nt ordered all Catholic publishers to see to it that
their editions have the approval of the respective bishop.

Not until February 28, 1759, did Pope Clement XIII give permission to
translate the Bible _into all the languages of the Catholic states_.

Not until November 17, 1893, did Pope Leo XIII issue an encyclical
enjoining upon Catholics the study of the Bible, always, however, _in
editions approved by the Roman Church_. (Kurtz, _Kirchengesch_. II, 2,
94. 217; _Univers. Encycl_., under title "Bible"; Peter Heylyn,
_Ecclesia Restaurata_ I, 99; Denzinger, _Enchiridion,_ 1429. 1439. 1567.
1607.)

Catholic writers seek to make a great impression in favor of their
Church by enumerating, on the authority of Protestant scholars, the
number of German translations of the Bible that are known to have been
in existence before Luther. But they omit to inform the public that not
a single one of those translations obtained the approbation of a bishop.
One cannot view but with a pathetic interest these sacred relies of an
age that was hungering for the Word of God. The origin of these early
German Bibles has been traced by scholars to Wycliffite and Hussite
influences, which Rome never stamped out, though her inquisitors tried
their best to do so. The earliest of these Bibles do not state the place
nor the year of publication. Can the reader guess why? They were not
published at the seat of the German Archbishop, Mainz, but most of them
at the free imperial city of Augsburg. Can the reader suggest a reason?
Many of them are printed in abnormally small sizes, facilitating quick
concealment. Can the reader imagine a cause for this phenomenon? In
these old German Bibles particular texts are emphasized, for example,
Rom. 8, 18; 1 Cor. 4, 9; 2 Cor. 4, 8 ; 11, 23; 1 Pet. 2, 19; 4, 16; 5,
9; Acts 5, 18. 41; 8, 1; 12, 4; 14, 19. If the reader will take the
trouble to look up these texts, he will find that they warn Christians
to be prepared to be persecuted for their faith. Has the reader ever
heard of such an officer of the Roman Church as the inquisitor, one of
whose duties it was to hunt for Bibles among the people? In places these
old German Bibles contain significant marginal glosses, for example, at
1 Tim. 2, 5 one of them has this gloss: "_Ain_ mitler Christus, ach
merk!" that is: _One_ mediator, Christ--note this well!

In 1486, Archbishop Berchtold of Mainz, Primate of Germany, issued an
edict, full of impassioned malice agai