Posted on 10/07/2010 8:40:02 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
An unusual scene greets visitors to the exhibition hall at Bridwell Library this fall.
The overbearing silence coupled with the dim lights illuminating a larger-than-standard, damaged Bible commentary with some passages excised intrigues visitors.
The pages were deliberately removed by representatives of the early church in Europe in a bid to contain heretical or erroneous teachings.
Perkins School of Theology's Bridwell Library is hosting an exhibition entitled "Heresy and Error."
The exhibition focuses on the historical evidence offered by the intentional alteration and suppression of books by Christian censors in Europe during past centuries.
Of the 62 books and broadsides displayed, 37 were prohibited, enduring either the physical expurgation or the threat of destruction. Initially, censorship of the press was enforced locally.
However, with the spread of the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church required a more centralized and organized approach. It formed the Council of Trent (1545-1563), which printed rules for censorship and listed individual banned titles as well as authors whose writings had been condemned.
Catholic theologian Desiderius Erasmus and Protestant Reformer Martin Luther are among authors whose books were banned.
The officials also published lists of expurgations which identified specific passages to be deleted from every copy of a book that they deemed somewhat unacceptable.
One of the exhibits features an essay by Henric Van Cuyck, bishop of Roermond, in which he comments that the invention of printing by Johannes Gutenberg resulted in a world infected by "pernicious lies."
Books could be censored for stating a position different from the Bible's. Galileo Galilei's book, "Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Ptolemaic and Copernica," created controversy by placing the sun, not the Earth, at the center of the solar system.
This contradicted the biblical statement in Joshua 10:13 that God had made the sun stand still in the sky over the earth. Galileo's book remained prohibited until 1824.
Both the writers and the printers assisted the censors in successfully implementing censorship rules.
"When the Index came out or a decree was issued, it would be the responsibility of the authors and printers to ensure that their works met the standards," said Eric White, curator of Special Collections at the Bridwell Library.
The exhibition contributes to a fuller understanding of the role of post-publication censorship in religious controversies of the past.
It will run through Dec. 17 and has the same hours as the library.
Catholic theologian Desiderius Erasmus and Protestant Reformer Martin Luther are among authors whose books were banned....
....One of the exhibits features an essay by Henric Van Cuyck, bishop of Roermond, in which he comments that the invention of printing by Johannes Gutenberg resulted in a world infected by "pernicious lies."
So is this supposed to help the mainstream media justify their widespread censorship of Christians in the last few generations?
Catholics are hardly Christian. Sure, they worship Christ but the similarity ends there. It’s more of a cult than anything else. Just MHO.
You wrote:
“It’s more of a cult than anything else. Just MHO.”
Opinions should be based on reality. Try harder next time.
Any authoritarian power structure wants to censor in order to retain control. This one just happened to be Christian in nature.
Oh, this is not going to end well....
Just like people who claim that the Bible supports a flat earth viewpoint. Isaiah 40:22 talks about the circle of the earth. Columbus knew the earth was round, just as all of the Portuguese and Chinese explorers did.
The word “cult” is not useful when talking about another denom. CUlt is Jim Jones/Koresh type groups. Maybe even Jehova Witnesses but I am not even comfortable calling them a cult. Some churches/denoms preach the biblical truth, others are full of error and heresy.
The destruction of written views that differed from those of the dominant state church is a little known aspect of the Dark Ages. It makes study of independent Christian Churches that existed during this time incredibly difficult. Great to see young adults being taught about this and the evil of a state church.
So your theory is, I suppose, that from...what...300 A.D. to 1520 whatever there were no Christians only cultists?
Funny that. Cultists gave you your Bible. Cultists gave you Christmas. Cultists gave you the Christian liturgy. Cultists gave you Augustine.
An opinion such as what you just expressed can only be the result of taking at face value some of the asinine ravings of polemicists. Be smarter than that, Peter.
I guess we're supposed to be all incensed about the censorship, not whether they actually *were* pernicious lies being thrown around or not.
I happen to agree with the bishop. Suppose you were generous and exempt those who had legitimate differences with Rome, you still had the princes and others who used the controversies for political ends. Henry VIII may not have a been a liar...he just killed those who wouldn't lie for his sake.
Nah, I can't get upset about censorship when the truth is soaked in its own blood.
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