A posteriori. First, those controversial books are not quoted by Christ and the apostles.
A posteriori. First, those controversial books are not quoted by Christ and the apostles.
§ 72. A posteriori, we produce the following arguments: [I] Christ and the apostles in the New Testament quote every canonical book of the Old Testament to confirm doctrine. Christ and the apostles in the New Testament do not quote those controversial books to confirm doctrine. Therefore. We prove the major premise from a comparison of the books of the Old and New Testaments; from the Gospel account that shows that Christ always appealed to Moses and the prophets in debates with the opponents of divine truth; from the clear statements of St. Paul—that he never taught anything “but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass” (Acts 26:22), that “the righteousness of God receives testimony from the Law and the Prophets” (Rom. 3:21)—and, finally, from the apostolic practice itself, which shows that they always appealed to the writings of the prophets. In his preface to Chronicles, Jerome writes: “One must go back to the Hebrews, from which both the Lord speaks and the disciples take their examples.” Augustine writes about the books of the Maccabees: “The Jews do not consider this writing as they consider the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms, to which the Lord bears testimony as if they were His own witnesses” (Contra epist. Gaudent., bk. 2, c. 23).
Later, in a special examination of each book of the Apocrypha, we shall explain whatever will be brought up against the minor premise.