Censorship

III

Church Censorship

In ad 313 the Roman emperor Constantine decreed toleration of Christianity. Twenty years later, Constantine set the pattern of religious censorship that was to be followed for centuries by ordering the burning of all books by the Greek theologian Arius.

A

Roman Catholic Censorship

After the emperor Theodosius made Christianity the established religion of the empire, the Roman government and the Church began to persecute both pagans and Christian heretics who deviated from orthodox doctrine or practice. The pope was recognized as the final authority in Church doctrine and government, and the secular state used force to compel obedience to his decisions. Books or sermons that were opposed to orthodox faith or morals were prohibited, and their authors were punished. The first catalogue of forbidden books was issued by Pope Gelasius in 496. Individual heretical books were subsequently forbidden by special papal edicts. Censorship in this period was concerned primarily with suppressing heresy. For the purpose of punishing all such manifestations, Pope Gregory IX instituted the Inquisition in 1231. For almost 500 years the Inquisition remained an influential agency of religious censorship.

The invention of printing in the 15th century made pre-publication censorship possible. In 1487 Pope Innocent VIII introduced such censorship. Printers were required to submit all manuscripts to Church authorities, and a work could be printed only after it had been approved. Pope Paul III in 1542 established the Universal Roman Inquisition, or Congregation of the Holy Office, one of whose duties was to examine and condemn heretical or immoral works. In 1559 Pope Paul IV first issued the Index of Forbidden Books, which was supplemented by his successors. Approximately 5,000 books were ultimately listed in the Index, the last edition of which was issued in 1948. In 1965 Pope Paul VI made substantial reforms, changed the name of the Holy Office to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and abolished the position of censor. It was announced that the Index would not be renewed, that the penalty of excommunication would no longer have the force of law, but that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith would occasionally publish lists of books that were not recommended for reading by Roman Catholics.

B

Protestant Censorship

The Protestant Reformation did not itself effect a change in the practice of censorship. Its leaders—among them John Calvin, John Knox, and Martin Luther—claimed liberty of conscience and toleration only for themselves and their followers. When in power, they too attempted to suppress all deviation from their own brands of orthodoxy: they persecuted Protestant heretics and Roman Catholics.

In England Henry VIII supplanted the pope as head of the Church of England. The Act of Supremacy (1534) vested in the king the power to declare and punish heresies. He persecuted both papists and reformers, and he burnt copies of the English translation of the New Testament.

Henry VIII established a licensing system that resembled the pre-publication censorship of Pope Innocent VIII. It required printers to submit all manuscripts to Church authorities for their approval prior to publication. This licensing system continued in England until 1695. The English poet John Milton protested against such censorship in his classic essay “Areopagitica” (1644). Many English people associated licensing by Church censors with ecclesiastical supervision, the Inquisition, and restraints on religion, education, and intellectual pursuits.

IV

Censorship in the Modern World

The 18th century marks the beginning of the modern period, with its emphasis on toleration and liberty—a beginning that reflects the influence of the Age of Enlightenment, the American War of Independence, and the French Revolution. Although the new spirit of liberty was first felt in the area of religious belief, it rapidly affected political life, science, and literature. Britain, the United States, and France set the pattern and the pace. The Declaration of Independence (1776), the US Constitution (1787) with its Bill of Rights (1789-1791), and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789) became models for the modern world. In Britain Roman Catholics were freed of all disabilities in 1829; Jews achieved the same freedom in 1858.

A

Religious Toleration

In modern democratic countries, certain basic constitutional principles are generally accepted: a person’s religious beliefs and forms of worship are matters of strictly private conscience, into which no government act or official may intrude; no religious requirements may be stipulated for any public office or benefit; and the state and religion are independent of each other. Although these principles do not resolve all problems, and perplexing questions must be faced continually, the principles have established peaceful relations between the government and religious systems in truly democratic societies. The situation was quite different in Communist countries such as the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), where religion was not at all, or only grudgingly, recognized, and atheism was the established ideology. Another exception is the kind of theocracy established in Iran after the 1979 revolution with the institution of an Islamic republic.