Third, from the subject matter.
Third, from the subject matter.
§ 71. (3) From the subject matter (materia). Every canonical book of the Old Testament contains oracles about Christ, who was promised in the Old Testament but revealed in the New. Those controversial books do not contain prophecies about Christ. Therefore. We prove the major premise from the following passages. Luke 24:[27,] 44: “He interpreted to them the things in Moses, the prophets, and the psalms that were concerning Himself.” John 5:39: “You search the Scriptures … and it is they that bear witness to Me.” Acts 3:[24]: “All the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came afterward, also proclaimed these days.” Acts 10:43: “To Him all the prophets bear witness.” 1 Pet. 1:11: “The Spirit of Christ was indicating in the prophets the suffering and subsequent glories that are in Christ.” In these and parallel passages of Scripture, the proper office of the prophets of the Old Testament is established as bearing witness and prophesying about Christ. Although no express oracle about Christ seems to be contained in the Book of Ruth, the account that writing provides serves the genealogy that the evangelists (Matthew 1; Luke 3) put together, which shows that Christ is the Son of David and of Abraham, both of whom had been specifically promised that the Messiah would be born of their seed.
Regarding the minor premise, note that though 4 Ezra seems to foretell some things about Christ, nevertheless this does not yet confirm its canonical authority. It lacks the other requirements of the canonical books, and it is not considered canonical by the more sensible Papists.