Chained Bibles: Why the Chain Wasn't Censorship

The controversy of those years found in the image a convenient proof: a tied book, they said, is a forbidden book. The object was real; the interpretation was not.

The chain was not a padlock

Chaining books was the usual way to protect collections in European libraries. The custom spread over several centuries, from medieval times well into the 18th century. It was not a measure against readers: it was insurance against theft.

At Hereford Cathedral in England, the mechanism is still visible. The chain allows the book to be opened and read, but not removed from the furniture. That library is from the 17th century and of Anglican tradition: the practice did not belong to a single church.

Nor was it only about Bibles. According to Smithsonian Magazine, libraries chained their books to the shelves.

Reading it was precisely the point

In 1539 the Great Bible was printed, promoted by Henry VIII for every parish in England. According to Britannica and GotQuestions, it became known as the chained Bible: it was secured so that no one would take it from the church.

And the same type of document that ordered it to be placed there ordered it to be read. The Injunctions of 1538, according to Clark University, mandated buying a copy of the largest possible volume and in English, and placing it where parishioners could come and read it.

The third section of those injunctions prohibited clergy from dissuading anyone from reading it; rather, it commanded them to exhort every person to do so.

The Injunctions of 1559, according to Hanover College, repeat the order and add that no one should be discouraged from reading any part of the Bible, in Latin or English.

What the chain says today

There was someone who paid years of work for a copy and chained it so no one would take it. We open the Bible on our phones whenever we want, and many times we don't even touch it.

"The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces" (Psalm 119:72, ESV).

The Bereans examined the Scriptures every day, and that earned them the praise of the account: "Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so" (Acts 17:11, ESV).

Sana Doctrina already told it in "La Biblia cabe en tu bolsillo; 100 millones no la tienen" and in "La Biblia que nadie te puede quitar". The question remains just as relevant.

Today you can read one chapter. One. Like the Bereans, to check if things are so. What chapter will you open first?