Council of Trent (Session IV, April 8, 1546)

In the mountain city of Trent (Trento) in northern Italy, church leaders met during the turmoil of the Reformation to answer widening disputes over authority, doctrine, and the Bible itself. On April 8, 1546, the council issued its Decree on the Canon, naming the Old Testament books and receiving additional writings often called “Apocrypha” as Scripture. In the same session it declared Jerome’s Latin Vulgate “authentic” for public reading, preaching, and theological disputation, seeking a single settled text to steady the church amid controversy.

Jerome and the Latin Vulgate

Jerome (c. 347–420), a scholar marked by rigor and devotion, labored to translate the Scriptures into the common Latin of his day. Working from Hebrew and Greek, he pursued accuracy with a conscience shaped by the text itself, not merely inherited custom. His lifelong discipline—study, prayer, and careful revision—stands as a model of intellectual courage under God, reminding believers that faithful service often happens at a desk as much as in a pulpit.

Scripture, Tradition, and the Call to Discernment

Trent’s decree highlights a perennial temptation: to seek final certainty in councils, customs, or preferred editions rather than in the voice of God speaking in Scripture. The church is safest when it treats the Bible as the judge of every tradition, returning again and again to the languages in which God first gave His Word, and testing all teaching by what is written. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). Likewise, the Bereans model steady faith: “they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true” (Acts 17:11).

Encouragement for Today

The events of 1546 urge believers to prize God’s Word, handle it carefully, and pursue faithful translation with humility, courage, and prayer—trusting that God preserves His truth and equips His people to live it.