Editing Book of Tobit (section)

==Canonical status==

Those books found in the [[Septuagint]], but not in the [[Masoretic text]] are called the [[deuterocanon]], meaning "second canon".{{sfn|Nigosian|2004|p=197}} Catholic and Orthodox Christianity include it in the Biblical canon. As Protestants came to follow the Masoretic canon, they therefore did not include Tobit in their canon, but do recognise it in the category of deuterocanonical books called the [[apocrypha]].{{sfn|Nigosian|2004|p=197}}

The Book of Tobit is listed as a canonical book by the [[Council of Rome]] (AD 382),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tertullian.org/decretum_eng.htm|title=Tertullian : Decretum Gelasianum (English translation)|access-date=2016-10-19|archive-date=2017-11-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171119145253/http://www.tertullian.org/decretum_eng.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> the [[Council of Hippo]] (AD 393),<ref>{{citation |chapter-url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.xv.iv.iv.xxv.html |chapter=Canon XXIV. (Greek xxvii.) |publisher=Christian Classics Ethereal Library |title=The Canons of the 217 Blessed Fathers who assembled at Carthage |access-date=2016-10-19 |archive-date=2016-08-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826232316/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.xv.iv.iv.xxv.html |url-status=live }}</ref> the [[Council of Carthage (397)]]<ref>B. F. Westcott, ''A General Survey of the History of the Canon of the New Testament'' (5th ed. Edinburgh, 1881), pp. 440, 541–2.</ref> and (AD 419),<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3816.htm |title=Council of Carthage (A.D. 419) Canon 24 |access-date=2016-10-19 |archive-date=2016-12-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161216205314/http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3816.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> the [[Council of Florence]] (1442)<ref>{{cite book|title=Eccumenical Council of Florence and Council of Basel Session 11—4 February 1442|publisher=ewtn|url=https://www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/FLORENCE.HTM|access-date=20 October 2016|archive-date=7 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507113230/http://www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/FLORENCE.HTM|url-status=live}}</ref> and finally the [[Council of Trent]] (1546),<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/TRENT4.htm |title=Session IV Celebrated on the eighth day of April, 1546 under Pope Paul III |access-date=2016-10-20 |archive-date=2015-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150323195835/http://www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/TRENT4.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> and is part of the canon of both the [[Catholic Church]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Churches]]. Catholics refer to it as [[Deuterocanonical books|deuterocanonical]].<ref name="Fitzmyer55" >Fitzmyer, at p. 50, 55–57</ref>

[[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=of Hippo|first1=Augustine|title=On Christian Doctrine Book II Chapter 8:2|publisher=newadvent|url=http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/12022.htm|access-date=12 October 2016|archive-date=16 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160716093036/http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/12022.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> ({{Circa|AD 397}}) and [[Pope Innocent I]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Westcott|first1=Brooke Foss|title=A general survey of the history of the canon of the New Testament Page 570|date=2005|publisher=Wipf & Stock|location=Eugene, Oregon|isbn=1597522392|edition=6th}}</ref> (AD 405) affirmed Tobit as part of the Old Testament Canon. [[Athanasius of Alexandria|Athanasius]] (AD 367) mentioned that certain other books, including the book of Tobit, while not being part of the Canon, "were appointed by the Fathers to be read".<ref>{{cite book|last1=of Alexandria|first1=Athanasius|title=CHURCH FATHERS: Letter 39 (Athanasius)|publisher=newadvent|url=http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2806039.htm|access-date=14 October 2016|archive-date=21 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161121014620/http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2806039.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> 

According to [[Rufinus of Aquileia]] ({{Circa|AD 400}}) the book of Tobit and other deuterocanonical books were not called Canonical but Ecclesiastical books.<ref>{{cite book|last1=of Aquileia|first1=Rufinus|title=Commentary on the Apostles' Creed #38|publisher=newadvent|url=http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2711.htm|access-date=12 October 2016|archive-date=11 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170111143129/http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2711.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Protestant traditions place the book of Tobit in an intertestamental section called [[Apocrypha]].<ref name="GeislerMacKenzie1995">{{cite book |last1=Geisler |first1=Norman L. |last2=MacKenzie |first2=Ralph E. |title=Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: Agreements and Differences |date=1995 |publisher=Baker Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-8010-3875-4 |page=171 |language=English |quote=Lutherans and Anglicans used it only for ethical / devotional matters but did not consider it authoritative in matters of faith.}}</ref> In [[Anabaptism]], the book of Tobit is quoted liturgically during [[Amish]] weddings, with "the book of Tobit as the basis for the wedding sermon."<ref name="DyckMartin1955"/> The [[Luther Bible]] holds Tobit as part of the "Apocrypha, that is, books which are not held equal to the sacred Scriptures, and nevertheless are useful to read".<ref name="Kirwan2015"/> [[Martin Luther|Luther]]'s personal view was that even if it were "all made up, then it is indeed a very beautiful, wholesome and useful fiction or drama by a gifted poet" and that "this book is useful and good for us Christians to read."{{sfn|Fitzmyer|2003|p=31}} Article VI of the [[Thirty-Nine Articles]] of the [[Church of England]] lists it as a book of the "[[Biblical apocrypha|Apocrypha]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://anglicansonline.org/basics/thirty-nine_articles.html |title=Anglican Articles of Religion |publisher=Anglicansonline.org |date=2007-04-15 |access-date=2014-03-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701111544/http://anglicansonline.org/basics/thirty-nine_articles.html |archive-date=2007-07-01 }}</ref> The first [[Methodist]] liturgical book, ''[[The Sunday Service of the Methodists]]'', employs verses from Tobit in the Eucharistic liturgy.<ref name="Wesley1825">{{cite book|title=The Sunday Service of the Methodists; With Other Occasional Services|year=1825|publisher=J. Kershaw|language=en|page=136|author=John Wesley|title-link=The Sunday Service of the Methodists; With Other Occasional Services|author-link=John Wesley}}</ref> [[Lection|Scripture readings]] from the Apocrypha are included in the [[lectionary|lectionaries]] of the Lutheran Churches and the Anglican Churches, among other denominations using the [[Revised Common Lectionary]], though alternate Old Testament readings are provided.<ref>{{cite book|title=Readings from the Apocrypha|year=1981|publisher=Forward Movement Publications|page=5}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.commontexts.org/rcl/rcl_introduction_web.pdf |title=The Revised Common Lectionary |year=1992 |publisher=Consultation on Common Texts |access-date=19 August 2015 |quote=In all places where a reading from the deuterocanonical books (The Apocrypha) is listed, an alternate reading from the canonical Scriptures has also been provided. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701230910/http://www.commontexts.org/rcl/RCL_Introduction_Web.pdf |archive-date=1 July 2015 |df=dmy }}</ref> Liturgically, the Catholic and Anglican churches may use a scripture reading from the Book of Tobit in services of Holy Matrimony.<ref name="DeSilva2002">{{cite book |last1=DeSilva |first1=David Arthur |title=Introducing the Apocrypha: Message, Context, and Significance |date=2002 |publisher=Baker Academic |isbn=978-0-8010-2319-4 |page=76 |language=English |quote=The author also promotes an ideology of marriage, revealed mainly in the prayer of 8:5–7 (which is an optional Old Testament reading in Catholic, Anglican, and United Methodist marriage services).}}</ref> 

Tobit contains some interesting evidence of the early evolution of the canon, referring to two rather than three divisions, the Law of Moses (i.e. the [[torah]]) and the prophets.{{sfn|Dempster|2008|p=unpaginated}} For unknown reasons it is not included in the Masoretic text of the [[Hebrew Bible]], although four Aramaic and one Hebrew fragment were found among the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]], indicating an authoritative status among some sects.<ref name="Klawans">{{cite book |last1=Klawans |first1=Jonathan|title=The Jewish Annotated Apocrypha |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-026248-8 |pages=149–151}}</ref> Proposed explanations have included its age, literary quality, a supposed Samaritan origin, or an infringement of ritual law, in that it depicts the marriage contract between Tobias and his bride as written by her father rather than her groom.{{sfn|Fitzmyer|2003|p=55}} Alternatively, allusions to fallen angels and its thematic connections with works such as [[Book of Enoch|1 Enoch]] and [[Book of Jubilees|Jubilees]] may have disqualified it from canonicity.{{sfn|Klawans|2020|p=150}} It is, however, found in the Greek text of the [[Septuagint]], from which it was adopted into the Christian canon by the end of the 4th century.{{sfn|Fitzmyer|2003|p=55}}