Bible marking

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TheExorcist

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Hi all,

I am currently studying to come into the church. As part of this I just bought my missal (1962 Angelus) and new Bible (Baronius, Douay-Rheims) and am currently breaking them in. In the faith traditional I just (mostly) left (Mormonism) it’s a virtue to have your scriptures all marked up and whatnot (one church leader once said “scriptures that are read are red”). I was wondering what everyone on here thinks about that? I know it’s ultimately my choice on that but I’d like to hear what everyone has to say.

Thanks for reading! 😃

Charles
 
I have several Bibles. There is one that is very marked up and highlighted and one that was a gift and has no marks at all. There is certainly nothing wrong with taking notes in your Bible and annotating it. There are some newer (newer than the D-R) bibles that have notes keyed to the Catechism and that’s helpful too.

Go for it!
 
No problem whatsoever in marking your Bible. A few years ago I joined a Bible study at church and bought myself a new Bible because the old one was so marked up and dog-eared that I was embarrassed.:o I have a few Bibles lying around now, some marked and some not.
 
My leather RSV-2CE is getting quite marked up, and beat up with use for that matter. A bible is not a decoration. The bible is a tool. Us it and mark in it.
 
Corki said:
I have several Bibles. There is one that is very marked up and highlighted and one that was a gift and has no marks at all. There is certainly nothing wrong with taking notes in your Bible and annotating it. There are some newer (newer than the D-R) bibles that have notes keyed to the Catechism and that’s helpful too.

Go for it!
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I know there is no scriptural reason against marking in the bible, but personally, I’ve never written in a page containing actual scripture. always thought something was wrong with doing that. But I’ve seen people do it everywhere.
 
My family has a tradition of passing down Bibles from generation to generation. They’re bound beautifully but some are fragile and were blessed as a sacramental a long, long time ago. We keep them on the family altar. Occasionally, someone will open one up and read it during personal prayer or reflection and they may gingerly kiss the text before closing it.

Then there are the cheap, inexpensive Biblical texts that I use for reference and those are marked up, doggy-eared, etc.

So as you can see, it really depends on the Bible and what you’re using it for.
Good luck on your conversion. I pray that you enter the Church soon, that your upcoming Baptism may cleanse away all the heresies, errors and ways of thinking that plagued your childhood faith, that you may fully enter into the inner life and vision of our holy religion and that you may bring with you all the gifts and talents that God graced you with. Peace!
 
Well as you former church leader said, “Scriptures that are read are red.” I’m seriously debating whether or not I want to mark up my new almost $100 NRSV. I marked quite a few passages that inspired me or stuck out in my old Bibles, which are ALOT. The Bible is an inspiring book, I guess thats why they call it “inspired.” 😛 If I were to mark every passage that inspires me then I would probably end up highlighting the whole book like I always do. I think I’m just going to take notes like I close friend of mine. 🙂
 
I am a former Hindu. I reject anything in Hinduism that contradicts Christianity of course, but one thing I picked up from that background is a profound respect for books. If I showed that respect to books Hindus considered holy, surely I should show even more to the Scriptures.

I personally would say fill your bible with index cards and notepaper and all sorts of yellow stickies, but do not write on the actual pages. Well I can’t tell you not to, it’s no sin, but I wouldn’t do it.

I frankly really dislike disposable misalettes for a similar reason. Though they are just bad taste, I also hate to think that they are thrown out regularly.

I would treat my bible as I would treat (within reason) a hand-illuminated one. Even though it’s valued at much less physically, being mass produced, the content is still infinitely valuable.

Also thing about how the book of Gospels or the missal is treated at Mass. We don’t have to go to such extremes, but I still use that as a model for how I treat my bible.
 
It’s your book - do what you want with it.

Some of us find it hard to mark up a book; too many years of schoolbooks and library books and stern lectures about not marking them up. On the other hand, highlighting something you really like and writing short cryptic notes in the margin makes it easy to find again. I have a paperback NAB that is rather beaten-up, with a few pages pulling out. I also bought some tabs and stuck them on to locate chapters easily.
 
I know there’s nothing wrong with writing in a Bible, But I grew up with the idea that you should always show it respect, be careful where you set it down, don’t put other stuff on top of it etc. so for me the idea of writing in like one would in a textbook has always seemed a little odd. At the same time, I know I need to study the bible more, and I don’t know how I can do that without writing in it. I’ve been thinking about getting a gold metallic pen instead of a highlighter and using it to go over important passages, it just seems more respectful, as for writing in the margins, I guess I would just try to write very neatly, and make sure it’s a completed thought. I think there’s a way to mark it up so that it can actually add to the value of it without making it look like a common study textbook.
 
newyorkcatholic said:
I personally would say fill your bible with index cards and notepaper and all sorts of yellow stickies, but do not write on the actual pages. Well I can’t tell you not to, it’s no sin, but I wouldn’t do it.
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I respect your decision completely, but I can also tell you from experience that stuffing it full of post-its and index cards breaks the binding. And then pages start falling out.
 
i have owned several Bibles and i haven’t marked in any of them yet. i do read them, but i guess that i do see the books as Holy and have a hard time allowing myself to write in them. i think it is up to the individual. if you feel comfortable writing in your Bible, by all means, do it. i guess i do have Bibles that are more expensive than others. maybe a time will come, when i will think it is okay to write in the less expensive ones.🤷
 
7_Sorrows said:
i have owned several Bibles and i haven’t marked in any of them yet. i do read them, but i guess that i do see the books as Holy and have a hard time allowing myself to write in them. i think it is up to the individual. if you feel comfortable writing in your Bible, by all means, do it. i guess i do have Bibles that are more expensive than others. maybe a time will come, when i will think it is okay to write in the less expensive ones.🤷
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I have one (paperback) that I do mark up. And one beautiful edition that I spent some $$$ on – that one, I don’t mark in.
 
I like the idea of marking one’s Bible. My only problem is one of logistics. What system of marking should I use? If I ever determine that, I’ll likely be marking away! 😉
 
As other’s have stated, I mark only my paperback and study Bibles.

Marking one of those giant textbooks sized study Bibles is not the same as marking an expensive book made of parchment paper with gilded edges, linen ribbons, sewn binding, etc.

If you do mark a good bible, use wax highlighters and not the liquid kind. Most Christians stores will sell wax “Bible highlighters” and sharpie makes a gel highlighter which is similar to wax but I have not tried it.

-Tim-
 
7_Sorrows said:
i have owned several Bibles and i haven’t marked in any of them yet. i do read them, but i guess that i do see the books as Holy and have a hard time allowing myself to write in them.
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This is the way that I feel about it, too.

Having said that, I dislike taking notes in any book; as I feel it not only gets defaced, but is unnecessary to my system of study. The fact that, in this case, the book happens to be Holy Writ, certainly compounds my thoughts on the matter.

Also: I would add that I’ve seen many severely marked up and highlighted bibles; and such bibles are not only an eyesore, distraction, and quite silly, the meaning of the highlights or underlines is often lost over periods of time.

As I alluded to above, I prefer to keep a notebook/Scripture study journal. It is much neater, respectful, and maintains its purpose years after being written down.
 
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