mountainman

Most sources maintain that the "List of Forbidden Books" was published by the Papacy from the fifteenth century. However there are a number of documentary sources which themselves suggest that Constantine and Eusebius already had a catalogue of books which were "forbidden under punishment of death". No names are mentioned, with the exception of Porphyry and Arius of Alexandria. We find out in the next century that some of these books had been authored by the son of the devil.




Introduction

What do Giordano Bruno, Edward Gibbon, Johannes Kepler, Jean Paul Sartre, Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, David Hume, Rene Descartes, Francis Bacon, John Milton, John Locke, Galileo Galilei and Blaise Pascal, to name only a few, have in common? Their books were at some stage essentially banned by the Roman Catholic Church. The good news is that the publication of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, the list of "Prohibited Books", ceased with effect from June 14, 1966 by Pope Paul VI.

Most historical sources cite the sixteenth century as the century of origin for the publication of such an index of "Forbidden Books". One source reports that "The principle of a list of forbidden books was adopted at the Fifth Lateran Council in 1515, then confirmed by the Council of Trent in 1546. The first edition of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, dated 1557 was published by Pope Paul IV. The 32nd edition, published in 1948 included 4000 titles." On the surface of things we might think that the Index Librorum Prohibitorum was published from Pope Paul IV to Pope Paul VI, a period of 404 years only.

Before the advent of the printing press (c.1439) such early indexes of forbidden books and/or authors would simply have been preserved by scribes and copyists in the old technology of codices. This brief article will gather together a number of citations which themselves suggested that it is perfectly reasonable to think that such an index of forbidden books was in operation as early as the fourth century and the Council of Nicaea. That an Index Librorum Prohibitorum was maintained from Constantine I to Pope Paul IV a period of 1641 years.


The Decretum Gelasianum c.491 CE

A separate article provides details on the Decretum Gelasianum, thought to have been first drafted at the close of the fifth century, under the Pope Gelasius. It consists of five chapters, the last of which, chapter 5, provides a List of Apocryphal ["Hidden"] Books which were deemed to be heretical. In some cases the names of the author is listed, for example "all the books which Leucius the disciple of the devil made. In other cases the names of the books, are listed, for example: "the Acts in the name of the apostle Andrew, the Acts in the name of the apostle Thomas, the Acts in the name of the apostle Peter, the Acts in the name of the apostle Philip", etc. The dating of the Decretum Gelasianum to the end of the 5th century is not without its own variations. Some opinion has early sixth century, while some early opinion thought parts of this document belonged to Damasius, towards the end of the fourth century.

Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica (Book 3, 25, 6-7), c.325 CE

Eusebius states that he is compelled to advise that a catalogue of "Banned Books" was extant at the time he was writing his "Ecclesiatical History". While the bulk of this work was written c.312-324 CE, many scholars note that multiple revisions are apparent in the work, perhaps until the death of Constantine c.337 CE. In the following extract, Eusebius classifies the "Banned Books" in the following terms:

(1) Fictions which have been authored by "heretics",
(2) Completely out of accord with true orthodoxy,
(3) Absurd and impious creations to be cast aside.


The Emperor Constantine, c.325 CE

Preserved in Socrates Scholasticus’ Ecclesiastical History 1:9 and elsewhere the following letter of Constantine contains explicit references to the banning and burning of books written by Porphry, and that Porphyrian Arius of Alexandria immediately following the council of Nicaea, c.325 CE. In his following letter to "Everybody", Constantine classifies the "Banned Books" as:

(1) Evil, wicked, rebukable, rejectable, unlawful, and anti-christian
(2) To be the subject of righteous destruction, along with their memory
(3) to attract the death penalty: if found in possession of any "banned books"
(4) The banned books and the heretics were to be dealt with by fire.


Conclusion

It seems reasonable to me that a catalogue of "Prohibited Books" is described clearly by Eusebius, who cites a number of new testament apocryphal tractates as being "heretical". Constantine also appears to have subscribed to the same modus operandi, and appears to enforce orthodoxy by physically burning the books which he deemed "unlawful".

As such, I think it is reasonable to consider that the Index Librorum Prohibitorum had not been in continuous operation for 404 years from the 16th century until 1966, but rather it had been in continuous operation for 1641 years (325 to 1966).

What do you think? Is this a reasonable conclusion?

mountainman

Two questions:

(1) Could any greek experts advise what would be the comparitive greek expressions for the latin Index Librorum Prohibitorum?

(2) Does anyone know who first uses the greek term apocrypha ("hidden") with respect to the new testament corpus, and whether the term arises from (a) the orthodox christians (prenicene) or, (b) orthodox christian (postnicene) or (c) or the Arians?

Toto

According to NewAdvent the term was originally used by the Jews, and originally only referred to hidden writings, or writings available only to the elect.

mountainman

Due to the "canonicity" of the Hebrew Bible, the term is of course applicable to the Hebrews and the Hebrew Bible, but my question was directed at the later and separate "christian useage of the term apocrypha", as is segregated below as III. Apocrypha of Christian origin .



Do any "early christians" use the term "apocrypha" with reference to the new testament related literature? When does the term first appear in the literature record with respect to "III. Apocrypha of Christian origin"?

mountainman

Aside from Tertullian's possible knowledge of the Acts of Paul
references to the "non canonical" tracates are found in:

Hegesippus may have had knowledge of a Gospel of the Nazoreans.
Hippolytus may have had knowledge of a Gospel of Thomas..
Irenaeus may have had knowledge of a Gospel of Judas.
Origen may have had knowledge of three "apocryphal sources"
aGospel of Thomas (but was it the Infancy Gospel of Thomas?),
a Gospel of Peter, and
a Gospel of the Nazoreans.
Clement of Alexandria may have had knowledge of a Gospel of James.
Commodius the poet may have had knowledge of an Epistle of the Apostles.

Before Eusebius we do not appear to have too many unambiguous citations
to the non canonical texts, and no mention (that I can find) of the use of
the term "apocrypha" with respect to the NT corpus.

Eusebius does mention the term in regard to "heretical books"

Here Eusebius does not use the term in respect of the NT.
Does Irenaeus refer to NT books called Apocrypha?

Can anyone find an earlier citation before Eusebius for an
ancient writer using the term 'apocrypha' with respect to
any new testament tractate?

If not, who in the fourth century appears to have used the
term in this novel (NT) fashion?