Reviewing Books
Reviewing Books
He said to me: Commenting on the books published by servants or by Church organizations, in which there may be objections to certain ideas or passages… why does the Patriarchate not issue a decision establishing a review committee to review every book that is published? Books approved for publication would each receive an Imprimatur page of blessing printed at the beginning of the book, serving as a reliable assurance that would give the reader confidence in the soundness of the teaching contained in the book.
And any book that does not contain the page of blessing would not be purchased by anyone, and no one would have confidence in the information it contains.
I said to him: What you say is good. This is how the proper situation should be. This is what the Catholic ecclesiastical authorities do, as they distinguish a book approved by the Church with two signatures from ecclesiastical authorities:
The first is Nihil obstat, meaning “Nothing hinders”.
The second is Imprimatur, meaning “Let it be printed”.
However, we would like to place before the dear reader several considerations, including:
- The large number of printed books, reaching into the hundreds every year.
A very large number of priest fathers write books. Some of them translate the writings of the Fathers without adding notes. Some publish manuscripts without critically editing them, without establishing their attribution to their authors, without discussing or studying their contents, and without a comprehensive introduction…
Some servants, especially those involved in Church education and graduates of the Theological Seminary, also publish books. Some well-known writers, apart from these groups, also publish books…
In addition to all this, there are many magazines in every diocese and in numerous churches, which also contain theological, doctrinal, and biblical articles. All these also require review.
Thus, we stand before an enormous quantity that fills the libraries…
Here we stand before a very important question:
- Who will undertake the review of all these books, writings, translations, and articles?
There is no doubt that proper review requires specialization…
I mean that it requires specialists in every branch of ecclesiastical sciences: theology, doctrine, Church history, Holy Scripture, spirituality, etc.
Added to this is the review of the language, which is also important…
Will one person undertake all of this by reviewing the entire book?
Or will the book pass through a group of reviewers, each according to his specialty?
Or will there be a committee of several members responsible for the review?
- Should the review committee be centralized in the Patriarchate? Or should there be a review committee in every diocese?
Or should the metropolitan or bishop himself in each diocese undertake this work?
Or should the Theological Seminary, for example, and its professors, each in his own field of specialization, undertake it?
And who ultimately bears the responsibility: the one who conducts the review, or the bishop who issues the page of blessing?
Here we face another problem:
The qualified persons for reviewing are all busy.
Because of their competence in many branches of religious knowledge, the Church entrusts them with numerous responsibilities. Their talents also draw them into many fields of service, leaving them with no time to review books!
Should they then be relieved of their responsibilities, when people cannot do without them?!
Or should books remain delayed with them during the review process until the authors become distressed and, regrettably, are forced to seek another reviewer of lesser reputation…
Perhaps the reviewer of lesser reputation is also less competent, and certain expressions escape his notice…
Or should we appoint dedicated reviewers for payment?
For many who possess scholarly religious gifts also have families to support. Therefore, they are compelled to devote a large part of their time to occupations that provide them with an income, especially under the difficult economic conditions through which our society is passing.
Likewise, many competent priests are burdened with pastoral duties.
Should they leave their work of pastoral care and teaching in order to devote themselves to reviewing books? Would their conscience permit it? Would their people allow it?
Or should a group be prepared specifically for reviewing books?
Provided that it possesses broad knowledge, enjoys the confidence of others, and is faithful in the review process, so that the reviewer consults others regarding points that are difficult for him?
Here we ask: How can such a group be prepared? And from whom?
In all this, we leave this matter open for discussion.
We are ready to publish whatever opinions reach us.
Until we meet again…
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