Sunday, June 7, 2020

William Webster vs. Gary Michuta and John Betts on 1 Esdras

As I have noted previously, the issue of 1 Esdras is very problematic for the purported apostolic nature and infallibility of the April 1546 Tridentine decree on the canon of the Bible as well as Catholic apologists who claim a pedigree for this canon from the provincial councils of Carthage and Hippo. This has resulted in a number of responses from Catholics such as John Betts and Gary Michuta, including an appendix in the second edition of Michuta’s Why Catholic Bibles are Bigger. Reformed apologist Bill Webster (who I will admit, is rather hit-and-miss in many areas) has done a good job responding to Michuta and Betts in the following articles:

 

Bill Webster Responds to Gary Michuta Part I

 

Bill Webster Responds to Gary Michuta Part II

 

Bill Webster Responds to Gary Michuta Part III

 

A Further Response to Gary Michuta and John Betts on 1 Esdras

 

As Webster notes near the end of his 3rd response to Michuta:

 

Clearly, when Trent enumerates the books of the Old Testament it explicitly rejects I Esdras from the list and designates I Esdras to be Ezra and 2 Esdras to be Nehemiah in conformity with Jerome and the Hebrew canon. Thus, there is an irreconcilable difference between the canon promulgated by Hippo/Carthage and that authoritatively decreed by Trent.