Times The Bible Has Been Censored And Why

A common Protestant claim accuses the Catholic Church of denying the medieval common person access to the Bible. This accusation is perhaps moot because most people were illiterate, but the Catholic Church never passed a blanket ban on the Bible. However, Catholic officials did prohibit possession of the Bible under certain circumstances, with the goal of preserving doctrinal unity among the faithful.

There are numerous instances, including two that typify the circumstances of Bible bans. Usually, private reading and interpretation of the Bible was banned to preempt heretical movements and the social upheaval they caused. In 1199, Pope Innocent III, according to the National Catholic Register, allegedly banned the Bible. However, as the same source notes, this is inaccurate. Pope Innocent actually commended the desire to read and study the Bible. But, he noted, unschooled, private Bible study would inevitably lead to heresy. Therefore, he banned private Bible study groups, but not the book itself.

While Pope Innocent did not forbid possession of the Bible, the 1229 Council of Toulouse did. The council ruled that lay people were forbidden from possessing any books of the Old or New Testaments. Laity could still access scripture, as psalters containing psalms were exempted from the ban. So were breviaries, which contained Bible readings that were read at Mass. But these were not considered problematic, perhaps because in isolation, one would require a priest to explain the text.

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