The Council of Rome (382) and the Canon of Scripture - CHS 172

Catholic Heritage Show w/ Dr. Erik Estrada

172: The Council of Rome (382) and the Canon of Scripture

Was the Council of Rome the first local council to produce a listing of canonical books? In this episode we briefly discuss this question of the Council of Rome’s role in the production of the canonical list.

In various histories of the canon and the translations of ancient Church documents, the Council of Rome has at times been identified as one of the first local councils to ever produce a listing of canonical books. This council was said to have been gathered under the leadership of Pope Damasus (r. 366-384).

But did Pope Damasus and the Council of Rome (382) really issue the first authoritative list of canonical books? In this episode we address this historical question by looking at the evidence of the manuscripts and the testimonies of late fourth and early fifth-century Catholic authors.

Although we do not believe that the evidence supports the idea that the Council of Rome was the first local council to produce a list of canonical books, we reiterate our long-standing argument that the history surrounding this council and others like it points to much larger considerations of the Church authority in creating the canon of Scripture. We argue in the end that the vaious other local councils which took place at the close of the fourth and the early decades of the fifth reflect an acute awareness among Catholic bishops of that period that the decisions of key bishops were indeed necessary to establish the precise nature of the canon of Scripture.

Join us today as we talk about the history surrounding the Council of Rome (382) and the creation of the authoritative list of Scriptures. To access the show, download our free app on the iOS or Android stores. I look forward to hearing back from our audience.

Sincerely,

Dr. Estrada

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The Catholic Heritage Show is devoted to helping Catholic Christians better understand the history, teachings and culture of their Catholic faith so that they can better love and serve Christ, the Church and their neighbors. Dr. Erik Estrada is a Catholic scholar who holds a Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame and specializes in the history of Christianity and historical theology. He also completed a licentiate (S.T.L) in theology and patristic science at the Augustinianum Patristic Institute in Rome and a S.T.B. at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas.

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