Bible quiz for Catholics. "Is the Bible necessary for salvation"?

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This post was prompted by a “Catholic Quiz” that was in Our Sunday Visitor paper a few weeks ago. I think it is a well known fact, that most Catholics today don’t know their faith very well. Taking the lead from the OSV quiz, I made up a few more questions, and had the opportunity to try them out last week, during an open house at a local Catholic grade school.

I ask about 10 middle school, and two high school students (and a few parents also) what I thought would be a simple question. Who was the first pope? Only one eight grade student and no parents knew the correct answer.

Now I am sure that everyone on this forum knows who the first pope was, so I will ask two slightly more difficult questions. The first one is:

**Is the Bible necessary for salvation? **

The second question I will give in another post following this one.
 
I would have to say yes and no.

Many holy Christians lived and died before an iota of the New Testament was written, including St. Stephen the Protomartyr.

Throughout the great majority of Christian history, most people were illiterate. Are you saying they weren’t saved?!

Yes also in a way-- the Hebrew Bible was God teaching in history about Messiah–without which we would have not recognized him. It didn’t save, but enabled us to grasp when salvation came.

Even with illiteracy, faith comes through hearing and even illiterate people knew much more than many modern Christians! They heard the Word and saw mosaics and icons and paintings and sculpture and stained glass and flying buttresses–all which tells the story.

The Bible reports Jesus saying: you search the scriptures, thinking that in them you will find salvation, yet you refuse to come to me.

We are not saved by the Bible, but the Word–the Logos–Jesus Christ.👍
 
Jesus also saves pre-literate babies and children, illiterate people, and non-literate (like MRDD) people–who will never read a Bible. 👍
 
That being said–reading the Bible can save us from Purgatory–the church gives a plenary indulgence for a half hour of reading Scripture (assuming other conditions of obtaining the indulgence are met). The church powerfully rewards reading and praying with Scripture.

It’s saving power soaks our prayer including the liturgical life of the Mass and Liturgy of the Hours. 👍
 
Of course not! Most of the most popular saints today such as the Apostles and the Early Church Fathers lived at a time where there was no Bible. So how did they become saints and enter heaven if the Bible is necessary for salvation?
 
In the objective salvation history (beyond just the individual level), the NT was necessary for the preservation of the gospel message throughout time. The Church venerates the Bible as she venerates the body of the Lord Jesus.

Without the NT things might have got garbled along the way, built only on the shifting sands of the opinions of men. We’ve certainly seen a proliferation of that over recent centuries. :eek:
 
kentuckyliz said:
I would have to say yes and no.

Many holy Christians lived and died before an iota of the New Testament was written, including St. Stephen the Protomartyr.

Throughout the great majority of Christian history, most people were illiterate. Are you saying they weren’t saved?!

Yes also in a way-- the Hebrew Bible was God teaching in history about Messiah–without which we would have not recognized him. It didn’t save, but enabled us to grasp when salvation came.

Even with illiteracy, faith comes through hearing and even illiterate people knew much more than many modern Christians! They heard the Word and saw mosaics and icons and paintings and sculpture and stained glass and flying buttresses–all which tells the story.

The Bible reports Jesus saying: you search the scriptures, thinking that in them you will find salvation, yet you refuse to come to me.

We are not saved by the Bible, but the Word–the Logos–Jesus Christ.👍
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I was always wondering this… good explanation!
 
The Word of God is essential. It doesn’t matter if it is heard orally, read from a book or lived and experienced through our families and communities.

The physical book that conveniently holds the printed Word is just a conveyance and not essential.
 
Is Sacred Scripture necessary for salvation?

Personal salvation? Salvation history rests in Sacred Scripture.

The Gospels and Epistles were “neccessary” for liturgical worship very early on in the early Church and they continue to be today.

We gather an understanding of Jesus through Sacred Scripture.

Sacred Scripture is necessary for establishing Sacred Tradition. To have the original standard to conform to.

The Israelites relied on oral tradition whereas the Jews carried forward God’s oral history into a written format. Saving it for us.

I think your question is confusing. To whom are you asking that question?

Baptism is necessary, continual conversion is neccessary, Eucharist is necessary, absolution from mortal sin is necessary. Faith, hope and charity is necessary.
 
The key to salvation at least to me is through obedience to the laws of God, repentance, prayer, acts of mercy, forgiveness ,trust and faith in Jesus and receiving the holy sacraments. The bible however is an valuable tool that teaches of God and Jesus. I have found that it has given me a better understanding on how to be a better christian and has helped me gain a better perspective on why God will things to happen the way that they happened until this very day. It has also taught me to trust in the will of God even if I don’t understand it at the moment. In short the bible is awesome trust me you won’t be dissapointed read it!
 
I don’t like to change other people’s questions, but I would have asked:

“Are the CONTENTS of the Bible necessary for salvation?”

I think the answer is an unqualified “yes”. The Bible is God’s Word and plan for how man should live (primarily OT) before the coming of the New Covenant, and it presents Christ’s teachings while he was present on Earth and the “new teachings” of love for one’s fellow man.

I think too many people get so caught up in trying to discredit “sola scriptura” (which is indefensible from a very simple, logical standpoint), that some begin to almost ignore scripture and say, essentially, “all I need is to listen to my Church”.

Is the Holy See the final arbiter of God’s Word? Yes - without question.

But without God’s written word, what would the Holy See be teaching/interpreting? I fully agree that Sacred Tradition is on par with Scripture, but we must have both. One is not more important than the other. They co-exist in harmony, and should.

And although it is true that no one while Jesus was alive, including Jesus, wrote down, or told anyone to record, what he taught and how he lived., I think it was inevitable that it was going to be done. We had many, many examples of how laws and teachings were passed down from generation to generation such as the Torah, the Talmud, the Code of Hammurabi, the Code of Justinian, etc.

My departed grandmother lived to be 93 years old and could not read one word (she was a Cajun who lived the majority of her life in the swamps of Louisiana). Yet she was Catholic to the core, and when the priests would travel to the “common ground” in the middle of the Atchafalaya Basin, they read from the Scriptures. So simple because many people were illiterate in Jesus’s time and some were illiterate in the 20th century does not mean that God’s written word was not necessary.

I think you can ask many people whom we refer to as “Native Americans” (even though they originated in China and Russia thousands of years ago) that they “traditions” that were passed down from the elders to the young instead of through writings, have suffered greatly because of the lack of a written “tradition” that they could refer to.

Let’s face it - how many times have you heard a story start out saying “X” and by the time it makes it rounds, it has turned in to “X”, plus a little or a lot of “Y” and “Z”.

Sacred Tradition is fine. Sacred Scripture helps to ensure the same teachings are taught for hundreds of years to come.
 
No, the bible isn’t required, nor is being Catholic.

However, both are extremely helpful and make things a lot easier.

Hearing the Word of God and obeying his will and belief in Jesus, among many other things is what is required.

Wether you read the bible, hear it in church or are simply saved by God’s Grace, the same thing can happen.

Non-Christians can be saved, so I don’t believe the Bible is required.
 
If the Bible is the only book ever in your possession we know it will save you provided you open your heart and live accordingly. Reading followed by action such as prayer and charity is pretty important.

Today, the Bible, Sacred Tradition and the Magesterium of the Church are equally important in rounding out your Catholic life.

Remember that it is the best selling book of all time.
 
mcrow,

With respect, you might want to be careful how you word your responses.

I noted that you are “registered” as a candidate to become Catholic. To become Catholic, you will have to “discard” the following as a part of your beliefs:
  1. “Wether you read the bible, hear it in church or are simply saved by God’s Grace, the same thing can happen.”
  2. “No, the bible isn’t required, nor is being Catholic.”
  3. “Non-Christians can be saved, so I don’t believe the Bible is required.”
I don’t know if you realize it or not, but taken at face value, if you truly believe everything I enumerated as your quotes, you basically just eliminated the “point” in adopting any organized religious belief system.

If you don’t need the Bible, you don’t need to become Catholic, and can be saved “simply by God’s grace” - it sounds like you are somewhere between a hardcore evangelical and a Buddhist 🙂

In other words, if you really believe everything you wrote, why become anything? Just go along through life and try to do what you think is “right”, abide by your conscience, and, according to you, you should “have it made” with God’s grace . . . no need for the Catholic Church or the faith.

I don’t want to provoke an “extra ecclesiam nulla salus” debate, but the more people talk about and even advocate the non-necessity of the Catholic Church as a precursor to salvation, the more one is basically saying that it does not matter what religion one is - or if one even follows a religion.

If that were true, then we have over 1 billion people wasting their time . . . and I certainly don’t believe that.

One may not have to be a “card carrying Catholic” - but ALL salvation does flow from the Catholic Church. That is a dogma of our faith and as such, cannot be changed.
 
Salvatore123 said:
…I don’t want to provoke an “extra ecclesiam nulla salus” debate, but the more people talk about and even advocate the non-necessity of the Catholic Church as a precursor to salvation, the more one is basically saying that it does not matter what religion one is - or if one even follows a religion.

If that were true, then we have over 1 billion people wasting their time . . . and I certainly don’t believe that…
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But with the world population heading toward 7 billion, we have 6 billion who are outside of the church, what happens to them - no salvation?

I’m just saying, shouldnt we believe in a loving and merciful God? Arent we setting boundaries around God, by saying he cant forgive?
 
Corki said:
The Word of God is essential. It doesn’t matter if it is heard orally, read from a book or lived and experienced through our families and communities.

The physical book that conveniently holds the printed Word is just a conveyance and not essential.
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Exactly 👍
 
Dave,

You said: *"But with the world population heading toward 7 billion, we have 6 billion who are outside of the church, what happens to them - no salvation?

I’m just saying, shouldnt we believe in a loving and merciful God? Arent we setting boundaries around God, by saying he cant forgive?"*

As I mentioned, I am NOT saying everyone has to be a “card-carrying” Catholic. But if one is exposed to the Catholic faith and one obstinately refuses to accept its teaching of God’s Word, then I guess I will leave their salvation between God and them.

I can only say what I believe: I know my faith, what I have been taught, what it offers, and that I believe it is the true faith. If I refused to follow it, I should be “punished” for not following it.

I realize it sounds cruel and harsh, but when it comes down to the “brass tacks”, I think we must use caution lest we sound like Oprah Winfrey when she famously said, “I think there could be millions of ways to get to God or whomever or whatever is out there”.

That not only mocks religion, but mocks the very existence of truth. God either exists or he does not. The Catholic Church is either the “keeper of the faith” from which the means of salvation flows or it isn’t.

If we did not have such a belief in our own faith, why in the world do we remain in that faith?

But to reiterate what I said in response to the OP: I think the question is not so much is the “bible” (meaning the book) necessary for salvation, as opposed to God’s word, which has been passed down to us THROUGH that book. Like I mentioned, cultures that relied primarily on the passing down of the vast majority of their traditions have witnessed the disappearence of their traditions because it is simply so difficult to pass down so much. Just look at what Christ taught. Although he did not direct anyone to write down anything, I think the Apostles soon realized that without something written to be handed down through the generations, doctrine and teachings would become perverted - and even writing them down did not entirely prevent the perversions.

I hope that once you read this, you will realize I am not condemning anyone who is not Catholic to hell. That is between God and them. I can speak only for myself. 🙂
 
Salvatore123 said:
mcrow,

With respect, you might want to be careful how you word your responses.

I noted that you are “registered” as a candidate to become Catholic. To become Catholic, you will have to “discard” the following as a part of your beliefs:
  1. “Wether you read the bible, hear it in church or are simply saved by God’s Grace, the same thing can happen.”
  2. “No, the bible isn’t required, nor is being Catholic.”
  3. “Non-Christians can be saved, so I don’t believe the Bible is required.”
I don’t know if you realize it or not, but taken at face value, if you truly believe everything I enumerated as your quotes, you basically just eliminated the “point” in adopting any organized religious belief system.

If you don’t need the Bible, you don’t need to become Catholic, and can be saved “simply by God’s grace” - it sounds like you are somewhere between a hardcore evangelical and a Buddhist 🙂

In other words, if you really believe everything you wrote, why become anything? Just go along through life and try to do what you think is “right”, abide by your conscience, and, according to you, you should “have it made” with God’s grace . . . no need for the Catholic Church or the faith.

I don’t want to provoke an “extra ecclesiam nulla salus” debate, but the more people talk about and even advocate the non-necessity of the Catholic Church as a precursor to salvation, the more one is basically saying that it does not matter what religion one is - or if one even follows a religion.

If that were true, then we have over 1 billion people wasting their time . . . and I certainly don’t believe that.

One may not have to be a “card carrying Catholic” - but ALL salvation does flow from the Catholic Church. That is a dogma of our faith and as such, cannot be changed.
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My point is this:

God will send to heaven whoever he darn well pleases, so if you have God’s Grace in doing so, you will go to heaven be you catholic or not or if you’ve read the bible or not. The teachings of the bible are required only if you were made aware of them. There are saints among us that are neither Catholic or well read in the bible. These people are saved because they were never brought the word of God or teachings of the bible. In a remote town or village where they have not been introduced to the Christ or the bible, it is quite possible to go to heaven without ever hearing the word of the Lord.

Personally, because I’ve been told the Word and infact read it, it’s 100% responsible for my actions and not following the teachings of the Chruch and the bible would be denounce the Lord himself. So, yes, for me, the bible is needed and the Church is needed. In fact, for most us it is needed.

I was just trying to point out that there are some who will not be held responsible, if they were never taught the bible or educated in anyway on the subject.
 
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