[Question:]{.underline} Can the Council of Laodicea be alleged to prove that the deuterocanonical books are not inspired?
[Answer:]{.underline} The term “deuterocanonical” was invented as late as 1566 (by Sixtus of Siena) to describe those books of the Bible whose canonical inspiration was denied at one time in the fourth century, but which later became universally accepted as canonically inspired, with the same authority as the protocanonical books. These deuterocanonical books are called “apocrypha” by the protestants, who do not accept them as divinely inspired. There are seven such books (out of 27) in the New Testament, and seven (out of 46) in the Old Testament, as well as several other shorter fragments.
This hesitation concerning the canonical inspiration of these deuterocanonical books did not exist in the first three centuries of the Church. All books are quoted indiscriminately by the authors of the New Testament, as well as by the Fathers of the first three centuries, who are unanimous in their acceptation of all these books as divinely inspired. As examples, St. Clement of Rome (96) quotes Judith, Wisdom, and Ecclesiasticus, and the Pastor Hermas (middle of 2^nd^ century) quotes Ecclesiasticus and the second book of Machabees. Origen, at the end of the second century, defends the canonical inspiration of Tobias, and the deuterocanonical parts of Daniel and Esther, and in fact lists as Sacred Scripture every single one of the deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament.
It was only from the fourth century on that isolated Fathers of the Church expressed their hesitation about the canonical inspiration of the 7 deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament. These Fathers lived principally in the area of Palestine and were greatly influenced by the Jews. After the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70, the spiritual leadership of Judaism had been taken over by the Pharisees at the Synod of Jamniam (A.D. 90). By applying much more narrow-minded criteria than the Jews of the time of Our Lord, and in fact of the second century before Christ, they eliminated these seven books from their canon, either because they were written in Greek, or because they were relatively late in composition, or because of their prejudice towards a pharasaical, excessively materialistic interpretation of the law. Thus they rejected the version of the Septuagint, which had been the official version of the Old Testament in Greek, both in the Diaspora and in Jerusalem, containing as it did all the deuterocanonical books. This is but a consequence of the loss of grace that followed on the rejection of Christ. However, their insistence did cause some isolated Fathers to doubt the canonical inspiration of these deuterocanonical books, in particular that great lover of Hebrew, St. Jerome.
It is alleged that the 60^th^ canon of the Council of Laodicea, in the year 360, gives a list of the books of the Old Testament without the deuterocanonical books. This could be explained by the above mentioned influence. However, most reputable authors dispute with good reason the authenticity of this canon. It consequently cannot be taken into consideration. Furthermore, even if it were authentic, it was only an isolated council, without any authority.
As against this isolated testimony is the constant and universal Tradition throughout Christendom, namely that the deuterocanonical books were truly inspired by God and a part of Sacred Scripture. This was defined by several councils of Carthage (382, 397, 419), by the Council of Hippo (393), and by Pope Innocent I in 405, and was taught by the quasi-universality of the Fathers thereafter. This Tradition of the Church, reflecting its indefectibility in teaching the Faith, was so constant that it was not questioned again for nearly 1,000 years, despite the rise of the false apocryphal writings of the 5^th^ century. In 1441 the Council of Florence defined this Tradition, namely that all the books of the Bible were inspired by God and that no distinction could be made between them. This definition was repeated by the Council of Trent.
Answered by Father Peter Scott, SSPX.