Hilary of Poitiers Canon List
Hilary of Poitiers Canon List
367 AD: Hilary of Poitiers.[1] An interesting list because it seems copied from Origen’s list for the Jews (as given to us by Eusebius), but with a few changes. Hilary implicitly accepts Baruch and Susanna (as discussed above), and explicitly says that “some add” Tobit and Judith. Origen did not mention those two, he had included the Maccabees instead. Hilary makes no mention of the Maccabees, nor of Wisdom or Sirach. However, in his writings, he does cite to them—e.g., he cites to Wisdom as Prophecy several times.
The fact that he copied Origen’s list and yet made his own personal changes to it is both (a) passed over without the slightest analysis in every book on the canon I have read and (b) by far the most notable aspect to consider about Hilary’s list, in my opinion. That would seem to be pretty good evidence that Hilary saw these lists as proposals and/or a reports on what the Church was then doing—and not as the universal and eternal “Gospel truth” being passed down from generation to generation. Perhaps he saw Origen’s list as a Jewish list (that he was free to mark up) or Origen’s conception (so not universal or eternal, thus also free to mark up). But it was definitely not “The Canon” to him.
Lastly, Hilary produced his list in the same year as Athanasius, which would make it contemporaneous evidence that the claims made by Athanasius should not be taken too seriously, at least for the entire Church.
