The Case for the Deuterocanon: Evidence and Arguments

by Gary G. Michuta

Protestants and Catholics alike share the faith that all scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and training in righteousness (2Tim 3:16). But one area where they disagree is over just which writings make up the Bible. In particular they differ over whether the seven books of the Old Testament sometimes called “deuterocanonical” are inspired scripture or not. In a previous book, Why Catholic Bibles Are Bigger, Gary Michuta addressed the historical question of whether Protestants removed these books from the Bible or Catholics added them. Now in The Case for the Evidence and Arguments he takes on the burden of showing that they should not have been removed. Bringing together evidence from the New Testament as well as Jewish and early Christian history, he carefully builds a compelling cumulative argument that the disputed books are part of the Bible that Jesus and His Apostles handed on to the Church. They are Scripture in the fullest sense, divinely inspired and capable of confirming Christian doctrine.

Genres: Catholic, Nonfiction, History, Theology

328 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 22, 2015

Reviews

[Ben Rowse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! It laid out the case for the 7 additional books in a very logical matter. Much of what differentiates Catholic and Protestant theology hinges on the canonicity of these books, which makes this an incredibly important topic. Would highly recommend everyone read this, it will be well worth your time.

[Rachel K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a lot of valuable arguments in this. The typos, esp. towards the end, were a little careless. It’s hard to put too much value in a book with errors that should’ve been caught in a single proofread. One example, “They was…” instead of “They were…”.

[Samantha Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gary Michuta has done an extremely thorough job of defending the divine inspiration of the deuterocanon (better known to Protestants as the Apocrypha). He rebuts all the common objections to these seven biblical books, as well as several objections I've never (yet) encountered. He includes hundreds of citations from early church fathers who cite the deuterocanon as scripture, which should lay to rest the popular false claim that there was no wide consensus about the inspiration of the deuterocanon. There are several typographical errors throughout this book which distract from the excellent content. Also, the footnotes are meticulous but there is no comprehensive bibliography at the end, a disappointment for someone like me who would love to easily explore the subject further. Despite these quibbles, I highly recommend this book to both Catholics who want to defend the inspiration of the deuterocanon and Protestants/non-denominationals/Bible Christians who want to know why the Catholic Church believes the Apocrypha is God-breathed Scripture.