66-book Protestant canon; Deuterocanon excluded from Scripture
Lutheranism accepts the 66-book Protestant canon of Scripture. Luther's translation of the Bible placed the Deuterocanonical (Apocryphal) books in a separate section as useful for reading but not as the basis for establishing doctrine. The Book of Concord quotes Apocryphal books illustratively but does not ground doctrinal claims on them exclusively. This contrasts with Roman Catholicism, which formally received the Deuterocanon as fully canonical at the Council of Trent (1546) in part as a response to the Lutheran Reformation.
Luther famously expressed reservations about certain New Testament books — James ('epistle of straw'), Hebrews, Jude, and Revelation — because he perceived tensions with the Pauline Gospel. However, these reservations were personal opinions and were not enshrined in confessional documents; Lutheran churches have received all 27 New Testament books as canonical. The theological criterion for Luther was whether a book 'drives Christ' (was Christum treibet), making soteriology a hermeneutical key.
Key Distinctions
- Ot canon:
- 39 books (Hebrew/Protestant canon)
- Deuterocanonical status:
- Apocrypha — useful for edification but not for establishing doctrine (Luther's Bible preface)
- Additional scripture:
- none
- Canon open:
- closed — Scripture alone is the norm for doctrine
Scripture References
Sources
- Luther's Bible (1534), prefaces to the Apocryphal books
- Augsburg Confession, Article XX, principle of sola Scriptura (1530)
- Luther, Preface to the New Testament (1522)