Catholics Go By the Bible
Biblical Sources of Catholic Theology and Liturgy
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Which Bible is the Real Bible? This canon (officially approved list) of inspired scriptures including the 72 books was in effect for 11 hundred years (393 CE to 1517 CE) before Martin Luther decided to reduce it to 66. My Protestant friends sometimes have asked, “Why did you Catholics add those books to the Bible? Where did you get them?” The real questions should be, “Why did Martin Luther eliminate 6 books from the Bible?” And “How did he decide which books to eliminate?” Basically, he used the Hebrew canon of the “Old Testament” (Hebrew books only) instead of the Greek Septuagint for his canon. Fortunately, he kept the “New Testament” intact: Protestants and Catholics have the same New Testament. But the differences in the Old Testament books were important enough for Martin Luther to make this major change in the Apostolic Tradition. How did he make such a major decision on his own? How do we know which Bible is the real Bible? One would think that Martin Luther would have appealed to the Bible authority to make his decision. After all, his whole claim for authority was based on the Bible as the sole criterion of truth and the final arbiter of disputes. Does the Bible contain any evidence that the Hebrew Old Testament is the true version of the Bible? It does not. In fact, there is clear evidence to the contrary—that the New Testament writers used the Greek Septuagint as their Bible. Scripture scholars and classical language scholars offer multiple examples where the New Testament authors quoted the Septuagint. Most of these examples are too subtle for lay readers. However, there is one clear example from the gospel of Luke that all of us can see. It is in Luke’s version of Jesus’ family tree (Luke 3). Luke traces Jesus’ genealogy all the way back to Adam. Near the end of the list, there are two “Cainans”, one in verse 36 and the other in verse 37— “Cainan, son of Arphaxad” and “Cainan, son of Enos”. Luke’s genealogy obviously had originally come from Genesis as a key source. However, if you look carefully in the genealogies of Genesis, there is only one “Cainan”, the one that was “son of Enos” (Genesis 5:9). There is no “Cainan” son of Arphaxad (Gen 11:12 states that Salah is son of Arphaxad). Where did Luke get the two “Cainans”? He got the second one from Genesis 11:12 in the Greek Septuagint where Cainan is son of Arphaxad and the father of Sala. Clearly, Luke used the Greek Old Testament as his source here. If Luke (and the other gospel writers) used the Greek Old Testament as their “Bible”, why shouldn’t the church follow his lead? The evidence in the New Testament shows that the Greek Old Testament was the inspired Word of God. How can the church deny this Biblical evidence? The Greek Septuagint must be included in the church’s list of inspired books. Hence, the larger Bible of the Catholic Church: 72 books. The Bible itself gives us evidence for the use of the bigger Bible. And Catholics go by the Bible.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Catholics Go By the Bible highlights the four key theological issues that tend to divide Catholics and Protestants and provides key Bible verses that support the Catholic positions. This book will surprise Catholics as well as Protestants and offer both groups data for discussion. It provides a great resource for candidates in the Catholic Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). It answers questions like:
- why isn’t faith alone sufficient?
- why isn’t the Bible alone sufficient?
- why do Catholics have more Bible books than Protestants?
- where do Catholics get the “Hail Mary”?
- where do Catholics get so many sacraments?
- where do Catholics get purgatory from?
- where do Catholics get the pope from?
- which Bible is the real Bible?
- and many more.
“Incredibly clear explanation of the Biblical background for many teachings of the Catholic Church. As a convert to Catholicism, this book answered many questions regarding differences in the Protestant view vs. the Catholic view on several points. I especially liked Section 2, ‘Faith and works ( as opposed to Faith alone)’ and Section 4, ‘Scripture and Tradition (as opposed to the Bible alone).’ If I could have read this book early in my formation, my struggle for answers would have been easier. Thank you, Deacon Gene for your awesome work.”
—Judy Cote
About the Author
Eugene Hausmann has been involved in ministry all of his adult life, including more than thirty-five years of service as chaplain and director of pastoral care at Holy Cross Children's Services of Michigan. Much of this ministry has been ecumenical, involving diverse religious backgrounds among the clientele, the staff, and the many chaplain interns whom he trained and supervised. Eugene was prepared for his ministry at Notre Dame University, the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago, and the Ecumenical Theological Seminary of Detroit, from which he received a Doctor of Ministry degree in 2000. He was certified as chaplain in the National Association of Catholic Chaplains in 1993 and ordained deacon in the Diocese of Lansing, Michigan, in 2000.
Eugene and his wife, Jean, have been married for thirty-two years and have three grown children and three grandchildren.