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St. Jerome and Protestantism

Some Protestants claim that Jerome rejected the deuterocanonical books and taught sola fide. Here’s what the Latin Father of the Church really believed.

Detail from "Saint Jerome in the Wilderness" (1475-80) by Bernardino Pinturicchio (Wikipedia)

St. Jerome, whose feast day is September 30th, is known by Catholics for several things. Many know the fourth-century priest as responsible for the Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Bible, the official biblical text for the Catholic Church for many centuries. Others know of his zeal for the ascetic lifestyle, first in the Syrian desert and later near Bethlehem. And perhaps some know him as one of the Latin Doctors of the Church, a title given on account of his prolific theological discourses and commentaries.

Few, I imagine, know he’s often presented by some Protestants as a proto-Protestant.

Perhaps the most common use of St. Jerome to buttress Protestant theology is the claim that he rejected the deuterocanonical books of the Bible (Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach and Baruch) as less than Scripture. There is some truth to this; unlike many other contemporary church fathers, St. Jerome made a distinction between the Hebrew Bible and the “apocrypha,” calling those books not found in the Hebrew as non-canonical. In his Preface to The Books of Samuel and Kings, St. Jerome includes the following statement:

This preface to the Scriptures may serve as a “helmeted” introduction to all the books which we turn from Hebrew into Latin, so that we may be assured that what is not found in our list must be placed amongst the Apocryphal writings. Wisdom, therefore, which generally bears the name of Solomon, and the book of Jesus, the Son of Sirach, and Judith, and Tobias, and the Shepherd are not in the canon. The first book of Maccabees I have found to be Hebrew, the second is Greek, as can be proved from the very style.

Thus, assert many Protestants, St. Jerome is proof that some of the most venerable of the Church fathers rejected the same deuterocanonical books later rejected by the Reformers. QED.

Not so fast. St. Jerome’s thoughts on the deuterocanon in his Vulgate must be squared with his statements elsewhere. For example, in his Letter to Eustochium he quotes Sirach 13:2: “For does not the scripture say: ‘Burden not yourself above your power?’” Elsewhere Jerome also refers to Baruch (Letter to Oceanus), the Story of Susannah (Letter to Paulinus) and Wisdom (Letter 51) as Scripture. Moreover, during St. Jerome’s life (c. 347-420) the canon of Scripture was still unsettled and up for debate, and thus his opinion was not in explicit contradiction to Catholic teaching. Several local councils — Hippo, Carthage, and Rome — affirmed the deuterocanon as Scripture, but none were ecumenical and thus binding on the entire Church.

Other Protestants claim that St. Jerome taught sola fide, that central Protestant doctrine that the sinner is justified by grace through faith alone, and that works are thus entirely non-salvific. They will cite his In Epistolam Ad Romanos, in which we read, in Latin, “Ignorantes quod Deus ex sola fide justificat, et justos se ex legis operibus, quam non custodierunt,” which translates to something like, “Being ignorant that God justifies from faith alone, they consider themselves to be just from the works of the Law which they do not keep.” Another cited text is To Minvervius and Alexander, in which St. Jerome writes: “He who with all his spirit has placed his faith in Christ, even if he die in sin, shall by his faith live forever.”

Let’s consider the first quotation, in which the phrase “sola fide” is found. Saint Jerome is talking about Pharisaical Jews during the time of Christ who sought to justify themselves through the Mosaic precepts. Moreover, the “works” Saint Jerome refers to are the “sacrifices of the Law which were shadows of the truth” (quae umbra errant veritatis), rather than works per se as understood by the Protestant Reformers. The second quotation from St. Jerome states that those who with all their spirit place their faith in Christ, even if they die still with sin on their souls, will live forever. Yet there’s nothing uniquely Protestant about this — Catholicism also teaches that people who have faith, even if they die not fully purified from all their sin, will gain heaven, as long as their sin is not mortal.

We must also reconcile the above quotations with what St. Jerome teaches elsewhere, which is more explicitly Catholic. In his Letter to Pammachius, for example, we read:

Do not fancy your faith in Christ to be a reason for parting from her. For ‘God hath called us in peace.’ ‘Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing but the keeping of the commandments of God.’ Neither celibacy nor wedlock is of the slightest use without works, since even faith, the distinguishing mark of Christians, if it have not works, is said to be dead, and on such terms as these the virgins of Vesta or of Juno, who was constant to one husband, might claim to be numbered among the saints.”

Here St. Jerome teaches that both faith and works are required for salvation. He teaches much the same in his Commentaries on the Epistle to the Galatians, in which he explains: “It should be noted that he does not say that a man, a person, lives by faith, lest it be thought that he is condemning good works. Rather he says the just man lives by faith.” Thus in St. Jerome’s corpus we see a classical Catholic affirmation on the cooperation of faith and works in salvation.

Yes, St. Jerome famously declared that “ignorance of Scripture of ignorance of Christ,” which might — to Protestant ears presuming a certain anti-biblicism in Catholicism — sound like an implicit affirmation of the Reformers’ understanding of Scripture. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Of course St. Jerome had a high view of Holy Scripture — so does the Catholic Church, of which St. Jerome was a dutiful member! There’s nothing uniquely Protestant about a high view of the Bible, as evidenced by all the Church fathers and ecumenical Church councils.

Finally, any honest consideration of St. Jerome must take into account the entirety of his corpus, which evinces an emphatically un-Protestant theology. In his Letter to Heliodorus, St. Jerome declares his belief in apostolic succession, that the bishops of his own day have authority that derives from the apostles and Christ Himself. He affirms papal primacy in his Letter to Pope Damasus, writing: “I follow no leader but Christ and join in communion with none but Your Blessedness, that is, with the chair of Peter. I know that this is the rock on which the Church has been built.” St. Jerome’s Commentaries on the Epistle to Titus likewise honors the authority of the episcopacy: “while schism separates one from the Church on account of disagreement with the bishop.”

Thus St. Jerome’s understanding of ecclesial authority is decidedly Catholic.

Much of St. Jerome’s other writings are likewise in explicit tension with Protestant teaching. Also in his Letter to Heliodorus, we read St. Jerome’s claim that clergy “confect by their sacred word the Body of Christ,” thus demonstrating his belief in the Real Presence of the Eucharist. In Against Helvidius, he teaches Mary’s perpetual virginity. Elsewhere in his Against Jovinian, he notes a distinction between venial and mortal sins. St. Jerome also acknowledges the power of priests and bishops to hear and forgive sin in his Commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew.

St. Jerome was no proto-Protestant, but as Catholic as they come. Indeed, that’s exactly why he’s Saint Jerome. Yes, there was a time when he questioned the canonicity of the deuterocanon, but over the course of his life he transitioned to a more Catholic understanding of Scripture. He certainly never taught sola fide. And if Protestants wish to claim St. Jerome as their own, they’ll need to claim also his acceptance of apostolic succession, Roman primacy, the Real Presence, Marian devotion, and the sacrament of reconciliation, among other doctrines. In which case, they might as well become Catholic!

(Editor’s note: This essay was posted originally on September 29, 2020.)


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About Casey Chalk 42 Articles
Casey Chalk is a contributor for Crisis Magazine, The American Conservative, and New Oxford Review. He has degrees in history and teaching from the University of Virginia and a master's in theology from Christendom College.

6 Comments

  1. Sadly, even Catholics under-quote St. Jerome’s famous line about the ignorance of Sacred Scripture. What he said, of course, (and this is even a shortened version) is “… if the man who does not know Scripture does not know the power and wisdom of God, then ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” To take away the conditional is to take away the context and the full meaning of St. Jerome. My saintly mother knew the “power and wisdom of God” even with her 6th grade education. She knew the meaning of scripture from her lifetime attendance at Holy Mass. She did not read the Bible but she had the full knowledge of Christ through her life in the Church. As to this Protestant fascination with St. Jerome; it is like their fascination with their “personal faith” – picking out the truth and traditions that suit them. Their is something very disingenuous about a person who would use a Catholic saint to make his “protest”, but then protest against the full statement of that saint.

  2. Further:

    1} SAINT Jerome is a…Catholic Saint. The Church does not beatify Protestants. Another Saint who is proof-texted by the so-called Reformers {Note: conveniently for them…before the writings of the Fathers were widely available and their efforts thereby could be exposed and condemned for the errors they affirmed} was St Augustine…Catholic Bishop and Saint!
    2} Before the establishment of the canon of Scripture, the authority of various books of what became the canon were questioned and by no means was this list limited to the deuterocanonicals. For almost 400 years, the exact canon of Scripture was undecided.
    3} Whatever St Jerome’s personal views of the authority of various books may have been at one time, in the end, he accepted the authority of the Pope to make the final determination which we see in 382 AD by Pope Damasus I {Decretum Damasi; Denzinger-Hünermann 179}. Indeed, it is in St Jerome’s work and translation of the biblical texts that we see the establishment of the canon which then shortly afterward in the pontificate of Anastasius I was so established that anathemas were issued to any and all who may deny it {see D-H 202}. So in St Jerome we have not just a key figure in the history of Biblical translation, but also a key figure in the history of papal authority. St Jerome accepted and honored papal administrative authority on the key work of his life.
    4} Jesus did not come to write a book, but rather, to found a Church, an institution by which His words and teachings were compiled and given order. That institution was and remains the Catholic Church. St Jerome understood this and acted accordingly. Not only was St Jerome not in any way a proto-Protestant, his life and work demonstrate his membership in the visible Church, the Catholic Church.

  3. Also as the quote shows, Jerome included First Maccabees in the “canon” but not Second Maccabees. Protestants reject them both. Also in the context of the time the classifications “Canon” and “apocrypha” have quite different meanings to the way protestants and even Catholics today use them. Jerome did not intend to imply that these books were less worthy than the others.

  4. Jerome mistranslated Lk. 22.20 as “New Testament,” and every Early English Bible followed his translation. Modern Bibles render the translation correctly as “New Covenant.” Every English Bible follows his mistranslation of “naos” (“sanctuary”) as “temple,” following Jerome’s translation as “templum,” — “temple.” The Greek word for temple is”hieron.” Christ said, “Destroy this sanctuary and I will rebuild it in three days.”

  5. Jesus pulled His, “The Lord’s Prayer”, out of the, Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Books of Wisdom and Sirach; and Martin Luther and the Protestants pulled the Books of Wisdom and Sirach out of Jesus’ Bible. Go figure that the, uninspired by the Holy Spirit, Protestants, would do such a thing!

    When you buy a bible, be sure that the, Inspired by Jesus, Books of Sirach and Wisdom are in it.

    Matthew 6:9
    “This is how you are to pray: ‘Our Father in heaven hallowed be your name,…'”

    Sirach 51:10
    I called out: O LORD, you are my father, you are my champion and my savior; Do not abandon me in time of trouble, in the midst of storms and dangers. I will ever praise your name and be constant in my prayers to you.

    The Lord’s prayer continued.
    “‘…your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.'”

    Wisdom 6:17
    For the first step toward discipline is a very earnest desire for her; then, care for discipline is love of her; love means the keeping of her laws; To observe her laws is the basis for incorruptibility; and incorruptibility makes one close to God; thus the desire for Wisdom leads up to a kingdom.

    The Lord’s prayer continued.
    “‘Give us today our daily bread,…'”

    Proverbs 30:8 (provide me only with the food I need;)

    The Lord’s prayer continued.
    “…and forgive us the wrong we have done as we forgive those who wrong us.”

    Matthew 6:14
    “If you forgive the faults of others, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours. If you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive you.”

    Sirach 28:1
    The vengeful will suffer the LORD’s vengeance, for he remembers their sins in detail. Forgive your neighbor’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven. Should a man nourish anger against his fellows and expect healing from the LORD? Should a man refuse mercy to his fellows, yet seek pardon for his sins? If he who is but flesh cherishes wrath, who will forgive his sins? Remember decay, and cease from sin! Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor; of the Most High’s covenant, and overlook faults.

    The Lord’s prayer continued.
    “‘Subject us not to trial but deliver us from the evil one.'”

    Wisdom 16:5
    For when the dire venom of beasts came upon them and they were dying from the bite of crooked serpents, your anger endured not to the end. But as a warning, for a short time they were terrorized, though they had a sign of salvation, to remind them of the precept of your law. For he who turned toward it was saved, not by what he saw, but by you, the savior of all. And by this also you convinced our foes that you are he who delivers from all evil. For the bites of locusts and of flies slew them, and no remedy was found to save their lives because they deserved to be punished by such means; But not even the fangs of poisonous reptiles overcame your sons, for your mercy brought the antidote to heal them. For as a reminder of your injunctions, they were stung, and swiftly they were saved, Lest they should fall into deep forgetfulness and become unresponsive to your beneficence. For indeed, neither herb nor application cured them, but your all-healing word, O Lord! For you have dominion over life and death; you lead down to the gates of the nether world, and lead back.

    Sirach 28:2
    You have saved me from death, and kept back my body from the pit, From the clutches of the nether world you have snatched my feet; you have delivered me, in your great mercy, From the scourge of the slanderous tongue, and from lips that went over to falsehood; From the snare of those who watched for my downfall, and from the power of those who sought my life; From many a danger you have saved me, from the flames that hemmed me in on every side; From the midst of unremitting fire, from the deep belly of the nether world; From deceiving lips and painters of lies, from the arrows of dishonest tongues. I was at the point of death, my soul was nearing the depths of the nether world; I turned every way, but there was no one to help me. I looked for one to sustain me, but could find no one. But then I remembered the mercies of the LORD, his kindness through ages past; For he saves those who take refuge in him, and rescues them from every evil. (SIR 23:1-6)

3 Trackbacks / Pingbacks

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  3. The challenge of collegiality and the controversy over synodality – Catholic World Report – xvoli

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