(vii)
A translation of the Gospels by Farmer and Owen in the 10th
century.
(viii)
Interlinear glosses written around 950 AD in the Northumbrian
dialect (the Lindisfarne Gospels).
(ix)
A translation of the first seven books of the Old Testament plus
the Book of Job by Archbishop Aelfric of Canterbury in the
11th century.
(x)
A translation of parts of the Old and New Testaments by Orm,
an English Benedictine monk, in the 13th century.
(xi)
A translation of the Psalms by William Shoreham, Vicar of
Chart Sutton, in 1320.
(xii)
A translation of the Psalms by Richard Rolle, a hermit of
Hampole, in the 14th century.
All of these appeared before Luther’s alleged first German translation of
the Bible published in 1534. In addition, there existed another 94
vernacular editions of selected portions of the New Testament and the
Psalms!
The allegation that the Bible was kept in chains in Catholic churches only
affords further proof of the high esteem in which the Catholic Church held
the Scriptures. Prior to the invention of the printing press in 1456 the
production of new manuscripts was very time-consuming and costly. Many
of the Bibles produced manually by monks were also magnificent works of
art. Some copies placed for auction in recent times have been sold for
almost US$15 million. Bibles were chained simply to prevent them from
being stolen and hence taken away from public use. Only overly
imaginative minds laboring under severe anti-Catholic bias could invent
and propagate the tale that Bibles were chained to keep them exclusively in
the hands of corrupt clergy, etc.
The true Catholic attitude towards the Bible and its study remains that of
Pope Leo XIII, who said, over a century ago:
“The solicitude of the apostolic office naturally urges and even
compels us, not only to desire that this grand source of Catholic
revelation should be made safely and abundantly accessible to the
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