Academic Exercise on the Abstinence of the Early Christians from Reading Profane Books

Thesis VII.

In the fourth Council of Carthage, it was decreed that a Bishop should not read the books of the gentiles original: "gentilium"; referring to non-Christian or pagan authors. This rule is recorded by Gratian in his Harmony of Discordant Canons original: "Concordia discordantium Canonum", the foundational text of medieval Canon Law q). Alexander III established a similar rule in the Council of Tours. He stated that no person at all, after taking religious vows and making a profession in a religious place, should be permitted to leave for the purpose of studying Physics term: Physics; in this context, natural philosophy or medicine or worldly laws. If they did leave, and did not return to their cloister within two months, they were to be avoided by everyone as if they were excommunicated. Pope Paul II so detested the study of the humanities and the very name of "Academies" that he called all scholars in Academies heretics without distinction. This is reported from the historian Platina by Johannes Hoornbeeck a Dutch theologian known for his work on religious controversies r). Coelius Sedulius was also condemned for heresy. In the preface to his paschal work, Christoph Cellarius refers to Sedulius as the "Christian Virgil" original: "sanctus Maro"; Maro was the family name of the Roman poet Virgil. Sedulius was a poet among the early Christians

q) Distinction 37, book 1. r) Summary of Religious Controversies, page 38.