century Martin Luther greatly stirred the religious world, by dubbing as apocrypha certain books that were unquestioned for twelve centuries. He declared the Epistle of St. James to be an "Epistle of straw"; threw "Esther" into the Elbe; called "Judith" a mere poem; "Tobias" a farce; and expressed regret that the "second Book of Machabees" was ever written. The Council of Trent (1546) therefore deemed it expedient to declare, ex-cathedra, that is by the infallible authority of the Church, that the list of books adopted at the Council of Carthage is the authoritative, the finally determined, collection of writings composed under Divine inspiration. CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT BIBLES

"What is the difference between the Catholic and Protestant Bibles? " One of the differences, and there are many of them, is that the Catholic Bible contains 73 books, as canonical, whereas the Protestant Bibles contain only 66 of these writings. The Protestant canon does not contain the following seven books: Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, 1 and 2 Machabees. It also omits chapters 10:4 and 16:24 of Esther; 3:24-90; 13 and 14 of Daniel. Here is a list of both the Catholic and Protestant Old Testament Canons, the differences in some of the names being immaterial. BOOKS IN THE BIBLE CATHOLIC CANON Old Testament Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth 1 Kings 2 Kings 3 Kings 4 Kings 1 Paralipomenon 2 Paralipomenon 1 Esdras 2 Esdras (alias Nehemias) Tobias (rejected by the protestants) Judith (rejected by the protestants) Esther (protestants reject 10:4; 14:24) Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Canticle of Canticles Wisdom (rejected by the protestants) Ecclesiasticus (rejected by the protestants) Isaias 5

Jeremias Lamentations Baruch (rejected by the protestants) Ezechiel Daniel (protestants reject 3:24-90; 13:15) Osee Joel Amos Abdias Jonas Micheas Nahum Habacuc Sophonias Aggeus Zacharias Malachias 1 Machabees (rejected by the protestants) 2 Machabees (rejected by the protestants) PROTESTANT CANON

Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Esther (excluding 10:4; 14:24) Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Solomon Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel (excluding 3:24-90; 13:15) Hosea Joel Amos Abadiah 6

Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zaphiniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi The number and names of Catholic and Protestant books in the New Testament are alike. The differences between Catholic and Protestant Bibles have been due largely to "Reformation" translations that were motivated by hostility towards Catholic teachings and practices, which is not as intense among Protestants today as it used to be. One of the doctrinal instances, that has been corrected in the Revised Version, bears evidence of having been prompted by a desire to refute the Catholic practice of serving Communion under one kind, believing, as Catholics do, that Christ is present whole and entire, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, under the appearance of bread as well as under the appearance of wine. This was done by inserting the word AND in the place of OR in verse 27, chapter XI of the First Corinthians. The original reads: "Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink this wine unworthily, etc." St. Matthew 6:7 is made to read in the Protestant text: "When ye pray, use not vain repetitions." This is aimed at the repeated prayers of Catholics while saying the Rosary, as if repetition of the "Our Father" that Christ taught, and the "Hail Mary full of grace" salutation of the Angel Gabriel, were "vain." The Catholic text, of preProtestant origin, reads "But in praying, do not multiply words, as the Gentiles do." It was not "repetitions" but "much speaking" that was condemned, as Saint Augustine said fifteen centuries ago: "Christ does not forbid much praying, but much speaking." Luke 1:28 is made in the Protestant Bible to read: "Hail, you art highly favored," when the Angel Gabriel said "Hail, full of grace," as it appears in the Catholic Bible. The authority of the Latin Fathers, and the codices of Alexandrinus in the British Museum, the Epraenus rescriptus in Paris, and the Bezae in Cambridge University, stand as present-day evidence to sustain the Catholic translation. There are many differences that are not of vital import, such as the Psalms in the Protestant Bible being numbered according to modern Jewish instead of early Christian and ancient Jewish practice, beginning by dividing Ps. X.; also by calling the last book in the Bible The Book of Revelation instead of the Apocalypse, which "signifies a revelation, a making known, (and) also means the revealing of ones self, a coming." APOCRYPHA

"What do Protestants mean when they speak of apocryphal books? " They mean the seven books found in the Catholic Bible which Protestants declare to be uncanonical.

Catholics apply the term to those spurious books, most of them written during the two centuries before Christ, that are not genuinely scriptural in the view of Jews and Protestants as well as Catholics. Up to twenty-five years ago nearly all Protestant Bibles contained the seven books that Protestants list as apocrypha. Some years ago Rev. Dr. Milo Gates, vicar of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Intercession, in New York City, told why he deplored the "mutilation" of the Bible by the elimination of those books called "Apocrypha." Let me read you part of what he said: "Up to the time when a small but very noisy block of Scottish Presbyterians began their agitation in the British and Foreign Bible Society for the omission of these books every Bible had them. In fact every Bible had them until about 1826. In that year a Bible publishing society the British and Foreign voted to drop them. Immediately the English Bible Society threw out these books the Continental Bible societies ceased to work with them. Today the Apocrypha are in the Bibles of all the great churches the Orthodox, Roman, Lutheran, Anglican and the Episcopal. We appeal for an unmutilated Bible in the interest of Christian unity." "In the second place, no one can really understand the New Testament without knowledge of these books. There are more than 111 quotations and allusions to the Apocrypha in the New Testament. "In the third place, some of the most blessed doctrines of the Church come from these books, and others we find developing in these books" (New York Times, Dec. 10, 1928). To list as "apocrypha," not genuine, seven Septuagint Old Testament Books, of which "more than 111 quotations and allusions" are recorded in the Protestant New Testament as having been used by Christ and the Apostles is an offense, though not so intended by the Protestants of our day and generation. One of the reasons given by Protestant churches for rejecting the seven books, is that doubts as to their authenticity were expressed in the early Church. But so were doubts expressed regarding the Epistles of St. Jude, St. James, 2nd and 3rd St. John, St. Pauls Epistle to the Hebrews, and the Book of Revelation, until the Catholic Church made her canon of Scripture in the Council of Carthage (397 A.D.). It is interesting to note that Protestant churches do not include any books in their New Testament that the Catholic Church rejected, even though some of them were in use during the first years of the Church. Here is a list of sixteen spurious books among the many extant today: The Gospel of St. Thomas The Gospel According to the Hebrews St. Pauls Epistle to the Laodiceans The Epistle of St. Barnabas The Epistle of St. Bartholomew The Epistle of the Shepherd of Hermas The Acts of Thecla The Apostolic Constitutions The Gospel of St. James The Apocalypse of St. Peter The Epistle of St. Clement The Epistle of St. Polycarp The Epistle of St. Phillip 8

The Acts of Pilate The Acts of Paul The Doctrine of the Twelve Apostles TRUTH OF CANON

"How do you know the Catholic canon is true?" By the only way the truth of it can be known with certitude; that is through such a statement as appears in II Peter 1:21 "the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Spirit" and Divine tradition, both vouched for by an infallible authority. Books cannot vouch for themselves. The writings themselves can never be proof of their being Divinely inspired; neither can reliance with certainty be placed upon our individual judgment, save God sends an angel to inform us, as He did "to His servant John." Considering that such an infallible power does not abide, and is not claimed to abide in those churches that have rejected the Catholic canon of Scripture, they were devoid of the Divine power that is necessary to guarantee the canon with any degree of certitude. Some years ago a Protestant professor, Dr. Marcus Dods, who came to our country from Scotland, said in his lectures, since published: "If you ask a Romanist why he accepts certain books as canonical, he has a perfectly intelligible answer ready. He accepts these books because the Church bids him do so. The Church has determined what books are canonical and he accepts the decision of the Church. If you ask a Protestant why he believes that just these books bound up together in the Bible are canonical, and neither more nor fewer, I fear that ninety-nine Protestants out of a hundred could give you no answer that would satisfy a reasonable man. Protestants scorn the Romanist because he relies on the authority of the Church, but he can not tell you on what authority he himself relies. The Protestant watchword is: The Bible, the whole Bible and nothing but the Bible, but how many Protestants are there who could make it quite clear that within the boards of their Bible they have the whole Bible and nothing but the Bible?" (pp. 31-32, "The Bible, Its Origin and Nature.") BIBLICAL DISCREPANCY

"To what is due the biblical discrepancy, 73 books in one Bible and 66 in another?" Mainly to the declaration of the Catholic Church that the Septuagint, the Alexandrian version of the Old Testament, of 46 books, is the authentic, complete scriptural text, while Protestant Churches adopted the Palestinian version of only 39 of those 46 books. THE SEPTUAGINT

"If you were confronted, as I have been, with a demand for some reasons that warrant the use of the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, what would you say?" I would explain the meaning of the term Septuagint, the origin of that biblical text, the reason for its adoption by the Catholic Church, the authority that warrants Catholics believing with absolute certainty that the Septuagint text contains all of the Divinely inspired books of the Old Testament, and therefore the inadequacy and unauthenticity of the Protestant Canon. The Septuagint means seventy. It is the name given the version of the Old Testament translation, into Greek, that was made by 70 Jerusalem Jews, under two leaders who did not participate in the work of translation. They were translators, learned in the Hebrew language, who were sent to Alexandria by the Jewish High Priest Eleazer of Jerusalem, at the behest of Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-247 B.C.), to translate the Greek the Jewish Divine books then extant. Greek was a world language when the Septuagint translation was made; Hebrew as a language was on the decline among the Jews long before those days. That is no doubt the reason why all but one of the books in the New Testament were written in Greek. During the days of the second temple Aramaic was the language spoken by the Jews of Palestine. "Some of the outstanding philosophic Jewish religious and literary creations were written in Greek and Aramaic" during those times, says the "Zionist Record" (July, 1940). Hebrew was hardly known by the Jews outside of Palestine, where this holy language of the Jews was so little known that "a translator stood beside the reader in the Synagogue to translate the Hebrew into Aramaic." The Septuagint translation was made in the third century before the coming of Christ. It was used by the Jews of Alexandria, Asia Minor, Greece, Italy and other Greek speaking countries, also by the Rabbis of Palestine at the time of the coming of Christ. Its authenticity was not questioned by the Jews until after the Messiah came into His own, after He was rejected by most of them, and the Christian Church had taken the place of the Synagogue. The latest Jewish evidence of this appears in Vallentines "Jewish Encyclopedia" (London, 1938, p. 562). To quote: "The appearance of the Septuagint was greeted with enthusiasm by the Jews everywhere, but with the rise of the Christian sect and its adoption of this version of its Bible, the Jews began to denounce it vehemently, accusing the Christians of falsifying the Greek text here and there" (Emphasis mine). The Septuagint, which was quoted favorably by Philo and Josephus, is said to have been made by each of the 70 translators working independently of the others. Their work is so identical that it was said to be "as though some invisible prompter had whispered into the ears of each." Rabbi Abraham Meyer Heller says, "although the work of translation was done by each (of the 70) without consulting the others, they were all found to be exactly alike" ("The Vocabulary of Jewish Life," N. Y. 1942, p. 214). Be that so or not, one may reasonably believe that the Septuagint was providential. It enabled the knowledge of the Old Law, its Divine prophesies, and their culmination in the coming of the Messiah, to be spread among the Gentiles who did not know the Hebrew language. The general expectation of the coming of "the great king who was to arise among the Jews," such as caused the Magi to journey to Bethlehem, was due to this Greek version of the Old Testament. The integrity of the Septuagint was not questioned by the Jews during the days when they spoke with authority on matters relating to the interpretation of the law that God had placed within their keeping. This, as we have seen, is substantiated by the 10

English "Jewish Encyclopedia," quoted a moment ago. Besides, in those days the integrity of the sacred books was so faithfully safeguarded from corruption by a body of Jewish Scribes that "the appearance of the Septuagint" would not have been "greeted with enthusiasm everywhere" if it were not an exact translation of the 46 books of inspired Hebrew text. The canon of only 39 Old Testament books in Protestant Bibles is of unsound historic standing, for it is definitively of Jewish non-Palestinian origin, having been agreed upon as the canon of the Jews during their dispersion, after "the glory had departed" from Jewry, a "glory" which was theirs when they had an Aaronic priesthood, a Temple, a Sanhedrin, sacrifices, and a reasonable hope of the coming of the Messiah, as He had not yet come. This is vouched for by Dr. Joseph Reider, Professor of Biblical Philology, Dropsie College, Philadelphia, in Vallentines Jewish Encyclopedia. He says: "The definitive act of canonization of the complete Scriptures is known to have taken place at the synod of Jabneh (ca. 90 A.D.), soon after the destruction of the Second Temple, at the instigation of Rabbi Akiba" (p. 94). Then, again, and this is most important, there are 270 quotations from the Old Testament that were used by Christ and the Apostles, a vast number of which show traces of having come from the Septuagint. A number of them are listed in "The Catholic Students Aids to the Bible," by Rev. Hugh Pope, O.P. (Vol I, p. 140, London 1926). "Peloubets Bible Dictionary" (Protestant) says "the Septuagint was manifestly the chief storehouse from which both Christ and the Apostles drew their proofs and precepts" (pp. 604-5). While the Catholic Church depends upon the use of the Septuagint by Christ and the Apostles, as well as tradition, to sustain her declaration that the 46 books therein are writings inspired by God, she has her infallible power, exercised during the Council of Trent, to eliminate all doubts on the part of Catholics as to their Divine authenticity. Under the Old Dispensation there were 80 high priests (pontiffs), occupants of the Chair of Moses, who spoke with authority regarding Holy Writ, though they did not speak with infallible authority. Under the New Dispensation there have thus far been 262 pontiffs, who, as occupants of the Chair of Peter, were endowed with infallible authority in determining the Divine validity of Holy Writ, either individually or in union with other bishops in ecumenical council assembled, such as the Councils of Jerusalem, Nicea, Trent and the Vatican, to name a few of them. The Protestant churches have not, nor do they assume to have such infallible power. Hence the Protestant question of the authenticity and canonicity of the books in the Bible is dependant upon mere human judgment, which is faulty, hence questionable. On the other hand, if the Catholic Church has not the infallible power she claims to have, then is there no certainty whatsoever as to whether the 46 or 39 books of the Old Testament are of Divine Origin (see Infallibility). UNCONVINCED

"What you say is interesting, yet I am not convinced. It is hard to believe that Protestants would not accept the Septuagint version of the Bible if it is valid." It is not difficult for persons who know the non-Catholic mind to understand why Catholic facts and arguments convince only a small percentage of Protestants. They 11

have an inherited protesting mentality against things Catholic. The psychological proProtestant atmosphere in which they live; the instruction they receive from persons who are unfavorable to Catholic teachings, practices and history; the religious books and papers they read; the knowledge they imbibe from Sunday School teachers who know not the Catholic attitude toward the Bible, build into their very being a resistance to the acceptance of Catholic claims that only the grace of God can overcome. It is very difficult to unlearn false concepts that one has sincerely cherished. This is due at times to the consciousness that supplanting such concepts with Catholic belief means a break with family, friends and interests that are Protestant. I recall an occasion when an Episcopalian Minister, being told by one of his church members that he was going into the Catholic Church, said "the next step is into an insane asylum." Protestants often admire the beauty of the exterior things in the Catholic Church, but it is difficult for them to believe that an intelligent persons can become a Catholic through intellectual conviction. When G. K. Chesterton entered the Catholic Church, Rev. Orvis E Jordan said: "He is esthetic not rational. The artist ever loves the religion of the ritual. One cannot visit the great churches of Europe without deciding to embrace Roman Catholicism, provided his interests are primarily artistic. Whatever else this great communion may lack, one must cheerfully concede its primacy in architecture, statuary, and painting. Other churches may imitate, but scarcely hope to equal, the beautiful appointments of the Catholics of Europe" (Zions Herald, Oct. 4, 1922). One thing we cannot escape when confronted with facts that are new and likely to entail sacrifice, is our conscience. It is the guide we are morally obligated to follow. Resistance to truth, which God has given us the grace to know, is resistance to God, Who speaks to us through our conscience. Whether or not you accept the "interesting" facts, there they stand never to be dislodged by refusal to accept them because the makers of the Protestant Bible rejected them. More recently Professor Betts (Methodist) of the Northwestern University said, that forty-three per cent of the 700 ministers he canvassed do not believe the Bible to be of God. Here are the interesting facts: Fact one is that the Old Testament canon of Scripture used by Protestants was not definitively determined by the Jews until they were no longer the keepers and interpreters of Gods law. Fact two is that the motive that prompted the Jews to reject the seven Septuagint was quoted, and so accepted as authentic, by Christ and the Apostles. Fact four is that the Septuagint canon was accepted and used by almost the whole Christian world from the days of the Council of Carthage until the days of the "Reformers." If the Septuagint version is invalid, then it is up to Protestants to explain why they give Greek Septuagint names instead of Hebrew names, or their English equivalent names to the books of Moses. Why call those books the Pentateuch instead of the Torah or its English designation, Instruction? Why Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers (translation of the Greek Arithmoi), and Deuteronomy? Instead of the Palestinian Hebrew names, Bereshith, Shemoth, Vayikra, Bemidbar, and Debarim? Or their English equivalents, The Beginning, Names, And He Called, In the Wilderness, and Words? Why call the Book "The Bible," which is the Greek (Anglicized) name the Catholic Church gave the Septuagint in union with the New Testament? It is interesting to note that Chanukah, the Feast of Lights, which the Jews celebrate for eight successive days each year, centers on the story of the Maccabees that appears in the last two books of the Septuagint version, which the Catholic Church preserved and declared to have been written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. This feast was instituted by Judas Maccabeus as a memorial of the rededication of 12

the sanctuary which was defiled by Antiochus Epiphanes. The thrilling story of the Maccabees, glorious martyrs for their religion, is read and exalted every year by the Jews, as is the Book of Esther during the Feast of Purim. Surely the books of the Maccabees are higher in religious quality, represent a more honorable service and sacrifice for the honor and glory of God, then does the Book of Esther, which the Jews of 1938 in Jerusalem tried to have excluded from their canon of Holy Scripture. Considering that Chanukah, the Feast of Lights, ranks higher than does the Feast of Purim, no reason save hostility towards Christianity during the Talmud-writing days can account for rejecting the two Books of the Maccabees as uncanonical and placing the section of the Book of Esther that has not God in it into the Jewish canon. Rabbi Leon Bernstein declared that if it were not "for these two apocryphal books," this glorious story of the Maccabees might have been unknown to the world ("Flavius Josephus His Times and Critics," 1938).

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