Book dealers were also prohibited from selling, loaning or keeping books
treating of “obscene matters.” Considering the current avalanche of
pornography in the written and electronic medias, which reasonable
Christian could object to such a prohibition? Nor could any Christian object
to the Church’s provisions against books that promoted Freemasonry,
superstition, fortune telling, magic, spiritism, séances, suicide, or divorce.
If fact, the Church’s book legislation always was and is still simply
designed to assist Christians in their pre-existing personal obligation to
practise censorship. Due to our fallen nature, Christians cannot deliberately
expose themselves unnecessarily to proximate occasions of sin. For
example, we are obliged to avoid prostitution houses, nude beaches,
pornographic magazines or any other situation that could arouse our lower
passions. That being the case, how can any self-professed Christian find it
objectionable if the Church seeks to guide her children to fulfil this
obligation, an obligation imposed upon all Christians by Christ himself?
“And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it
away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than with two hands
or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to
sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one
eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire” (St. Matt. 18:8-9).
In this context, Loraine Boettner’s attacks against the Index fall completely
flat. In addition to his above-mentioned quote, he rails against the Index as
follows:
“The Bible was first officially forbidden to the people by the Church
of Rome and placed on the Index of Forbidden Books by the Council
of Valencia in the year 1229” (p. 99).
“even the Bible as such remains on the Index of
Forbidden Books! … What St. Paul wrote, if it stands by
itself, is on the Index. What was written by St. Peter
himself, who according to Roman Catholic tradition was
the first pope, is on the Index unless some Roman
Catholic annotates his writing” (p. 101).
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