The Waldensian tradition excludes the Shepherd of Hermas from the biblical canon. While this 2nd-century Christian work is historically significant and offers perspective on early Christian ethics and eschatology, it is not Scripture.

The Waldensian commitment to apostolic Scripture requires recognizing that the Shepherd of Hermas is post-apostolic (written well after the apostolic period) and was never universally accepted in the Church. Many early Church Fathers explicitly rejected it or questioned its status.

The Waldensian principle of sola scriptura requires distinguishing between Scripture (apostolic, universally recognized, divinely authoritative) and ecclesiastical tradition or post-apostolic Christian literature (historically valuable but not authoritative for doctrine). The Shepherd of Hermas belongs to the latter category.