The Fourth-Century Canon Dilemma: The Western Church

In Part Three of our four-part series on the biblical canon, Stephen, Gary, and David turn to the Western Church and the major debates of the fourth and early fifth centuries. We examine the competing approaches of Jerome, Rufinus, and Augustine, along with the canon lists associated with Pope Damasus, the Councils of Hippo and Carthage, and Pope Innocent I’s letter to Exsuperius in AD 405. Did the Western Church remain divided over the Old Testament canon, or did an ecclesial consensus finally emerge? Subscribe to FACTS with Stephen Boyce New episodes weekly on Scripture, Church history, and theology. Stephen's newest paper on Jerome: https://www.academia.edu/172562474/Jerome_and_Canonical_Authority Support our ministry: If you'd like to donate to our ministry or be a monthly partner that receives newsletters and one on one discussions with Dr. Boyce, here's a link: https://give.tithe.ly/?formId=6381a2ee-b82f-42a7-809e-6b733cec05a7 #theFACTSpodcast #StephenBoyce #ChurchHistory #EarlyChurchHistory 00:00 — Who Determined the Canon? The Western Tradition 04:44 — What Did “Canonical,” “Ecclesiastical,” and “Apocryphal” Mean? 19:54 — Hilary of Poitiers and the 22/24-Book Old Testament 35:04 — Jerome, the “Hebrew Truth,” and the Deuterocanonical Books 1:04:41 — Jerome, Tobit, and the Difference Between the Hebrew and Christian Canon 1:37:05 — Rufinus and His Threefold Classification of Scripture 1:49:12 — Augustine’s Rule for Determining the Canon 2:03:23 — Pope Damasus and the Contested Roman Canon List of 382 2:11:35 — Hippo, Carthage, and Rome’s Confirmation of the Canon 2:21:51 — Pope Innocent I, Jerome, and the Western Canon’s Convergence