The censorship of the Church of Rome and its influence upon the production and distribution of literature, volume 1 (of 2)Putnam, George Haven
History
The censorship of the Church of Rome and its influence upon the production and distribution of literature, volume 1 (of 2)
Putnam, George Haven
Freedom of the press; Liberty of conscience; Prohibited books
Emmanuel Sa, freely censured by the Roman Index is here very lightly
corrected and excused. As previously pointed out, the conclusions of
the Spanish and Roman Indexes often clash and the framers of the former
are reprimanded by the writers of Rome for their presumption.[185]
Under Cajaten, are cited two sentences (taken from a work by an
orthodox Catholic, printed at Antwerp) which have been, according to
Mendham, altered to a directly opposite meaning. Mendham gives as
example of his statement the change of the word _mali_ into _divini_
and of _impia_ into _sancta_. The works of Athanasius are considered
in no less than three editions and large changes and “expurgations”
are made in the annotations. Examples of the “cancellations” are the
following:
_Adorari solius Dei esse._
_Imagines tollendas esse testimonia._
_Angeli non sunt adorandi._
_Justificatio fit per fidem._
_Contra meritum humanum pro gratia, abundanter disputatum._
_Sancti non sunt adorandi, non sunt invocandi._
_Scriptura sacra sufficit ad veritatem._
_Canonici libri soli legendi, et cur?_
_Canonici libri soli sunt fontes salutares._
_Gratia Christi nos salvat per fidem, non per bona opera._[186]
The text of S. Augustine is also handled at length. Among the
propositions condemned and cancelled is: _Quae de carne sua
manducanda Christus proposuit, spiritualiter sunt intelligenda_.
Erasmus receives the largest measure of attention, no less than eighty
pages being devoted to the condemnation of reprehensible passages.
The expurgators protest particularly at the contentions maintained by
Erasmus against the worship of saints, images, or creatures.
In St. Chrysostom, passages are condemned which assert that, (a) sins
are to be confessed to God, not to man; (b) that faith alone justifies;
(c) that grace is excluded if we are saved by works; (d) that images
are not to be adored; (e) that nothing is to be asserted without the
authority of Scripture, which is to be read by all and which, to all
who are willing to learn, is intelligible; (f) that after this life
nothing can assist or deliver.
The _Theatrum Vitae Humanae_, compiled by Theodore Zwinger, receives
as much analysis as is permitted by the space at the command of the
expurgators. The work itself is comprised in no less than twenty-nine
octavo volumes. The reference to it being with a note worded as
follows: “Since this work is in a great degree collected from the
writings of condemned authors, it is to be read with special caution.
The names of these authors are never to be cited or referred to
honourably; and, to guard against error in the case of any author of
whose condemnation the reader may have doubts, he must have recourse to
the schedule of the first class.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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