Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Heresy And Error, Eric Marshall White Phd, Rebecca Howdeshell

Bridwell Library Publications

From its inception the early Christian Church sought to suppress books believed to contain heretical or erroneous teachings. With the development of the printing press during the latter half of the fifteenth century, Christian authorities in Europe became increasingly aware of the need to control the mass production of unfamiliar and potentially unacceptable texts. 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. Thus, the Council of Trent (1545–1563) ratified the Index librorum prohibitorum(“Index of Prohibited Books”), which listed individual banned titles …