A question for protestans, Do you read bible commentaries?

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Do you guys like to read bible comentaries or do you avoid them?

I was talking with a protestan friend she adviced me not to read any bible commentary nor to assist to any course when it comes to study the bible.
She told me that I must study the bible alone with the help of the holy ghost and not with any foreign help.

but I believe those people that wrote the bible comentaries were spiritualy guided by the holy ghost.
in my opinion it may be dangerous to read the bible alone, because many people claim to be guided by the holy ghost even if they completely differ in interpretations with each other.

I 'd like to hear some comments about this thanks a lot
 
Personally, I love to read the Bible commentaries. Usually they do a pretty good job of explaining the various passages and I can get more out of my reading if I can understand it better.
 
In our adult class at our parish, there is a guy who’s studying to become Catholic. He brought a Bible commentary on Matthew that was over 500 pages thick. It was KJV based.

It makes me assume that the Bible commentary business in the Protestant Realms is alive and kickin’.
 
I’m sorry but I think I made a mistake. I was thinking of the extensive footnotes at the bottom of the pages in my NKJV Bible. l That’s what I usually read, not full commentaries. I’m sorry for my mistake. I have Nelson’s NKJV Study Bible and it has lots of footnotes, cross references, word studies, etc. It really makes Bible study a lot easier to understand. I admit that I don’t study as much as I should though.
 
I have read only Protestant commentaries as well as Systematic Theology, and introduction to Biblical Doctrine by Wayne Grudem.
The perspective is from the Reformed position.
I would like to read a comprehensive Systematic Theology from the Catholic position. Please advise.
 
I am Catholic, but there are a number of Protestant Bible Commentaries - I dare to say in numbers far more than there are Catholic ones. Catholic Bible exegesis only really got strong in the last 50 years or so, the Protestant commentaries have been around longer. I have purchased several to see the differences in how they interpret and exegete scripture…
 
garyjames said:
I have read only Protestant commentaries as well as Systematic Theology, and introduction to Biblical Doctrine by Wayne Grudem.
The perspective is from the Reformed position.
I would like to read a comprehensive Systematic Theology from the Catholic position. Please advise.
Click to expand...
Read The Catechism of the Catholic Church. Very Clear and very well organized.
 
awalt said:
I am Catholic, but there are a number of Protestant Bible Commentaries - I dare to say in numbers far more than there are Catholic ones. Catholic Bible exegesis only really got strong in the last 50 years or so, the Protestant commentaries have been around longer. I have purchased several to see the differences in how they interpret and exegete scripture…
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The Fathers of the Church wrote extensively on the Bible. I would say that they gave some pretty strong Catholic Bible exegesis… or at least strong Catholic hermeneutics. 👍
 
jimmy85 said:
I was talking with a protestan friend she adviced me not to read any bible commentary nor to assist to any course when it comes to study the bible.
She told me that I must study the bible alone with the help of the holy ghost and not with any foreign help.
Click to expand...
For every “Protestant” who says this, there are ten others who would encourage you to read commentaries. That’s why Protestants invented Berean Christian Bookstore and Family Christian Bookstore and numerous similar bookstore chains as well as non-chain Christian bookstores.
 
scottm said:
For every “Protestant” who says this, there are ten others who would encourage you to read commentaries. That’s why Protestants invented Berean Christian Bookstore and Family Christian Bookstore and numerous similar bookstore chains as well as non-chain Christian bookstores.
Click to expand...
It all depends on the context in which the Bible is studied. In BSF (Bible Study Fellowship), reference to commentaries and/or study Bible footnotes was strictly forbidden. We were instructed to refer simply to the words of scripture. I’ve also participated in church-based Bible studies in which reference to such commentaries was encouraged (as long as they were in agreement with the church’s theology).
 
I am a Catholic, but I use e-Sword. I have downloaded commentaries by Matthew Henry, John Wesley, Albert Barnes and Adam Clarke. There are many more Protestant commentaries on the site, both free and for payment. Protestant Bible commentaries are clearly popular and have been for a long time.
 
I think the only protestants who don’t use commentaries and such are fundamentalist in nature. They need to believe this, mostly to justify their non-attendance at any church. That would be doctrines of men…which they claim is wrong. Course, they like all of us live by a lot of doctrines of men and women…like in medicine, physics, engineering, etc. They just like to believe they can get it without help, and of course they do…but none of them agree about much.
 
awalt said:
I am Catholic, but there are a number of Protestant Bible Commentaries - I dare to say in numbers far more than there are Catholic ones. Catholic Bible exegesis only really got strong in the last 50 years or so, the Protestant commentaries have been around longer. I have purchased several to see the differences in how they interpret and exegete scripture…
Click to expand...
In deference to St.'s Jerome, Athanasius, Augustine, and numerous others, you want want to re-state that. 🙂
 
garyjames said:
I have read only Protestant commentaries as well as Systematic Theology, and introduction to Biblical Doctrine by Wayne Grudem.
The perspective is from the Reformed position.
I would like to read a comprehensive Systematic Theology from the Catholic position. Please advise.
Click to expand...
Well, you can’t do better than Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae, as long as you remember that it dates from the 13th century and so doesn’t represent exactly what modern Catholics believe–but it’s absolutely foundational and well worth the time perusing (I have not read it all myself–it’s huge).

Or you could read the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which is essentially a work of systematic theology and does represent the standard current teaching.

Edwin
 
jimmy85 said:
Do you guys like to read bible comentaries or do you avoid them?

I was talking with a protestan friend she adviced me not to read any bible commentary nor to assist to any course when it comes to study the bible.
She told me that I must study the bible alone with the help of the holy ghost and not with any foreign help.

but I believe those people that wrote the bible comentaries were spiritualy guided by the holy ghost.
in my opinion it may be dangerous to read the bible alone, because many people claim to be guided by the holy ghost even if they completely differ in interpretations with each other.

I 'd like to hear some comments about this thanks a lot
Click to expand...
I’d be careful claiming that authors of commentaries were guided by the Holy Spirit–none are protected from error (according to either Catholic or Protestant teaching) and many may be way off the mark.

But in answer to your main question: as someone else has said, the people who believe this are the more extreme fundamentalists, although it is common in evangelical circles to hear people warning against over-reliance on commentaries. That is not the same thing as rejecting them, of course.

Edwin
 
zerocrossing said:
The Fathers of the Church wrote extensively on the Bible. I would say that they gave some pretty strong Catholic Bible exegesis… or at least strong Catholic hermeneutics. 👍
Click to expand...
they are good ones however I d rather read bible comentaries from now, the reason I think this it is because nowadays bible commentaries have more info about different fields like science.

For example the church fathers had a different stance about the genesis and the creation from the one that the catholic church have right now.

but their commentaries are good anyway if they are read in a spiritual context rather than in a scietifical one.
 
I used to not bother much with commentaries, as it was too much of a pain to deal with opening up multiple volumes. However, with my use of e-Sword, I read commentaries all the time. I’ve got over a dozen loaded, and have found multiple insights and details that I wouldn’t have considered if I’d just been reading scripture on my own. The key to reading commentaries is as follows…
  1. Do not make the mistake of assuming the author of a commentary is correct on an issue. Check every detail (especially the ones that you believe).
  2. Expect the Holy Spirit to guide you to the truth. God uses commentaries, Bible translations, books on Christian Living, and many other things to help reveal to us what he wants us to see.
  3. Expect to find flaws in every commentary. These are just the works of men, and they can be completely, or just partially, wrong on any given issue.
Use commentaries to expand your thinking process, not to define your thoughts.

Also, bear in mind that those who would discourage you from learning either assume that you’re too unsure of your beliefs and will be roped in to false teaching too easily, or they simply don’t understand how God works in people very well. Virtually every Protestant minister and theologian has used commentaries, and I expect they will continue to do so. It’s no different than reading the opinions of the early church fathers. We can glean insight on differing points of view and differing interpretations of scripture in this way.

For God to confirm the truth in us, we must first be exposed to it.
 
PC_Master said:
I used to not bother much with commentaries, as it was too much of a pain to deal with opening up multiple volumes. However, with my use of e-Sword, I read commentaries all the time. I’ve got over a dozen loaded, and have found multiple insights and details that I wouldn’t have considered if I’d just been reading scripture on my own. The key to reading commentaries is as follows…
  1. Do not make the mistake of assuming the author of a commentary is correct on an issue. Check every detail (especially the ones that you believe).
  2. Expect the Holy Spirit to guide you to the truth. God uses commentaries, Bible translations, books on Christian Living, and many other things to help reveal to us what he wants us to see.
  3. Expect to find flaws in every commentary. These are just the works of men, and they can be completely, or just partially, wrong on any given issue.
Use commentaries to expand your thinking process, not to define your thoughts.

Also, bear in mind that those who would discourage you from learning either assume that you’re too unsure of your beliefs and will be roped in to false teaching too easily, or they simply don’t understand how God works in people very well. Virtually every Protestant minister and theologian has used commentaries, and I expect they will continue to do so. It’s no different than reading the opinions of the early church fathers. We can glean insight on differing points of view and differing interpretations of scripture in this way.

For God to confirm the truth in us, we must first be exposed to it.
Click to expand...
In my opinion the positive thing about catholic commentaries is that they have to be authorized by the CC and it is soemthing positive because catholics can avoid having those 3 key problems that u mentioned. when it comes to the catholic doctrine.
becuase their commentaries are extensively revised, and they are not published until they seem to be in accordance with their doctrine.

In a way their commentaries are more likely to avoid those 3problems rather than the commentary that soemone wrote on his own that is more likely to have mistakes.
 
I was Protestant for far longer than I’ve been Catholic.

When I was Protestant, I did read Bible commentaries, such as the New Interpreter’s Bible. I also read some Catholic commentaries such as the Navarre Bible. I read commentaries by John Stott and others like him as a Protestant, I listen to and read commentaries by Scott Hahn and others like him as a Catholic.

For a while, as a Protestant, I did not want to read anything that was not written by someone in my own denomination for fear of getting confused. Now I am somewhat reluctant to read much by Protestant authors for the same reason.

The folks who don’t think that you should read commentary are those who believe in an “inductive” approach to Bible study, in which scripture is supposed to be interpreted by each person individually with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Although I don’t agree with this approach, I did like the inductive study Bibles that have wide margins for writing in one’s own commentary. Are there any Catholic Bibles that have wide margins for making notes?

Also, although BSF did forbid reading commentaries before coming to class, they did encourage class members to read commentaries after they 1) read the scripture, 2) answered the questions 3) reported some of their answers in a small group, 4) listened to a lecture on the scripture by the Teaching Leader and 5) read the BSF notes, i.e. BSF’s commentary. The idea was to interpret it yourself first, then hear BSF’s interpretation, then compare those with other interpretations.
 
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