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Canons
and Decrees of the Council of Trent
THE COUNCIL OF TRENT
The Fourth Session
Celebrated on the
eighth day of the month of April, in
the year 1546.
Decree Concerning the
Canonical Scriptures
The sacred and holy,
ecumenical, and general Synod of
Trent,--lawfully assembled in the
Holy Ghost, the Same three legates
of the Apostolic See presiding
therein,--keeping this always in
view, that, errors being removed,
the purity itself of the Gospel be
preserved in the Church; which
(Gospel), before promised through
the prophets in the holy Scriptures,
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, first promulgated with His own
mouth, and then commanded to be
preached by His Apostles to every
creature, as the fountain of all,
both saving truth, and moral
discipline; and seeing clearly that
this truth and discipline are
contained in the written books, and
the unwritten traditions which,
received by the Apostles from the
mouth of Christ himself, or from the
Apostles themselves, the Holy Ghost
dictating, have come down even unto
us, transmitted as it were from hand
to hand; (the Synod) following the
examples of the orthodox Fathers,
receives and venerates with an equal
affection of piety, and reverence,
all the books both of the Old and of
the New Testament--seeing that one
God is the author of both --as also
the said traditions, as well those
appertaining to faith as to morals,
as having been dictated, either by
Christ's own word of mouth, or by
the Holy Ghost, and preserved in the
Catholic Church by a continuous
succession.
And it has thought it
meet that a list of the sacred books
be inserted in this decree, lest a
doubt may arise in any one's mind,
which are the books that are
received by this Synod. They are as
set down here below:
Of the Old Testament:
the five books of Moses, to wit,
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy; Josue, Judges, Ruth,
four books of Kings, two of
Paralipomenon, the first book of
Esdras, and the second which is
entitled Nehemias; Tobias, Judith,
Esther, Job, the Davidical Psalter,
consisting of a hundred and fifty
psalms; the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes,
the Canticle of Canticles, Wisdom,
Ecclesiasticus, Isaias, Jeremias,
with Baruch; Ezechiel, Daniel; the
twelve minor prophets, to wit, Osee,
Joel, Amos, Abdias, Jonas, Micheas,
Nahum, Habacuc, Sophonias, Aggaeus,
Zacharias, Malachias; two books of
the Machabees, the first and the
second.
Of the New Testament:
the four Gospels, according to
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; the
Acts of the Apostles written by Luke
the Evangelist; fourteen epistles of
Paul the apostle, (one) to the
Romans, two to the Corinthians,
(one) to the Galatians, to the
Ephesians, to the Philippians, to
the Colossians, two to the
Thessalonians, two to Timothy, (one)
to Titus, to Philemon, to the
Hebrews; two of Peter the apostle,
three of John the apostle, one of
the apostle James, one of Jude the
apostle, and the Apocalypse of John
the apostle.
But if any one
receive not, as sacred and
canonical, the said books entire
with all their parts, as they have
been used to be read in the Catholic
Church, and as they are contained in
the old Latin vulgate edition; and
knowingly and deliberately contemn
the traditions aforesaid; let him be
anathema. Let all, therefore,
understand, in what order, and in
what manner, the said Synod, after
having laid the foundation of the
Confession of faith, will proceed,
and what testimonies and authorities
it will mainly use in confirming
dogmas, and in restoring morals in
the Church.
Decree Concerning the
Edition and the Use of the Sacred
Books
Moreover, the same
sacred and holy Synod,--considering
that no small utility may accrue to
the Church of God, if it be made
known which out of all the Latin
editions, now in circulation, of the
sacred books, is to be held as
authentic,--ordains and declares,
that the said old and vulgate
edition, which, by the lengthened
usage of so many years, has been
approved of in the Church, be, in
public lectures, disputations,
sermons and expositions, held as
authentic; and that no one is to
dare, or presume to reject it under
any pretext whatever.
Furthermore, in order
to restrain petulant spirits, It
decrees, that no one, relying on his
own skill, shall,--in matters of
faith, and of morals pertaining to
the edification of Christian
doctrine, --wresting the sacred
Scripture to his own senses, presume
to interpret the said sacred
Scripture contrary to that sense
which holy mother Church,--whose it
is to judge of the true sense and
interpretation of the holy
Scriptures,--hath held and doth
hold; or even contrary to the
unanimous consent of the Fathers;
even though such interpretations
were never (intended) to be at any
time published. Contraveners shall
be made known by their Ordinaries,
and be punished with the penalties
by law established.
And wishing, as is
just, to impose a restraint, in this
matter, also on printers, who now
without restraint,--thinking, that
is, that whatsoever they please is
allowed them,--print, without the
license of ecclesiastical superiors,
the said books of sacred Scripture,
and the notes and comments upon them
of all persons indifferently, with
the press ofttimes unnamed, often
even fictitious, and what is more
grievous still, without the author's
name; and also keep for
indiscriminate sale books of this
kind printed elsewhere; (this Synod)
ordains and decrees, that,
henceforth, the sacred Scripture,
and especially the said old and
vulgate edition, be printed in the
most correct manner possible; and
that it shall not be lawful for any
one to print, or cause to be
printed, any books whatever, on
sacred matters, without the name of
the author; nor to sell them in
future, or even to keep them, unless
they shall have been first examined,
and approved of, by the Ordinary;
under pain of the anathema and fine
imposed in a canon of the last
Council of Lateran: and, if they be
Regulars, besides this examination
and approval, they shall be bound to
obtain a license also from their own
superiors, who shall have examined
the books according to the form of
their own statutes. As to those who
lend, or circulate them in
manuscript, without their having
been first examined, and approved
of, they shall be subjected to the
same penalties as printers: and they
who shall have them in their
possession or shall read them,
shall, unless they discover the
authors, be themselves regarded as
the authors. And the said
approbation of books of this kind
shall be given in writing; and for
this end it shall appear
authentically at the beginning of
the book, whether the book be
written, or printed; and all this,
that is, both the approbation and
the examination, shall be done
gratis, that so what ought to be
approved, may be approved, and what
ought to be condemned, may be
condemned.
Besides the above,
wishing to repress that temerity, by
which the words and sentences of
sacred Scripture are turned and
twisted to all sorts of profane
uses, to wit, to things scurrilous,
fabulous, vain, to flatteries,
detractions, superstitions, impious
and diabolical incantations,
sorceries, and defamatory libels;
(the Synod) commands and enjoins,
for the doing away with this kind of
irreverence and contempt, and that
no one may hence forth dare in any
way to apply the words of sacred
Scripture to these and such like
purposes; that all men of this
description, profaners and violators
of the word of God, be by the
bishops restrained by the penalties
of law, and others of their own
appointment.
See
also
http://www.bible-researcher.com/canon.html
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