Was reading the bible really banned at one point by the Church?

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Was it? I’ve heard a lot of protestants say this, I doubt it’s true but I just wanted to make sure. I’ve always thought that the issue was that pople were illiterate, and bibles were far too expensive to make for the lay people to own them so only churches had them.
 
TeenageConvert said:
Was it? I’ve heard a lot of protestants say this, I doubt it’s true but I just wanted to make sure. I’ve always thought that the issue was that pople were illiterate, and bibles were far too expensive to make for the lay people to own them so only churches had them.
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The printing press didn’t come into being until the 15th century or so. Before that monks made the copies so there weren’t that many around. I don’t know if the reading of the Latin Vulgate was ever banned.
 
Being Protestant I’ve been hearing this my whole life, I would also like to her an asnwer to this but I myself think its a bunch of bologna
 
Reading Bibles that were edited to lend credence to novel heresies were.
For example, certain English translation of Scripture were forbidden due to heretical prologues, prefaces, footnotes, and in general unproved inaccurate translations.
 
A quick Google search can turn up problems with some early “banned” versions of the Bible— the Albigensian Bible, the Geneva Bible, Tyndale’s Bible, Martin Luther’s Bible, etc. Not because they were commonly available, or because of their languages, but specific problems with their included commentary notes, certain mistranslations, missing books, and so on.

Literacy (have you ever tried reading medieval Latin?!) and economics (especially in the pre-printing press days before mass production) were two main factors in keeping Bibles out of the reach of many ordinary people. Hence the importance of church, of preaching, of stained glass windows, of religious imagery. But as far as actual banning goes, only specific editions of the Bible were banned, and when they were, it was for specific reasons.
 
You may also have heard that the bible was literally chained down to the church. It apparently was chained (as were library books at libraries, other institutions, etc.) to prevent theft and to allow everyone access to it. A bible was a rare and expensive item back in those days before the printing press.
 
Nonsense! reading the bible was never banned by the church. However a number of factors meant tat few people were able to but do so. that was due more to a lack of time, resources and ability rather than any official Church rule. In the decades after the invention of the printing press but before Protestantism came to England many prayer books which included much in the way of scriptural texts and quotations became available to the wider masses(the emerging middle classes)

As other posters have said the only texts that were banned were those which had mistranslations or dodgy ‘explanation’ texts alongside them.
 
I think there was a time when Catholics were discouraged to read the bible because people were so inclined to wrong interpretations.As yes it was during the time when people were mostly illiterate.It was done for good of everyone.
 
Not banned. However, I do know older cradle catholics (Pre-VII) who were discouraged from reading the Bible by their parish priests. They all tell the same story-- the priests told them, “Don’t read the Bible, that’s why you have me.” 🤷
 
If your childs math book says 2+2=5, wouldn’t you ban him from reading it? Errors in translations in both cases.
 
asia53 said:
Not banned. However, I do know older cradle catholics (Pre-VII) who were discouraged from reading the Bible by their parish priests. They all tell the same story-- the priests told them, “Don’t read the Bible, that’s why you have me.” 🤷
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Absolute nonsense. Pope Leo XIII granted a 300 day indulgence to whosoever read 15 minutes of Scripture a day, not to mention Bibles and Missals were more common in the pre-VII days than they are today.
 
Derek_Ellery said:
Reading Bibles that were edited to lend credence to novel heresies were.
For example, certain English translation of Scripture were forbidden due to heretical prologues, prefaces, footnotes, and in general unproved inaccurate translations.
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Yes. The Catholic Church, while encouraging the faithful to read the Bible (those who could read), reserved the right to make sure that the translations of Sacred Scripture people were reading were accurate.

It is likely that this “banning” referred to translations that appeared after the Reformation.

Luther’s Bible came out 1520. On his own authority, he removed 7 books from the Old Testament and “edited” parts of the new testament that didn’t suit his opinions.

For example, not pleased with St. Paul’s doctrine, “we are justified by faith,” Luther added the word “ALONE” to make the sentence read: “We are justified by faith alone.” His explanation of this insertion is found in his own words, "I know very well that the word ‘alone’ is not in the Latin and Greek texts; but Dr. Martin Luther will have it so, and I order it to be so, and my will is reason enough. " He called the Epistle of St. James “an Epistle of straw with no character of the Gospel in it.” He spoke disparagingly about the Epistle of St. Jude, the Epistle to the Hebrews, and the Apocalypse of St. John.

In view of this, the Catholic Church, rightly, banned the reading of such faulty bibles and also ordered the burning of them.

What is less well-known is that learned Protestants as well as Catholics raised an outcry against incorrect translations.
“It is affirmed that one bible swarmed with 6000 faults. Indeed from another source we discover that Sterne, a solid scholar, was the first who summoned up the 3,6000 faults that were in our printed bibles of London. . . In bibles by Field and Hills we may find abundant errata reducing the text to nonsense and blasphemy; making the Scriptures contemptible to the multitude who came to pray and not to scoff.”
  • Benjamin Disraeli, Curiosities of Literature, pp. 430, 431
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Eileen_T said:
Luther’s Bible came out 1520. On his own authority, he removed 7 books from the Old Testament and “edited” parts of the new testament that didn’t suit his opinions.
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Indeed. Not to mention throwing out the Book of Macabees, because he disagreed with Purgatory. This obviously didn’t make the Church very happy.
 
It wasn’t ever banned… but, books were extremely expensive back then. They didn’t have printing presses until the 15th century, and books thus had to be all written out by hand. Also, the average person couldn’t read. So people weren’t very keen on giving out bibles and things.
 
Nonsense. Utter nonsense. Even the most staunchly secularist of scholars worth their salt will tell you that the Bible was never banned entirely - just versions deemed to have erroneous commentary or additions (like the original Luther Bible). People didn’t read it because they either were illiterate, or because before the printing press, and even for a good while after, a book was expensive for most people. It’s like the computer for much of its existence.
 
TeenageConvert said:
Was it? I’ve heard a lot of protestants say this, I doubt it’s true but I just wanted to make sure. I’ve always thought that the issue was that pople were illiterate, and bibles were far too expensive to make for the lay people to own them so only churches had them.
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I’ve got this book sitting next to me, and after 20 yrs of sola scriptura, and 7 years being Catholic, it’s the best resource. Where We Got the BIBLE: Our Debt to the Catholic Church by Henry G Graham.
Besides a forward by Catholic Answers President, Karl Keating,
Some Chapters include:
Our Debt to the Monks
Bible Reading in the Dark Ages
Where are all the Medieval Bibles?
Why Wycliff Was Condemned
Tyndale’s Condemnation Vindicated
and
A Deluge of Erroneous Versions.

This list of chapters is not exhaustive.
 
Thanks to everyone who replied, igood to know it really is just a myth.
 
The Church was trying to hide anything it just didn’t want people to misinterpret.
 
=TeenageConvert;8162328]Was it? I’ve heard a lot of protestants say this, I doubt it’s true but I just wanted to make sure. I’ve always thought that the issue was that pople were illiterate, and bibles were far too expensive to make for the lay people to own them so only churches had them.
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YES IT WAS and HERE is WHY,

2nd. Peter 1: 16-21 “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we heard this voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word made more sure.*** You will do well to pay attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts***. First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

**Matt.13:9-12 **“He who has ears, let him hear." Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, "To you [My CC]it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” For to him who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. “

**Eph.3: 9 to 12 ** “And to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; **that through the church [SINGULAR: meaning THE CATHOLIC Church] **the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose which he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confidence of access through our faith in him. “

One can KNOW that this IS TRUE because when it was sopken, written and included into the Bible the ONLY CHURCHin the entire world was todays CC. The Protestant revolution would not happen until about 1,000 YEARS later.

** 2nd. Tim. 3:16** All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work

2 Peter 3: 14 –17 14 Therefore, beloved, since you wait for these, be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the forbearance of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures

***So now we ask; was it the right decision? Consider these FACTS and then YOU decide.

After a historically proveable 2,000 continious and *consectuive year HISTORY the CC is STILL “ONE.” There are about 23 brances that are in UNITY with us.

The protestant Revolution took place very late in th 16th. Century. The KJ Bible was first printd about 1650. So here we are about 350 years into the Protestants way of doing things and there are now MANY, MANY THOUSANDS of differing faith beleifs, churches and sects.

The Bible attemps to PUT Divine thought and Teaching is Human terms. NO EASY TASK. The fact that SOOOOOO many get it wrong is evidence of WHY translations MUST come through the CC.

Did you know for example that the Bible IS FACTUALLY a Catholic Book and that the Bible comes THROUGH THE CC:)

It is the CC who colloected the OT manuscripts
It is the CC who authored the ENTIRE NT [All of the authors are known today to have been Catholic

It is the CC that determined which books, letters Ect. would be incuded in the Bible and set the First Canon of the Bible in the early Fifth Century. Nearly 1,000 YEARS before the KJB.

If you’d like additional information just send me a PM:thumbsup:

God Bless you and thanks for asking,
Pat***
 
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