The European Union in Prophecy The EU in Prophecy I | Page 559

The European Union in Prophecy
For the earlier history of the Ottoman Empire and the decline of the Turkish
power, see also William Miller, The Ottoman Empire and Its Successors, 1801-1927
(Cambridge, England: University Press, 1936); George G. S. L. Eversley, The Turkish
Empire from 1288 to 1914 (London : T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd., 2d ed., 1923); Joseph von
Hammer-Purgstall, Geschichte des Osmannischen Reiches (Pesth: C. A. Hartleben,
2d ed., 1834-36), 4 vols.; Herbert A. Gibbons, Foundation of the Ottoman Empire,
1300-1403 (Oxford: University Press, 1916); Arnold J. Toynbee and Kenneth B.
Kirkwood, Turkey (London, 1926).
Page 340. [Return to Pages: 340, 565, 596] Withholding the Bible From the
People.--The reader will recognize that the text of this volume was written prior to
Vatican Council II, with its somewhat altered policies in regard to the reading of the
Scriptures.
Through the centuries, the attitude of the Roman Catholic Church toward
circulation of the Holy Scriptures in vernacular versions among the laity shows up as
negative. See for example G. P. Fisher, The Reformation, ch. 15, par. 16 (1873 ed., pp.
530-532); J. Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers, ch. 8 (49th ed., 1897), Pp.
98-117; John Dowling, History of Romanism, b. 7, ch. 2, Sec. 14; and b. 9, ch. 3, secs.
24-27 (1871 ed., pp. 491-496, 621-625); L. F. Bungener, History of the Council of Trent,
pp. 101110 (2d Edinburgh ed., 1853, translated by D. D. Scott); G. H. Putnam, Books
and Their Makers During the Middle Ages, vol. 1, pt. 2, ch. 2, pars. 49, 54-56. See also
Index of Prohibited Books (Vatican Polyglot Press, 1930), pp. ix, x; Timothy Hurley,
A Commentary on the Present Index Legislation (New York: Benziger Brothers, 1908),
p. 71; Translation of the Great Encyclical Letters of Leo XIII (New York: Benziger
Brothers, 1903), p. 413.
But in recent years a dramatic and positive change has occurred in this respect.
On the one hand, the church has approved several versions prepared on the basis of
the original languages; on the other, it has promoted the study of the Holy Scriptures
by means of free distribution and Bible institutes. The church, however, continues to
reserve for herself the exclusive right to interpret the Bible in the light of her own
tradition, thus justifying those doctrines that do not harmonize with biblical teachings.
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