Defending the protestant canon with Josephus and St. Jerome

Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox disagree on the contents of holy scripture. The major disagreement is on the inclusion of the apocrypha within the canon. Article 6 of the Belgic confession excludes the deuterocanon from the list of sacred books:

 'We distinguish these sacred books [holy canonical books listed under article 4] from the apocryphal, viz., the third and fourth book of Esdras, the books of Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Jesus Syrach, Baruch, the appendix to the book of Esther, the Song of the Three Children in the Furnace, the History of Susannah, of Bell and the Dragon, the Prayer of Manasses, and the two books of the Maccabees. All of which the Church may read and take instruction from, so far as they agree with the canonical books.' [1]

The Belgic Confession also testifies that the Church believes in them 'because the Holy Ghost witnesseth in our hearts that they are from God, whereof they carry the evidence in themselves'.  Indeed, this is true, for it is written:

 'Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, ² through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, ³ who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. ⁴ For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, ⁵ for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

1 Timothy 4:1-5 ESV

Regardless of any argument that is made, one can only be convinced that scripture is the word of God through the witness of the Holy Spirit in their heart. However, this article will outline the historical arguments for rejecting the deuterocanonical books from the biblical canon. Firstly, all professing Christians (Catholic, protestants and orthodox etc.) must acknowledge that God-breathed scripture was first received by the Jews:

'Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.' Romans 3:2

Therefore, there is historical value in examining which scriptures the Jews considered to be the word of God.

An ancient Jewish list (dated 200AD, but this is a record of an earlier tradition, using phrases like 'Our rabbis taught') can be found in the Babylonian Talmud, a collection of commentaries on the Mishnah (an ancient text written in hebrew which sets out the oral laws). The Misnah is organised into 6 orders and 63 tractates, which form the structure of the Talmud. Tractate Bava Batra (which is 'the third of a series of three tractates in Seder Nezikin (“Order of Damages") that deal with civil laws.' [2]) contains the talmudic list of sacred scriptures.

Scholar Louis Jacobs explains why this passage on the Talmudic list appears in Baba Bathra:

'Tractate Baba Bathra deals with jurisprudental topics - conveyancing, inheritance and the like - and seems, at first glance, to be the last place in which to expect a discussion on biblical books....The preceding section of the tractate considers the case of joint owners of an article who wish to divide - particular Bava Bathra theme. How the division is to be effected, and what if only one of the joint owner wishes to divide or give the option of buying him out? In this context it is ruled that if two have joint ownership of a book of the bible it must not be divide, i.e. cut in two, even if both agree to the division, since the sanctity of a biblical book requires that it be left intact. This leads, purely by association, to the discussion on the order an authorship of biblical books [3].'

Although the order is not the same, the list agrees exactly with the modern hebrew bible canon (OT canonical scriptures):

'The Sages taught: The order of the books of the Prophets when they are attached together is as follows: Joshua and Judges, Samuel and Kings, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and Isaiah and the Twelve Prophets….Since his prophecy is written together with those of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi in one book of the Twelve Prophets, and Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi were the last of the prophets....The order of the Writings is: Ruth and the book of Psalms, and Job and Proverbs; Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and Lamentations; Daniel and the Scroll of Esther; and Ezra and Chronicles.[4]'

The early writer Josephus also affirmed that the Jewish canon was closed after the prophet Malachi (Against Apion, 92AD) . He does not list out the books (however, he does state that there are 22 books and he categorises them), but we can be certain the deuterocanonical books were not included in his canon:

'For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from and contradicting one another, [as the Greeks have,] but only twenty-two books, which contain the records of all the past times; which are justly believed to be divine; and of them five belong to Moses, which contain his laws and the traditions of the origin of mankind till his death. This interval of time was little short of three thousand years; but as to the time from the death of Moses till the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, who reigned after Xerxes, the prophets, who were after Moses, wrote down what was done in their times in thirteen books. The remaining four books contain hymns to God, and precepts for the conduct of human life. It is true, our history hath been written since Artaxerxes very particularly, but hath not been esteemed of the like authority with the former by our forefathers [5].'

Josephus acknowledged that there were writings that were composed after the death of Artxerxes I (425BC), but they were not 'esteemed of the like authority'. The apocryphal writings were composed much later and therefore would not have been included in Josephus' canon. Some may argue that Josephus does allude to the deutercanonical books and quote them; however, the Gleason Archer explains this in his commentary:

 '(1) Josephus includes the same three divisions of the Hebrew Scriptures as does the MT [Masoretic text] (although restricting the third group to 'hymns' and hokhmah), and he limits the number of canonical books in these three divisions to twenty-two. (2) No more canonical writings have been composed since the reign of Artaxerxes, son of Xerxes (464-424 B.C.), that is, since the time of Malachi. (3) No additional material was ever included in the canonical twenty-two books during the centuries between (i.e., from 425 B.C. to A.D. 90). Rationalist higher critics emphatically deny the last two points, but they have to do with the witness of such an early author as Josephus and explain how the knowledge of the allegedly post-Malachi date of sizable portions, such as Daniel, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and many of the psalms, had been kept from this learned Jew in the first century A.D. It is true that Josephus also alludes to apocryphal material (as from 1 Esdras and 1 Maccabees); but in view of the statement quoted above, it is plain that he was using it merely a historical source, not as divinely inspired book' [6]

It is also important to note that this is not merely Josephus' personal view. He asserted that no one was bold enough to 'add any thing to them, to take any thing from them' and some were even willing to 'die for them'. Thus, the Jewish leaders of the early Church (Paul, Peter etc.) most likely did not accept these books as the holy scripture.

There is plenty more evidence to support the traditional Jewish and protestant canon. Notable Church Fathers and historians excluded the apocrypha from holy scripture. St. Jerome, a church father widely accepted by Catholic and Orthodox sects, omitted these books from his canon list. He stated:

'As, then, the Church reads Judith, Tobit, and the books of Maccabees, but does not admit them among the canonical Scriptures, so let it read these two volumes for the edification of the people, not to give authority to doctrines of the Church [7].'

Whilst Jerome allowed the Church to read these books (and quoted Maccabees in his Letter VII. To Chromatius, Jovinus, and Eusebius) he never accepted them canonical scripture and viewed them as less authoritative. Many protestant groups of the 16th century adopted a similar approach on the deuterocanon (e.g. article 6 of the Belgic confession and article 6, 39 articles of religion).

It should be also be noted that Jerome never changed his position on the biblical canon. As stated in the Early Bible Canon lists (Edmond L. Gallagher and John D. Meade):

'Jerome surveys the OT three times in his writings and each time it is the Jewish Canon he advocates as the Christian new Testament. In his preface to Samuel and Kings, he arranges the Old Testament in conformity to the tripartite Hebrew Bible among the Jews, though he follows are more Christian order in Epistle 53.'[3]

Many scholars believe that the prologue to the Book of Sirach is an early reference to the tripartite Jewish canon. This 'three part formula' is repeated for emphasis:

'Many important teachings  have come down to us through the Law and the Prophets and the other writers who succeeded them,  and, as a result, praise is due to Israel for its traditions of learning and wisdom.' Wisdom of Ben Sira 1: 1-3 NCB

'My grandfather Jesus, having devoted himself to the intensive reading  of the Law  and the Prophets  and the other Writings of our ancestors.' Wisdom of Ben Sira 1:7-11 NCB

Not only this present Book but even the Law itself, the Prophets, and the rest of the Books differ quite a bit when they are read in the original. Wisdom of Ben Sira 1:23-26 NCB

Steingburg and Stone make the case that this is an early reference to the tripartite canon:

'Repeating the tripartite formula three separate times in such a short passage suggests a common parlance, which gives the strong impression that the third group regularly belongs with the other two. The use of the definite article in reference to all three sections indicates that each group is considered to be part of the same whole. The other books explicitly follow the law and prophets [ketuvim always last]; the word remaining certainly does not refer to any books which were remaining in the time of Ben Sira but, rather, those that remain the sacred collection in addition to the law and the prophets. All three collections are likewise accredited to the one authoritative tradition of the Fathers. (v3). Therefore, we hold that the Ben Sira prologue witnesses to a three part canon around 130 B.C.E.' [3]

Astoundingly, the NCB Bible acknowledges that this is a reference to the tripartite Jewish canon:

'a.Wisdom of Ben Sira 1:1 After completing his work, the translator adds a prologue that provides interesting information. First of all the Book was written in Hebrew by his grandfather. And at that era, the sacred books were already grouped into three titles that have become traditional: the Law (or Torah), the Prophets, and the Writings (among which were the Psalms, Job, and the Sapiential texts). It was the author’s purpose to give a commentary or a meditation on these sacred texts. This prologue is generally regarded as noncanonical [but it is clearly in the septuagint???]'

It is evident that the Ben Sira prologue would not have been in the original hebrew text. Notwithstanding, the translator is still an early witness to the structure of the Jewish canon: torah, nevi'im, ketuvim. The question is "should we limit the canon to tanak, or accept the deuterocanonical books as sacred scripture?". In conclusion, there is ample evidence for the hebrew bible canon not only in the early church, but in Jewish writings and rabbinic tradition.

Sources

[1] THE CONFESSION OF FAITH. (n.d.). Available at: https://prts.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Belgic-Confession-of-Faith-with-Intro.pdf.

‌[2] Sefaria.org. (2026). Bava Batra | Sefaria Library. [online] Available at: https://www.sefaria.org/Bava_Batra?tab=contents [Accessed 10 Apr. 2026].

[3] Gallagher, E.L. and Meade, J.D. (2017). The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity. Oxford University Press.

‌[4] Sefaria.org. (2026). Bava Batra 14b:8 | Sefaria Library. [online] Available at: https://www.sefaria.org/Bava_Batra.14b.8?lang=bi [Accessed 10 Apr. 2026].

‌[5] Sefaria.org. (2026). Against Apion 1:8 | Sefaria Library. [online] Available at: https://www.sefaria.org/Against_Apion.1.8?lang=en [Accessed 10 Apr. 2026].

‌[6] The Canon of Scripture - Study Resources (2019). The Canon of Scripture - Study Resources. [online] Blue Letter Bible. Available at: https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/canon.cfm.

‌ [7] Schaff, P. and Wace, H. (1963). The Principal Works of St. Jerome.

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