A discussion of deuterocanonical books with my protestant friend has led me to do a little research and a little thinking on what the Church teaches on the inerrancy of scripture and what it means.
I found this on EWTN…
Even as we affirm inerrancy, however, it is important to recognize that the truth of the content of divine revelation depends upon certain consideration, such as the intention of the author and the literary genre of the text–the type of writing it is. Hence, inerrancy does not preclude the use of allegory or parable or metaphor or poetry or any number of expressions of thought which are not intended to be understood as literal truth, but truth nonetheless. It then falls to the scholar or Christian reader in general to recognize such literary features in the text, so that we do not approach a text in a manner not intended, with wrong expectations. The Church is open to elements other than literal with regards to the first eleven chapters of Genesis, while still insisting upon inerrancy; at the same time, to my knowledge the Church has never forbidden a literal approach to Genesis. While it might seem unlikely to us, the Church is careful not to overstep what God has revealed, both with regards to the Word itself and our approach to the Word. Let me emphasize: do not confuse the relationship between literary genre and inerrancy. The Scriptures are absolutely INERRANT and yet we can and do admit, as I certainly always have in this forum, the presence of a variety of types (genres) of writing in the Bible .”
Many protestants try to use supposed historical errors in the Deuteros as ammunition against them. They ignore the type of writing that they are. Some of the writings use certain characters and/or locations symbolically to help make a moral point. Some are poetry. Some are prophecy.
The detracters confuse the fact that these writings are not meant to be historical documents. This is the same when it comes to the rest of the Bible and any apparent factual contradictions that atheist try to use as ammunition against the sacred word.
I admit that I have fallen into the trap of trying to defend them using the argument that only the matters relating to salvation are inerrant in the Bible. This was from trying to grasp for reasons for the descrepancies without checking with the Church teaching on this matter. The Church is the pillar and foundation of the truth and through its authority I submit to its understanding on this matter. Rome has spoken. The case is closed.
In the future, I plan on examining some of the more interesting books of the Deuteros.
God Bless
Mary Help of Christians
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