The Waldensian tradition affirms the Protestant canon and rejects the deuterocanonical books as non-canonical. The Waldensians follow the principle that only books with apostolic authority and early universal recognition qualify as Scripture.

The deuterocanonical books fail these tests: they are not cited in the New Testament as Scripture, were not universally accepted in the early Church (many Church Fathers questioned their status), and lack direct apostolic origin. The Waldensian commitment to biblical authority and the sufficiency of Scripture (sola scriptura) requires maintaining the boundaries of the authentic canon.

The Waldensians note that the inclusion of deuterocanonical books in the Catholic canon is a later development (formally defined at Trent in 1546) and represents a departure from the early Church's practice and the Hebrew canon. The Waldensian position maintains continuity with the early Church and the Jewish tradition.