SCROPE
640
SCRUPLE
Demonstr., X-XI; Wilhelm and Scannell, " Manual
of Catholic Theology", London, 1890, I, 61 sqq.;
Scheeben, " Handbuch der katholischen Dogmatik",
Freiburg, 1873, I, 126 sqq.).
VI. Attitcde of the Church towards the Reading of the Bible in the Vernacular. — The attitude of the Church as to the reading of the Bible in the vernacular may be inferred from the Church's practice and legisla'tion. It has been the practice of the Church to provide newly-converted nations, as soon as possible, with vernacular versions of the Scriptures; hence the early Latin and oriental trans- lations, the versioiis existing among the Armenians, the Slavonians, the Goths, the Italians, the French, and the partial renderings into English. As to the legislation of the Church on this subject, we may di- vide its history into three large periods: —
(1) During "the course of the first millennium of her existence, the Church did not promulgate any law concerning the reading of Scripture in the vernacular. The faithful were rather encouraged to read the Sacred Books according to their spiritual needs (cf. St. Irenaeus, "Adv. hser.". Ill, iv).
(2) The next five hundred years show only local regulations concerning the use of the Bible in the ver- nacular. On 2 Januarj', 1080, Gregory VII wrote to the Duke of Bohemia that he could not allow the pubhcation of the Scriptures in the language of the countn,-. The letter was written chiefly to refuse the petition of the Bohemians for permission to conduct Divine service in the Slavic language. The pontiff feared that the reading of the Bible in the vernacular would lead to irreverence and wrong interpretation of the inspired text (St. Gregory VII, " Epist.", vii, xi). The second document belongs to the time of the Wal- densian and Albigensian heresies. The Bishop of Metz had written to Innocent III that there existed in his diocese a perfect frenzy for the Bible in the ver- nacular. In 1199 the pope repUed that in general the desire to read the Scriptures was praiseworthy, but that the practice was dangerous for the simple and un- learned ("Epist.", II, cxli; Hurter, "Gesch. desPapstes Innocent III", Hamburg, 1842, IV, 501 sqq.). After the death of the Innocent III, the Synod of Toulouse directed in 1229 its fourteenth canon against the misuse of Sacred Scripture on the part of the Cathari: "pro- hibemus, ne Ubros Veteris et Novi Testamenti laicis permittatur habere" (Hefele, "Concilgesch", Frei- burg, 1863, V, 875). In 1233 the Synod of Tarra- gona issued a similar prohibition in its second canon, but both these laws are intended only for the countries subject to the jurisdiction of the respective synods (Hefele, ibid., 918). The Third Synod of Oxford, in 1408, owing to the disorders of the Lollards, who in addition to their crimes of violence and anarchy had introduced virulent interpolations into the vernacular BiiCTcd text, issued a law in virtue of which only the versions approved by the local ordinary or the pro- vincial council were allowed to be read by the laity (Hefele, op. cit., VI, 817).
(3) It is only in the beginning of the last five hun- dred years that we meet with a general law of the Church concerning the reading of the Bible in the ver- nacular. On 24 March, 1564, Pius IV promulgated in his Constitution, " Dominici gregis", the Index of Pro- hibited Books. According to the third rule, the Old Testament may be read in the vernacular by pious and learned men, according to the judgment of the bishop, as a help to the better understanding of the Vulgate. The fourth rule places in the hands of the bishop or the inquisit/jr the power of allowing the reading of the New Testament in the vernacular to laymen who ac- cording to the judgment of their confessor or their pastor can profit by this practice. Sixtus V reserved this yxjwer to himself or the Sacred Congregation of the Index, and Clement VIII abided this restriction to the fourth rule of the Index, by way of appendix.
Benedict XIV required that the vernacular version
read by laymen should be either approved by the
Holy See or provided with notes taken from the wTit-
ings of the Fathers or of learned and pious authors.
It then became an open question whether this order of
Benedict XIV was intended to supersede the former
legislation or to further restrict it. This doubt was
not removed bj the next three documents: the con-
demnation of certain errors of the Jansenist Quesnel
as to the necessity of reading the Bible, by the Bull
"Unigenitus" issued by Clement XI on 8 Sept., 1713
(cf. Denzinger, "Enchir.", nn. 1294-1300); the con-
demnation of the same teaching maintained in the
Synod of Pistoia, by the Bull "Auctorem fidei"
issued on 28 Aug., 1794, by Pius VI; the warning
against allowing the laity indiscriminately to read
the Scriptures in the vernacular, addressed to the
Bishop of Mohileff by Pius VII, on 3 Sept., 1816.
But the Decree issued by the Sacred Congregation
of the Index on 7 Jan., 1836, seems to render it clear
that henceforth the laity may read vernacular ver-
sions of the Scriptures, if they be either approved by
the Holy See, or pro\ided with notes taken from the
writings of the Fathers or of learned Cathohc authors.
The same regulation was repeated by Gregory XVI in
his Encyclical of 8 May, 1844. In general, the Church
has always allowed the reading of the Bible in the ver-
nacular, if it was desirable for the spiritual needs of
her children ; she has forbidden it only when it was
almost certain to cause serious spiritual harm.
VII. Other Scriptural Questions. — The history of the preservation and the propagation of the Scrip- ture-text is told in the articles Manuscripts of the Bible; Codex Alexandrinus (etc.); Versions of the Bible; Editions of the Bible; Criticism (Text- ual) ; the interpretation of Scripture is dealt with in the articles Hermeneutics; Exegesis; Commen- taries ON the Bible; and Criticism (Biblical). Additional information on the foregoing questions is contained in the articles Introduction; Testament, The Old; Testament, The New. The history of our English Version is treated in the article Versions of the Bible.
A list of Catholic literature on Scriptural subjects has been published in the Amtrican Ecclesiastical Review, xxxi (August, 1904), 191-201; this list is fairly complete up to the date of its publication. See also the works cited throughout the course of this article. Most of the questions connected with Scripture are treated in special articles throughout the course of the Ency- clopedia, for instance, in addition to those mentioned above, Jerome; Canon of the Holy Scriptures; Concordances op THE Bible; Inspiration of the Bible; Testament, etc. Each of these articles has an abundant literary guide to its own special aspect of the Scriptures.
A. J. Maas.
Scrope, Richard. See York, Ancient See of.
Scruple (Lat. Scrupulus, "a small sharp, or pointed, stone", hence, in a transferred sense, "un- easiness of mind"), an unfounded apprehension and consequently unwarranted fear that something is a sin which, as a matter of fact, is not. It is not considered here so much as an isolated act, but rather as an habitual state of mind known to directors of souls as "a scrupulous conscience". St. Ali)lionsus describes it as a condition in which one infhicnccd by trifling reasons, and without any solid foundation, is often afraid that sin lies where it really does not. This anxiety may be entertained not only with regard to what is to be done presently, but also with regard to what has been done. The idea sometimes obtaining, that scrupulosity is in itself a spiritual benefit of some sort, is, of course, a great error. The providence of God permits it and can gather good from it as from other forms of evil. That apart, however, it is a bad habit doing harm, sometimes grievously, to body and soul. Indeed, persisted in with the obstinacy char- act<;ristic of persons who suffer from this malady, it may entail the most lamentable consequences. The judgment is seriously warjjcd, the moral power tired
