Discussion on Biblical Canon and Martin Luther

If you're not Catholic, you might be listening to this and saying,

wait, you keep saying 73, but I know my Bible only has 66 books.

There's only 66 books that are in the Bible.

The story behind that whole thing is that from 1517 to 1520,

Martin Luther was quoting those seven books.

We call them the Deuterocanonical books. He was still quoting them as scripture.

It wasn't until the year 1520 that Martin Luther was in a debate

with a German theologian, a priest named Johann Eck.

They were debating on the efficacy of the Mass.

Johann Eck was saying that, no, the Mass does something.

The Mass actually, it's not just a memorial.

It actually is a sacrifice.

We're offering to the Father, and it gives us grace.

It's incredible.

And Martin Luther says, no, I don't believe that it does anything.

He said, but we offer Mass for those who are dead.

And Martin Luther says, I don't believe in offering Mass for those who are dead.

He said, what about purgatory? And Martin Luther says, I don't believe in purgatory.

And Johann Eck says, what about 2 Maccabees chapter 12, where it says it's a good and holy thing to pray for the dead?

And in that moment, Martin Luther removed, or at least merely moved, those seven books from the Bible, because it didn't fit with his theology.

And he appealed to the Jewish canon that doesn't have those seven books, as considered divinely inspired.

But you think about this.

That canon was established by who? It was established by Jews who had rejected Jesus as the Messiah.

So they don't have no authority. And this is one of the saddest things.

A bunch of people who are not Catholic, maybe you're part of that group,

that they lived their whole lives not realizing that God had given them seven extra books

that one guy in Germany years ago took out to realize that all 73 books are part of your inheritance.

What God has wanted you to have your entire life are all 73 books.