Protestants reject the book of Tobit as divinely inspired. They state six reasons why they consider him to be among the apocryphals:
1) The angel Raphael hides his true identity from old Tobi, lying to him and presenting himself as Azariah son of Hananiah and grandson of Nathan (Tobit 5:13-14).
2) Old Tobit regains his sight after fish gall is applied to his eyes (Tobit 11:1-14).
3) The devil who tormented the young Sarah is chased away by the smell of incense coming from the embers on which the liver and heart of a fish have been placed (Tobit 8:1-3).
4) Jesus and the apostles never referred to it.
5) Never recognized by the Jews, never by the Christians of the first centuries.
6) The Holy Spirit does not at all testify in us children of God that it is the word of God, on the contrary, it makes us feel unequivocally that we must reject its content.
I answer point by point to the aforementioned disputes:
1) In the First Book of Kings it is written that God sends an angel to deceive Ahab:
1 Kings 22:19-22
And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.
How come Protestants do not contest this episode of the First Book of Kings in the same way as the one in which Raphael hides his true identity? The angel had hidden his true identity to reveal it only at the end of his mission (Tobit 12:15). This does not take away from the sacred text the authority of the word of God. Tobit story is a parable, longer than the ones we are used to reading in the Gospel. The parable is a narration of an imaginary fact but belonging to real life, with which to illustrate a moral teaching. In this great parable the mysterious and saving action of God through his envoy is shown. It is no coincidence that Raphael (God heals) presents himself as Azariah (YaHVeH helps) son of Hananiah (YaHVeH shows his favor) and grandson of Nathan (God gives).
2) In the book of Tobit, Raphael heals old Tobit of blindness, telling young Tobias to apply fish gall on his father’s eyes. In the Gospel, Jesus Christ, in healing a man blind from birth, applied mud over his eyes and sent him to wash in the pool of Siloam:
John 9:1-7
And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.
3) In the book of Tobit the demon Asmodeus was cast out by the smell of incense coming from the embers on which the liver and heart of a fish were placed. In the Second Book of Samuel, however, David drives away the devil who tormented Saul by playing the lyre:
1 Samuel 16:23
And it came to pass, when the evil spirit was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
Why do Protestants not contest this episode in the First Book of Samuel in the same way that they contest the one in the Book of Tobit?
4) It is absolutely not true that neither Jesus nor his disciples ever referred to the book of Tobit during their preaching. The books of the New Testament contain quotations also taken from the book of Tobit. Let’s see some examples:
For the golden rule, Matteo uses the reverse quotation from Tobit
Matthew 7:12
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.
Tobit 4:15
Never do to anyone else anything that you would not want someone to do to you.
Regarding the seven brothers who took the same woman as wives, the synoptic gospels refer to the book of Tobias
Matthew 22:25-27
Now, there were seven brothers who used to live here. The oldest got married and died without having children, so he left his widow to his brother. The same thing happened to the second brother, to the third, and finally to all seven. Last of all, the woman died.
Mark 12:20-22
Once there were seven brothers; the oldest got married and died without having children. Then the second one married the woman, and he also died without having children. The same thing happened to the third brother, and then to the rest: all seven brothers married the woman and died without having children. Last of all, the woman died.
Luke 20:29-31
Once there were seven brothers; the oldest got married and died without having children. Then the second one married the woman, and then the third. The same thing happened to all seven—they died without having children.
Tobit 3:8
Sarah had been married seven times, but the evil demon, Asmodeus, killed each husband before the marriage could be consummated. The servant woman said to Sarah, You husband killer! Look at you! You’ve already had seven husbands, but not one of them lived long enough to give you a son.
Tobit 7:11
I have already given her to seven men, all of them relatives. Each one died on his wedding night, as soon as he entered the bedroom. But now, my son, have something to eat and drink. The Lord will take care of you both. Tobias replied, I won’t eat or drink until you give me your word.
Regarding the seven angels who stand in the presence of the Lord, John of Patmos refers to the book of Tobit
Revelation 1:4
From John to the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace be yours from God, who is, who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits in front of his throne.
Revelation 8:2
Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and they were given seven trumpets.
Tobit 12:15
I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand in the glorious presence of the Lord, ready to serve him.
For the description of the new Jerusalem, John of Patmos refers to the book of Tobit
Revelation 21:18-21
The wall was made of jasper, and the city itself was made of pure gold, as clear as glass. The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation stone was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh yellow quartz, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chalcedony, the eleventh turquoise, the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls; each gate was made from a single pearl. The street of the city was of pure gold, transparent as glass.
Tobit 13:16-17
Jerusalem will be rebuilt and will be his home forever. Jerusalem, how happy I will be when my descendants can see your splendor and give thanks to the King of heaven. Your gates will be built with sapphires and emeralds, and all your walls with precious stones. Your towers will be made of gold, and their fortifications of pure gold. Your streets will be paved with rubies and precious jewels.
For the beatitudes, Matthew also refers to Tobit
Matthew 5:4
Happy are those who mourn; God will comfort them!
Tobit 13:16 (Vatican and Alexandrine Codex)
Blessed are those who have wept for your misfortunes: they will rejoice for you and will see all your joy forever.
5) It is not at all true that the book of Tobit was never recognized by the Jews and early Christians. First of all, in the previous point it was shown that the New Testament writers also referred to the book of Tobit for their teachings. Tobit is part of the deuterocanonical books. Until the coming of Jesus Christ, the Jews possessed two canons of Sacred Scripture, the Hebrew and the Alexandrian. The latter was written in Greek by the Jews of the diaspora. This translation of their Old Testament is called “Septuagint” (referring to the seventy elders Israelites who accompanied Moses [Exodus 24:9]), and also contains the seven deuterocanonical books: Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, First Maccabees, Second Maccabees, Baruch and Sirach. The Alexandrian biblical canon was accepted by the Jews until the second half of the first century AD. In their teachings Christ and his disciples also referred to the Septuagint. Suffice it to note that in the New Testament there are three hundred quotations taken from those texts. For a few centuries the Jews had welcomed the Septuagint, but they moved away from it towards the end of the first century AD, mainly because of their disagreements with the Christians who also used those texts for their doctrines. Thus, towards the end of the second century AD, the rabbis officially fixed the Jewish canon excluding the Alexandrian one. The New Testament writers also referred to the Deuterocanonical books, as has already been shown in the fourth point with some examples concerning the book of Tobit. And if doubts were shown by some Fathers regarding the Deuterocanonical books, doubts were also shown towards some New Testament letters. In fact, before the fourth century AD, not even the letter to the Hebrews, the letter of James, the second letter of Peter, the second and third letters of John, the letter of Judas and the Apocalypse of John of Patmos. The Christian writer Eusebius of Caesarea (265-339) stated that among the books discussed were the letter of James, the Second letter of Peter, the Second and Third letters of John, the letter of Judas and the Apocalypse of John of Patmos (Ecclesiastical History III, 25, 3-4). The fragment of Muratori (II-III century AD) omits the letter to the Hebrews, the letter of James, the First and Second letters of Peter. Origen (185-253), mentioned by Eusebius, considered the Second Letter of Peter and the First and Second Letters of John to be doubtful (Ecclesiastical History VI, 25, 8.10). In 382 it was the Bishop of Rome, Damasus (366-384), who established the biblical canon and included Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Baruch, Sirach, First Maccabees, Second Maccabees, Hebrews, James, Second Peter, Second John, Third John, Judas and Apocalypse. The current biblical canon in use in the Catholic Church became official in 1546, during the Council of Trent, with the decree De Canonicis Scripturis. It was the Catholic Church that established which books were to be part of the Biblical Canon, not the Protestants, born fifteen centuries after Christ, under Luther, who even tried to pass for apocryphal the letter of James which he called the “straw epistle” (Martin Luther, Preface to the New Testament, year 1522 and year 1546). James’s letter is opposed to the Protestant doctrine of “sola fide” (James 2: 14-26), and was therefore considered dangerous by the former Augustinian monk.
6) Evidently it is not the Holy Spirit who suggests to them that they should reject the content of the book of Tobit, which is the word of God. But it is another spirit.
The book of Tobit was written in the second century BC. It is a great parable, in which the main protagonist, God, already emerges from the names of the characters: Tobias (YaHVeH is good), Raguel (God is a friend), Raphael (God heals), Azariah (YaHVeH helps), Hananiah (YaHVeH shows his favor), Nathan (God gives), Gabael (God raises). The message of this story is an invitation to recognize that the providence of the merciful God never fails, and here he works discreetly and effectively through his envoy (Tobit 4:1.2.20.21; 5:1-22). The Lord knows how to give birth to great joy even from situations that were unhappy (Tobit 3:8.17; 8:1-3; 11:1-4). It is an uplifting story in which a high conception of marriage emerges (Tobit 6:12.19; 7:9.10.13; 10:10), expresses the sense of family with great vitality (Tobit 7:2; 9:6) and stands out the practice of almsgiving (Tobit 1:3.17) and duties towards the dead (Tobit 1:17-19; 2:4.8).
Cristiani Cattolici Romani 