Now this is one that people tell me didn't happen, and yet history clearly shows what happened even this far away from the event. The Roman Catholic Church actually tried to stop laymen from possessing or reading the Bible on their own and this intensified through the Middle Ages and later, with the addition of a prohibition forbidding translation of the Bible into native languages.
The Roman Catholic Church burned the Bibles with the scripture holding the Majority true text or Textus Receptus which came from Jerusalem through Pella where the Christians had fled after the fall in 70 AD, and any true text they came across. And also the Bibles that came from Antioch where the Christians had formed their center of studies during the early church, and the true text that reach the Waldensians which they spread to the Reformation, so now you have an inkling why they had to be destroyed. They also actually forbid it in a attempt to keep people from seeing the corruption they were allowing to bring in more pagan converts, and the changes they were making in direct contraction to the Bible truths, calling it traditions, including changing the Sabbath. Many try to deny it, or say there is no proof, or that it is just a story concocted by those who were against the Catholic Church, but lets take a look.

An extraordinary decision is found in the records of the First Council of Constantinople of 381-3, convened by Roman Emperor Theodosius. What was decided at that assembly presents an historical fact, and involved Pope Damasus, who was in attendance. He was a man so corrupted and so notorious with women that he was called the 'tickler of Matron's Ears.(Lives of the Popes, Mann, c. 1905)

The historical record shows Pope Damasus banned the Bible and the laity was strictly "forbidden to read the word of God, or to exercise their judgment in order to understand it."(The Library of the Fathers, Damasus, Oxford, 1833-45)

After he suppressed the Bible, Damasus created an array of formidable penances and additional anathemas "designed to keep the curious at bay", Early Theological Writings, G. W. F. Hegal). The primary intent was to keep the Bible away from people and to substitute Church authority as the rule of life and belief.

Owning a Bible was actually made a criminal offence by the Roman Catholic Church. In 860, Pope Nicholas I pronounced against all people who expressed interest in reading the Bible, and reaffirmed its banned public use (Papal Decree).

In 1073, Pope Gregory supported and confirmed the ban, and in 1198, Pope Innocent III declared that anybody caught reading the Bible would be stoned to death by "soldiers of the Church military." (Diderot's Encyclopedia, 1759).

In 1229, the Council of Toulouse, passed another Decree "that strictly prohibits laics from having in their possession either the Old or New Testaments; or from translating them into the vulgar tongue".

By the 14th Century, the possession of a Bible by the laity was a criminal offence and punishable by whipping, confiscation of real and personal property, and burning at the stake. Now your getting an idea why so many were being burned at the stake, and the hidden purpose of the various inquisitions.

With the Bible banned from public scrutiny by a series of decrees, popes endorsed the public suppression of the Bible for over a thousand years, right up until after the Reformation and the printing of the King James Bible in 1611.

Here is some of the times and decrees, that the Roman Catholic Church did to ban the Bible, now this is just the Bible outright.

This is from an excerpt from author Bernard Starr on this issue:

'Since the Church sequestering their sanctioned Bible from the populace makes no sense, I was not surprised that some readers bristled when I recently wrote about the historic prohibitions against Christians reading the New Testament on their own, or worse, translating the Bible into a native language. One called me a liar. That too was not surprising. A few years earlier I gave a talk at an American Psychological Association meeting and afterwards lunched with a group of young Christians, some of whom also challenged my statements about the Bible prohibitions. I later sent them references documenting my claims, but never heard back from them. I've always wondered how they reacted to the citations I sent, which included:"

Decree of the Council of Toulouse (1229 C.E.): "We prohibit also that the laity should be permitted to have the books of the Old or New Testament; but we most strictly forbid their having any translation of these books."

Ruling of the Council of Tarragona of 1234 C.E.: "No one may possess the books of the Old and New Testaments in the Romance language, and if anyone possesses them he must turn them over to the local bishop within eight days after promulgation of this decree, so that they may be burned..."

Proclamations at the Ecumenical Council of Constance in 1415 C.E.: Oxford professor, and theologian John Wycliffe, was the first (1380 C.E.) to translate the New Testament into English to "...helpeth Christian men to study the Gospel in that tongue in which they know best Christ's sentence." For this "heresy" Wycliffe was posthumously condemned by Arundel, the archbishop of Canterbury. By the Council's decree "Wycliffe's bones were exhumed and publicly burned and the ashes were thrown into the Swift River."

Fate of William Tyndale in 1536 C.E.: William Tyndale was burned at the stake for translating the Bible into English. According to Tyndale, the Church forbid owning or reading the Bible to control and restrict the teachings and to enhance their own power and importance....'

And here is a excerpt from "Vatican Archives Reveal Bible Was Once Banned Book" by Jude Webber:

'But the archives do contain some surprises.....alongside the Inquisition archives was the infamous Index of Forbidden Books, which Roman Catholics were forbidden to read or possess on pain of excommunication. They showed that even the Bible was once on the blacklist. Translations of the holy book ended up on the bonfires along with other "heretical'' works because the Church, whose official language was Latin, was suspicious of allowing the faithful access to sacred texts without ecclesiastical guidance.

Protestants, who split from Roman Catholics during the Reformation in the 16th and 17th centuries, were allowed to read holy works directly. The Index of Forbidden Books and all excommunications relating to it were officially abolished in 1966 [only 3 years prior to I becoming a Christian!]. The Inquisition itself was established by Pope Gregory IX in 1233 as a special court to help curb the influence of heresy. It escalated as Church officials began to count on civil authorities to fine, imprison and even torture heretics. It reached its height in the 16th century to counter the Reformation. The department later became the Holy Office and its successor now is called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which controls the orthodoxy of Catholic teaching....'

Blessings Rick H,

Very insightful information. We need to expect that to once again be the case, or something very similar. Like having to accept the Church's interpretation or something like that.

Such as the Pope changing the Lord's Prayer...