Section V: On the Latin Vulgate Translation of the Bible
Section V: On the Latin Vulgate Translation of the Bible
§ 513. The Papists carry this up to the summit of authentic authority. The Council of Trent, sess. 4, decrees “that the ancient Vulgate edition be considered as authentic in public readings, disputations, sermons, and expositions and that no one dare reject it under any pretext whatsoever.” We have quoted many things of this sort from Papist writers earlier in § 317. However: (I) It is a translation; therefore it is not authentic. Only the Hebrew text in the Old Testament and the Greek in the New are authentic, as we have proved earlier (§§ 311ff.). Therefore one cannot elevate the Vulgate translation to that sublime throne of authentic authority. “What in itself is not authentic cannot be made to be authentic through the power of a pope or council,” writes Bellarmine (De verbo Dei, bk. 1, c. 10). I sum up: the Vulgate version is not authentic nor canonical in itself. Therefore the decree of a pope or council cannot make it authentic. (II) Its author was not illumined by the spirit of prophecy. Therefore it cannot be canonical and authentic.