Canon of the New Testament

From Cor ad Cor
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Christ's Mass

Catholic Encyclopedia, "Christmas."
The word for Christmas in late Old English is Cristes Maesse, the Mass of Christ, first found in 1038, and Cristes-messe, in 1131. In Dutch it is Kerstmis, in Latin Dies Natalis, whence comes the French Noël, and Italian Il natale; in German Weihnachtsfest, from the preceeding sacred vigil. The term Yule is of disputed origin. It is unconnected with any word meaning "wheel". The name in Anglo-Saxon was geol, feast: geola, the name of a month (cf. Icelandic iol a feast in December).
Wordnik, "Mass--Definition and Meaning."
Other English words formed the same way:
date name feast
012 Feb Candlemas Presentation (40 days after Christmas)
0229 Sep Michelmas: Michael the Archangel
0328 Dec Childermas Holy Innocents
041 Aug Lammas Loaf-Mass Day--festival of the wheat harvest.
0511 Nov Martinmas

Martin of Tours; end of autumn wheat seeding.
Beginning of 40-day fast in preparation for Christmas.
St. Martin's Eve was a festival like Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday.

0615 Aug Marymas Assumption
073 May Roodmas

Cross Mass
"Rood" is an Old English word for "cross."
Finding of the True Cross by St. Helena.
Now celebrated on 14 September as Triumph of the Cross.

08 Brendanmas A local celebration in the Buffalo, NY, area. Not yet known to the larger Church.


"Christmas" is a uniquely English word for the celebration of the Nativity of Our Lord. Other languages refer to the feast differently:

"How to Say 'Happy Christmas' in Twenty Languages

French Noël
Spanish Navidad
German Weihnachten
Italian Natale
Greek Christougena
Czech Vánoce
Polish Narodzenia
Swedish Jul

Development of the Canon of the New Testament

Early controversies

  • imitations
  • counterfeits
  • later writings

Sequence of decrees

In 382 AD, Pope Damasus and the Council of Rome (a local, not worldwide or ecumenical council) listed the books of the Old and New Testament exactly as they appear in today's Catholic bibles. This decision was reaffirmed four times over the next forty years and again in two ecumenical councils of the Church.

date authority
382 Council of Rome under Pope Damasus
393 Council of Hippo
397 Council of Carthage
405 Pope Clement I
419 Carthage
1442 Ecumenical Council of Florence
1546 Ecumenical Council of Trent

Luther's Attempt to Discard New Testament books

Luther treated four books of the New Testament as apocryphal (not inspired by God):

  • Hebrews
  • James
  • Jude
  • Revelation

These books were placed at the end of the New Testament, lacked page numbers, and did not appear in the index. This is exactly how Luther denigrated the seven extra books of the Septuagint. Luther's rejection of the Septuagint material caught on with most Protestants; his rejection of the four New Testament books did not.