In James 3:5-6, it is written that “the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell” (New International Bible).
As demonstrated in these verses, the power that words hold should not be underestimated. Words have the potential to influence, corrupt, shape an entire worldview, or stir up a country to rebellion. This is why, throughout history, books have been censored to the point that they’re unrecognizable and thus perfectly harmless, banned from all libraries and homes under federal orders, or burned in a mountain of blackened pages and ash. While this may seem excessive, remember that a great forest is set on fire by a small spark—or a single book.
One of the earliest examples of government-sanctioned book burning took place in 213 BC. Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of a newly unified China, ordered the destruction of almost all historical records because he was afraid they would undermine his narrative of his rise to power. Since then, this history has repeated itself around the world for mainly political and religious reasons, though also as a result of ravaging conquests. This includes ancient Rome, the Library of Alexandria in Egypt, and Europe during the Reformation when the Roman Catholic Church issued the Index Librorum Prohibitorum.
Edition of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, a list of works prohibited by Catholics and powerful censorship tool that was in place for more than 400 years
Then, in Nazi Germany, books considered “un-German” and impure were publicly burned in mass bonfires by student groups. These books were often written by Jewish, liberal, socialist, and “dangerously” foreign authors whose beliefs did not align with those of a fascist country. Among these blacklisted writers were Albert Einstein, Ernest Hemingway, Helen Keller, Jack London, Karl Marx, and Victor Hugo. As in the past, fear motivated these book burnings—fear that Nazism and Hitler’s dream of a purified, Aryan Germany would be shattered by non-conforming literature.
One of many book burnings that students led in thirty-four university towns and cities on May 10, 1933. They destroyed over 25,000 books.
More recently, in 2013, retreating al-Qaeda-allied fighters set a library in Timbuktu, Mali on fire and burned 4,000 ancient manuscripts. These manuscripts were written in a multitude of languages, and the oldest dated as far back as 1204 AD. Mayor Hallé Ousmani Cissé said, “The manuscripts were a part not only of Mali’s heritage but the world’s heritage. By destroying them [the terrorists] threaten the world.” Many African historical artifacts were similarly destroyed by Islamic radicals who followed Sharia law and deemed them too pagan. However, librarian Abdel Kader Haidara managed to smuggle around 200,000 texts out from the violent occupation of Timbuktu to the capital city Bamako through a system of couriers.
Abdel Kader Haidara with his family-owned manuscripts of Timbuktu. At seventeen years old, he took a vow to protect them as long as he lived.
Today, there is an ongoing battle over censorship taking place in American schools and public libraries. Many citizens are concerned with novels containing inappropriate content or outdated, racist language being available to easily influenced children. There have been nationwide calls to remove certain classics like To Kill a Mockingbird, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Of Mice and Men from school curriculums or have them banned from the schools themselves. This debate raises the question of whether book banning can be justified if it occurs for moral reasons. Even if it can be, the problem of who gets to determine what is “moral” arises. After all, dictatorial leaders have abused this role countless times. While the conversation is sensitive and nuanced, the answer must ultimately be found in God’s eternal Word, not in fallible human standards and ideologies that are constantly changing.
As Isaiah 40:8 says, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever” (New International Version).
A display of banned books in an American school
Works Cited
Holy Bible: New International Version. Zondervan, 2023.
Boissoneault, Lorraine. “A Brief History of Book Burning, From the Printing Press to Internet Archives.” Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Aug. 2017, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/brief-history-book-burning-printing-press-internet-archives-180964697/
Sarwark, Robert. “The Catholic Index of Forbidden Books: A Brief History.” The Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association, 21 Feb. 2018, https://www.oif.ala.org/catholic-index-forbidden-books-brief-history/#:~:text=The%20Index%20Librorum%20Prohibitorum%20was,and%2C%20thus%2C%20spiritual%20damnation.
“The German ‘Index’: first official list of banned books – archive 1933.” The Guardian, 1 Aug. 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/01/german-index-nazi-official-list-of-banned-books-1933
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Book Burning.” Holocaust Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/book-burning. Accessed on 18 Dec. 2023.
Harding, Luke. “Timbuktu mayor: Mali rebels torched library of historic manuscripts.” The Guardian, 28 Jan. 2013, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jan/28/mali-timbuktu-library-ancient-manuscripts
Villamizar, Monica. “Preserving the priceless manuscripts of Timbuktu.” PBS, 27 Jun. 2018, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/preserving-the-priceless-manuscripts-of-timbuktu
Dreazen, Yochi. “The Brazen Bibilophiles of Timbuktu.” The News Republic, 25 Apr. 2013, https://newrepublic.com/article/112898/timbuktu-librarians-duped-al-qaeda-save-books
“Banned Books 2022 – To Kill a Mockingbird.” Marshall Libraries, 16 Aug. 2022, https://www.marshall.edu/library/bannedbooks/to-kill-a-mockingbird/
Photo Credits
https://pin.it/4UCZy5P
https://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/Index-Librorum-Prohibitorum-Censorship-Law-Books
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/may/10/nazi-book-burnings-in-germany-may-1933
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-librarian-who-saved-timbuktus-cultural-treasures-from-al-qaeda-1460729998
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/sep/20/us-book-bans-fight-school-library
This article is so well researched and written! Great job Anise, I enjoyed reading it!
A very nice article, putting a controversial issue in its wider context.
Verry well done. I enjoyed the biblical tie-ins
Good job! Loved this article 🙂