oh please...do you have any idea at all of how few affordable bibles there were in the 1200's...NONE. The opposition for the people to read scripture was based on the fact that there were false versions available and the church, the only protector of the true scriptures, had no qualms whatsoever, in forbidding the reading of any scripture not approved by the church itself. That's how you protect truth, do not allow lies to exist...Good job Catholics!!!!
PiusIV ruled that local priests should first ascertain that the scriptures were true Catholic versions. That was a wise move because there were false versions available. The Catholic church has been around for a long long time, and for the most part, was the sole defender of scripture and the bible...There wasn't anyone else around to do it. Scripture and the entire bible itself did not self preserve. Yes the scripture is God inspired, yes God could have somehow preserved it without the Catholic church....He didn't, He intentionally used the early (Catholic)church to carry His word forward and they did a great job of doing so.
the quotes from any period after the protestant revolution are meaningless. The Catholic church, for over 1,500 years had been the only defender of the word of God. Now along comes Martin and the other "reformers" and they decide to challenge the truth of the church. What would you have done???? We protect the word of God, you may not read anything that contradicts the word of God...in that day and age, that's the way things were done. Now we would experience political correctness and we would scream censorship at the Catholics for not allowing multiple versions of scripture to exist ( wait a minute, that's the protestant revolution)...sorry
That sure is a different attitude than Paul had isn’t it.
Acts 17:11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.
It was actually the unbelieving Jews who didn’t want them reading scripture.
Acts 17:13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people.
>>PiusIV ruled that local priests should first ascertain that the scriptures were true Catholic versions.<<
That statement reminds me much of the government and media we have today and the power they want over the freeflow of information, it's a secular liberal viewpoint as much as a carries the idea of power and control over the masses.
....Therefore your statement would be true in the eyes of one living under Catholicism, better it is to search the actual Historical evidence rather then simply believing what one is told by the church (their media)... instead of the actual evidence available.P> Lets remember....By 500 AD the Bible had been translated into over 500 languages. Just one century later, by 600 AD, it has been restricted to only one language, the Latin Vulgate! The Catholic Church of Rome refused to allow the scripture to be available in any language other than Latin. Those in possession of non-Latin scriptures would be executed!
... This was because only the priests were educated to understand Latin, and this gave the church ultimate power… a power to rule without question... power to deceive... power to extort money from the masses. and they did just that.
Nobody could question their “Biblical” teachings, because few people other than priests could read Latin. The church capitalized on this forced-ignorance through the 1,000 year period from 400 AD to 1,400 AD knows as the “Dark and Middle Ages”....which the catholic churchof rome brought on by thier various means of forced submission and seeking the power they desired over the people.
Pope Leo the Tenth established a practice called the “selling of indulgences” as a way to extort money from the people..... He offered forgiveness of sins for a fairly small amount of money. For a little bit more money, you would be allowed to indulge in a continuous lifestyle of sin, such as keeping a mistress.
Also, through the invention of “Purgatory”, you could purchase the salvation of your loved-one’s souls. The church taught the ignorant masses,.... “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the troubled soul from Purgatory springs!”... Pope Leo the Tenth showed his true feelings when he said, ......“The fable of Christ has been quite profitable to us!”
And catholics wonder why the Reformation?
Enter then the men who God raised up to combat the false teachings and corruption in the church, which had been taken over by an institute not in the least representative of Christianity.....Great men of God such as:
"Wycliffe"...."Luther"..."Calvin"..."Zwingli" and others....for these millions turned away from the Pope's claim to infallibility and declaring Himself GOD. ( "Our God no longer reigns. He has resigned all power to the Pope" - Tertullian)).
....The people once more could serve God freely and be free from Papal authority because they now would have the scriptures avaiable to them in their own languages.
Rather like what we're fighting today in the political arena....for our freedom to worship and choose and be a nation once again under God without the constraints of a governing power or the free flow of information.