Between the lines

I DO appreciate Rev Dr Donald M MacDonald did not seek to belittle the Catholic Church’s contribution to education, however, the purpose of my letter was to point out that the changes brought about by the Reformation regarding the translation of Scripture were not always as radical and fruitful as some would believe (Letters, 12 June).

As Rev Dr MacDonald describes, there is so much more that could be written regarding the various translations of the Bible, but surely he would agree that the Church, as the guardian of Scripture, should prevent heretical additions and distortions to the Bible. Therefore, regarding free speech, it is one matter to destroy the real thing, and another to destroy a counterfeit.

Ian Maxfield

Lodge Park, Biggar

South Lanarkshire

RECENT reports of the destruction of ancient sites by the religious fundamentalists of Islamic State has an analogy in historical vandalism and atrocities committed by Christians.

As soon as Christianity was adopted by the Roman establishment (AD315), more and more pagan temples were destroyed by Christian mobs.

Christian priests such as Mark of Arethusa or Cyrill of Heliopolis were famous temple destroyers. The Christian Emperor Theodosius (AD408-450) even had children executed, because they had been playing with the remains of pagan statues. According to Christian chroniclers he, “followed meticulously all Christian teachings …’’

These were events that occurred solely on command of church authorities or were 
committed in the name of Christianity. 

Doug Clark 

Muir Wood Grove 

Currie, Edinburgh