Bible Study - BSF International

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My experience with BSF seems typical of what most of you have reported thus far. I was a BSF student for nearly 2.5 years, with the last full year spent as a children’s leader. I was quizzed by the coordinator of our local class to ensure that I didn’t have any theological views that contradicted those of the host church, which was Baptist. The only members who were permitted to serve were other Baptists and non-denominational evangelicals. Pentecostals, charismatics, liturgical (mostly mainline) Protestants, and especially Catholics, were specifically barred from leadership.

The class bills itself as being non-denominational, but its refusal to allow people of other theological perspectives in leadership makes it essentially a Bible study that adopts the perspective of its local host church. Discussions that strayed away from comfortable evangelical positions, including those of eternal security, OSAS, the symbolic nature of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and salvation by merely ‘accepting Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior’ were strictly prohibited, and thus, a Catholic wasn’t at all free to discuss his interpretation of verses that pointed away from those positions.

In our Saturday-morning leadership meetings, we were coached on how to lead someone to faith by taking them down the “Romans Road,” and were actively encouraged to get them to say a “sinner’s prayer,” which supposedly locked up their salvation from that point forward. We were not encouraged to respect individual theological positions that differed from this formula, and thus were actively engaged in the process of getting Catholics and other non-evangelical Protestants to deny their own theologies.
 
Those in my parish who wanted an in-depth CATHOLIC Bible Study have been very happy with the Cornerstone program.

In Christ’s peace and joy,

Robin
 
Upon reading many replies, thank you!, I am currently taking the Jeff Cavins Bible Study of Exodus and I love it. We are studying next 1st Corinthians. Thank you all for your opinions and knowledge on the subject.
 
I participated in BSF for many years as a Protestant and for a few more years as a Catholic. I am now a participant in a Catholic Scripture Study International study and find it superior to BSF.

However, I would like to note that even though BSF has a conservative evangelical Protestant bias, it was one of several factors that led me to the Catholic Church.

BSF taught me to read scripture thoughtfully and prayerfully. It instilled in me the habit of trying to read scripture daily.

I also observed that the Catholic participants in BSF seemed to be more devout and more joyous than many of the others.

I also started noticing that BSF’s did not usually include a Catholic perspective, and the Catholic perspective often made more sense (at least I was reading some good Catholic literature).

Finally, I left BSF after the teaching leader gave a lecture on the last chapter of Romans and warned the group to stay away from divisive persons and not to stay with them in hopes of teaching them the truth. I realized that Protestants (and BSF) were divisive by nature. To me, the Catholic faith is like the house built on the rock, while the Protestants seem to have their house built on shifting sands. The Protestants also remind me of Israel at the end of the book of Judges, where there was no king, so everyone did what he thought was right in his own eyes.
 
I agree with the preference for a Catholic study, but what about the fact that few studies exist and most Catholics stay away in droves when one is offered?

The Catholic interested in Bible study won;t find much in the way off groups.

And starting one is …un-productive, Maybe it’s my attitude.
 
As far as I can tell, I seem to have more experience with BSF than anyone who’s posted so far, so I’ll share my experience, for what it’s worth.

I was in BSF for eleven years (plus a fraction), the first five full years as a small group discussion leader. That was long before I even dreamed I might become Catholic someday. As a leader, every year before class started I was required to sign BSF’s Statement of Faith, which indicated that I was in full agreement with the theology taught by BSF, including “justification by faith alone” and “once saved always saved.”

During these years I attended a regional leadership retreat, at which a new study on the book of Romans was announced. The primary reason for introducing this new study was because the leadership of BSF had been alarmed to discover, through a poll, that a large number of BSF members did not believe in “justification by faith alone.” The Romans study was designed to drive home this entirely Protestant doctrine.

I left leadership when I had a baby but continued to attend as a regular class member. During my final years in BSF I read my way into the Catholic Church and was confirmed at Easter of 2002, my second-to-last year in BSF.

I was in three different BSF classes with four different teaching leaders (the ones who give the lectures). The teaching leader under whom I was a discussion leader was very charitable towards Catholics and explained to the pastors of the local Catholic parishes that all leaders were required to sign the BSF Statement of Faith, which disagrees at several points with Catholic doctrine. I never heard her say anything negative about the Catholic Church (except that Catholic doctrine disagrees on many points with BSF’s teachings, a mere statement of fact). Under her leadership, we discussion leaders were required to stop group members from making disparaging remarks about the Catholic Church.

My second teaching leader also said nothing negative about the Catholic Church. The third one was an ex-Catholic, and she ridiculed (gently) the doctrine of indulgences in one of her lectures and implied that Catholics should reconsider their faith. My last teaching leader was a wonderful, godly woman, but she really upset me one day after I had become Catholic by taking a verse out of context from one of the Psalms to “prove” that Mary had physical children other than Jesus and thus was not a perpetual virgin. I was so mad I wanted to stand up in the lecture and say, “Now, wait just a minute!!” (I didn’t, of course. . . .)

It was at that point that I began to question what I was still doing in BSF, so when I was asked to start an evening Catholic Scripture Study class in my parish (we already had a morning class), I leapt at the opportunity. We are now in our fourth year, and loving it. Any Catholic who wants an in-depth Bible study using a format copied (I’ll admit it) from BSF, but with excellent Catholic teaching, check CSSprogram.net for a class near you. If there isn’t one, start one yourself! You don’t have to be a theologian or a catechist, because they provide the questions, answers, in-depth notes, lectures by a priest on DVD, and both on-line and local support. Best of all, it’s 100% orthodox Catholic teaching!

Keren
Tiber Swim Team – Class of 2002
 
I was in BSF for 13 years, but never as a group leader or even a children’s leader (though I was invited to be a children’s leader I declined.) I almost did the whole sequence twice. As I mentioned above, BSF (unintentionally, I’m sure 😉 ) was one of the factors that led me to the Catholic Church.

It bothered me that some of the questions had an anti-Catholic bias, such as “How can the doctrine of faith alone be applied today.” My answer, was “it can’t” and cited the second chapter of James.

On the other hand, my husband reported that his Teaching Leader said something to the effect that “Protestants do not honor Mary enough, and that that is worse than honoring her too much, as some accuse Catholics of doing.” In his class, they seemed to be much more open to the Catholic position.
 
EHRAM said:
I was in BSF for 13 years, but never as a group leader or even a children’s leader (though I was invited to be a children’s leader I declined.) I almost did the whole sequence twice. As I mentioned above, BSF (unintentionally, I’m sure 😉 ) was one of the factors that led me to the Catholic Church.

It bothered me that some of the questions had an anti-Catholic bias, such as “How can the doctrine of faith alone be applied today.” My answer, was “it can’t” and cited the second chapter of James.

On the other hand, my husband reported that his Teaching Leader said something to the effect that “Protestants do not honor Mary enough, and that that is worse than honoring her too much, as some accuse Catholics of doing.” In his class, they seemed to be much more open to the Catholic position.
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Hello, and the Peace
  1. Treat every “anti-Catholic” question as an Opportunity to offer the TRUTH, which is available in the Roman Catholic Church.
  2. Protestants & Mary.
    As Dr Scott Hahn suggests
    The Commandments teaches us to honour our parents;
    Jesus beats us to that by giving the greatest honour to His mother.
I recommen to you an invaluable resource

website: www.salvation history.com
Book amazon.com/Catholic-Source-Book-Peter-Klein/dp/0159018838/ref=pd_bbs_1/105-0835580-7970801?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194070136&sr=8-1
Catholic SourceBook by Rev P. Kiein.
 
I can tell you from PERSONAL experience that Catholics are not allowed to be small group leaders, let alone leaders of any kind, in BSF. I know…because I specifically asked. Interestingly enough, many more than just Catholics would be prohibited from leadership roles based on the BSF doctrine of faith that must be signed and agreed to. Keren’s post above is very accurate and does an excellent job of explaining what I was told when I asked my question.

If you attend BSF, you will sooner or later come face to face with teaching against some basic tenets of your Catholic faith. The one that is brought up almost continually is the doctrine of “once saved, always saved,” which conflicts with Church teaching…let alone Paul’s recorded scriptural words that he hoped he could “finish the race.”

As an aside, the BSF teaching on faith and works is ironically a little more Catholic leaning than they might like to admit.

Finally, a lot of the questions that BSF labors and ponders over are very smartly and concisely answered within the Catholic Catechism. I learned this when I started attending a Jeff Cavins bible study. The Catechism is truly a treasure and a great example that contradicts the BSF believe in Sola Scripture, and their emphasis on “self-interpretation.” Some of the BSF lessons really get themselves wrapped around the axle trying to explain away Catholic interpretation.

Finally, to SahmomMN…good for you on finding the Jeff Cavins bible study. I may even be in your study. 🙂

rocketrob
 
I started BSF at a time when my Catholic faith was weak, and I remained in it for about 5 years. It actually was a good thing, because all the subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle references to Catholic doctrine really got me to thinking about my faith and hence to learning about it. I liked what I “rediscovered,” and have been learning more ever since (thanks to Catholic Answers, Scott Hahn and Kimberly Hahn, and the like!)

But there was no way to present the Cathoic viewpoint, and absolutely no way to be in any leadership position if you were Catholic.

However, they did instill in me the knowledge of tithing not only worldly goods, but also TIME every day in prayer, and how important it is to read the Bible. I’ve never yet heard a priest preach about that.

My son was also attending Catholic grade school at the time, and he came to the children’s class. Sad to say, I think he received better teaching and example at BSF than he did at his Catholic school, where they were reticent to emphasize Catholic doctrine for fear that it might offend non-Catholics attending there.

Whether or not we agree with the BSF organization, these people are dedicated to spreading the Word of God and give an amazing amount of time and energy to do it. It’s hard to find Catholics with the same amount of enthusiasm and passion.
 
hainleys said:
However, they did instill in me the knowledge of tithing not only worldly goods, but also TIME every day in prayer, and how important it is to read the Bible. I’ve never yet heard a priest preach about that.

My son was also attending Catholic grade school at the time, and he came to the children’s class. Sad to say, I think he received better teaching and example at BSF than he did at his Catholic school, where they were reticent to emphasize Catholic doctrine for fear that it might offend non-Catholics attending there.

Whether or not we agree with the BSF organization, these people are dedicated to spreading the Word of God and give an amazing amount of time and energy to do it. It’s hard to find Catholics with the same amount of enthusiasm and passion.
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hainleys,
Your experience is certainly unfortunate. But I don’t think its universal. I can tell you that over 2,000 Catholics in the Twin Cities area attend regular bible studies in the Jeff Cavins programs alone. In one parish alone, there are currently about 500 teens attending one of his courses on the basics of the Catholic faith.

I myself just spent the last two days in a seminar on Theology of the Body where over 1,000 Catholics enthusiastically attended (500 adults and 500 teens). In addition, many priests (including both from my parish) and seminarians also attended.

In all of these programs, personal time and prayer is touted as being absolute necessities. And, the local priests go one better by encouraging all parishoners to spend this prayer and devotion time in the presence of Jesus himself by means of the blessed sacrament. Perpetual adoration is available at most parishes that I know of in the Twin Cities.

Perhaps some of these opportunities are truly available in your area just waiting for you to discover them.

Sincerely,
rocketrob
 
Rocketrob,
Your place sounds heavenly (no pun intended). We’ve finally had to leave our parish of 18 years two months ago because we no longer have any confidence that our pastor is trying to follow Catholic teaching. It’s SO encouraging to hear the response you are getting to the Theology of the Body–the pastor at our parish wouldn’t allow us to show Christopher West’s Theology of the Body videos (we personally own the 4-session and 8-session DVD’s plus several books)–the theology, as you know, is grounded in Genesis, and he believes Genesis, and most of the rest of the Bible, is just myth, and you can’t base teaching on myth. According to him, we don’t have to believe what’s in the Catechism–“it’s just a guide.” Not to mention that Hell is just “a possibility”–he doesn’t believe anyone is there, so it can’t exist. There’s more, but you really don’t want to hear it.

And yes, we did write the bishop; we did get a reply that it would be looked into; and everything is still going on as usual at our old parish. Father didn’t even bother to celebrate Mass on All Soul’s Day–it was his regular day off. Nothing new.

FYI…my husband and I tried to be quite active at our parish. We’ve sung in the choir for 18 years, worked in the youth group at one point, facilitated some Bible studies, and my husband served on the Pastoral Council.

I and my husband would never leave the Catholic faith–it’s just too, too precious to us. However, many have left our parish and its watered-down Catholicism for BSF and organizations like it, or have just left, period. BSF leaders are not afraid to evangelize, and they are reaping fruits for their labors.

So, Rocketrob, keep up the good work, and pray for those of us who are struggling to keep the Truth of the Catholic faith while those who are supposed to be leading us don’t follow it. Your story is so encouraging…thank you for posting it! Those of you who have wonderful priests, THANK GOD for them!!! I pray every day for those who lead BSF…they really do want the Truth, and I pray that someday they will experience the fullness of it in our wonderful Catholic Church!
 
hainleys,
In your first post, I thought that maybe you were over-generalizing regarding Catholics. But its obvious that I did not fully appreciate your situation. I will pray for you and your parish.

Sometimes changes are made…I can tell you that we had a change in pastoral leadership about a year ago. The prior pastor would not have allowed the Theology of the Body conference to occur at our parish, and I was also at the point of perhaps looking for a new parish. Fortunately, in my case, the Archbishop did make a change for the better.

rocketrob
 
SahmomMN said:
I was invited to join a Bible Study this fall through BSF International. I went to the informational meeting this morning at a local Lutheran church. Being Catholic I felt like a fish out of water. They talked about how it is was a non denominational study and how it is a study of what the bible says to you as an individual. The whole thing didn’t sit well with me. Can anyone tell me their thoughts?

:confused: :confused:
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SahmomMN said:
I was invited to join a Bible Study this fall through BSF International. I went to the informational meeting this morning at a local Lutheran church. Being Catholic I felt like a fish out of water. They talked about how it is was a non denominational study and how it is a study of what the bible says to you as an individual. The whole thing didn’t sit well with me. Can anyone tell me their thoughts?

:confused: :confused:
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I’m sorry to hear about your experience. I just happened onto this site when I was looking for the BSF international web page. I’ve been attending BSF for a little over 9 years! Circumstances have come up that make it impossible for me to continue attending the daytime class so I was searching for the local nigh time venue. I have “graduated” from the 8 year program and am choosing to redo the study because I’m at a different place in my faith and am being taught by the Spirit in a new way the second time around.And I will probably ,God willing, Choose to do the study a 3rd and 4th… I have never experienced any of the things you or anyone else has written to you. If anything, just the opposite. When BSF says non denominational it means just that. The “guidelines”(as we fondly refer to them) are that no one’s church is talked about nor any reference books, authors etc and these are upheld strictly. This is suppose to create an all-inclusive loving atmosphere. The reason behind the guidelines to focus on the Gospel and not be devisive. As Christians we are coming together to study the word of God not the dogma of each denomination… That said, anytime during the study, when there is multiple interpretations on a subject–passage, all interpretations are reviewed and discussed. There never was a correct interpretation/incorrect interpretation given, just the various opinions that existed.
I have to tell you that I not only developed a closer more fulfilling relation with our Lord through BSF but I have come to appreciate my Catholic faith even more and I am a convert of only 20 years!
Studying the Bible in the manner that BSF does has deepened my beliefs in all the sacraments, has made me become more involved with my Parish, and has made me a better Christian mother. I hope you give the program a chance because it is a wonderful tool to get you practicing your Catholic faith on a minute by minute basis. Try focusing on the fact that you are a Christian instead of a Catholic—I think we Catholics can be pretty prejudice sometimes! I know you won’t regret it!!
 
Island_Oak said:
Nonsense. You come together and leave with different faith traditions. No one I encountered was in the business of converting wayward Catholics.

The precise thing a non-denominational bible study endeavors to avoid. I would have been put-off if someone would have attempted to convert me to their Protestant “truth”. Such proselytizing has no place in an ecumenical program of study.

False

Not at all likely. These are uniquely Catholic teachings. BSF does not present itself as a Catholic-oriented study.

Using notated bibles IS discouraged for the simple reason that point of the BSF study is to read, reflect and then discuss your interpretation of the reading, not regurgitate the thoughts of someone else contained in a footnote.

BSF does not forbid or discourage any individual from considering the Bible reading in the context of his/her faith tradition. It does request you do not present your or your denominational interpretation as the only way to interpret a passage. Consider that this was particularly helpful when Jews and other non-Christians were part of the study and discussion.

This experience has nothing to do with BSF.

If you find yourself offended by a Bible study which is not strictly Catholic in its approach or orientation, then you probably should avoid BSF. “Non-denominational” suggests neither Catholicism or any other creed is preferred over another.

It’s common and accurate to distinguish Catholics from non-Catholic Christians. There are significant differences. Recognizing the existence of difference is not bigotry. Treating people unjustly because of differences is.

No…but pointing out inaccuracy is distinct from belittling.

Defensive?! I’d have to have some skin in the game to work up to defensive. Abusive?!?!?! :rotfl:Surely you jest.
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I think you have stated the truth quite effectively! My experience with BSF over the last 9 years has been exactly the same as yours which is what I love about BSF—consistency in their approach to the Bible study through their use of the non-denomination guidelines and it is replicated world wide weekly!!!
 
I realize that the hunger for Scripture Study cum fellowship seems to attract many Roman Catholics to attend BSF (Non-Denominatinal Bible Study course).

My view are as follows
  1. From experience, I seem to realize that Roman Catholics tend to condescend to the various religions and non-Catholic Christian communities via
  • Inviting them to seak, teach.
  • We join non-Catholic Christian Bible study Groups without suffiecient understanding of our own Faith Belief.
This is an excellent platform for “dialogue”. Unfurtunately many Roman Catholics do not fully understand their own Faith; before venturing to "outside territories"

We have numerous reputed Bible Study Groups to consider first.
Why not study with Roman Catholic teachings, Doctrines (The Catechism of the Catholic Church) first.?

E.g. use the Ignatus Catholic Study Bible with Study Q. and Application for study in a Bible Study Group… Hundreds of Catholic Bible Study on CD and Tapes are available.

2 With numerous " Spculative Theologies" abound; I recommend you read and study (non-fictional work) Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) Jesus of Nazareth. - You cannot go wrong.
 
richardeekw said:
I realize that the hunger for Scripture Study cum fellowship seems to attract many Roman Catholics to attend BSF (Non-Denominatinal Bible Study course).

My view are as follows
  1. From experience, I seem to realize that Roman Catholics tend to condescend to the various religions and non-Catholic Christian communities via
  • Inviting them to seak, teach.
  • We join non-Catholic Christian Bible study Groups without suffiecient understanding of our own Faith Belief.
This is an excellent platform for “dialogue”. Unfurtunately many Roman Catholics do not fully understand their own Faith; before venturing to "outside territories"

We have numerous reputed Bible Study Groups to consider first.
Why not study with Roman Catholic teachings, Doctrines (The Catechism of the Catholic Church) first.?

E.g. use the Ignatus Catholic Study Bible with Study Q. and Application for study in a Bible Study Group… Hundreds of Catholic Bible Study on CD and Tapes are available.

2 With numerous " Spculative Theologies" abound; I recommend you read and study (non-fictional work) Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) Jesus of Nazareth. - You cannot go wrong.
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Thanks for your response but before I made the decision to convert to Catholicism I studyand questioned in lenghten the docture/dogmaof the church for more than 1 1/2 years with the Priests of the local Catholic Church and read many books/references. After my conversion I have continued to study the teachings and have been teaching the children of the parish their CCD classes for 8 years. Attending and study with Bible study international is in addition to Catholic teachings and it allows me to study the best non-fictional book ever written with the author alone guiding me. With all that I know I’m not going wrong. I do agree with you on one thing. If more Catholics had abetter understanding of their personal faith and the faith of the Church as Christ set it up they would be more welcoming of our Christians. Perhaps I stated it incorrectly before – instead of saying non-denomination I should have said interdenominational
but we leave our dogma at the door and concentrate on the Word.
I am not encouraging anyone to leave their Catholic studies just be open to learning from other Christians and more (name removed by moderator)ortantly from the Lord himself!!! God Bless
 
To bird18ie:
If more Catholics had abetter understanding of their personal faith and the faith of the Church as Christ set it up they would be more welcoming of our Christians. Perhaps I stated it incorrectly before – instead of saying non-denomination I should have said interdenominational
but we leave our dogma at the door and concentrate on the Word.
I am not encouraging anyone to leave their Catholic studies just be open to learning from other Christians and more (name removed by moderator)ortantly from the Lord himself!!! God Bless
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God bless you for wanting to know more about the deposit of faith that Jesus gave us. I hope you know that He gave us this faith through the Church He established to guide us in our faith to grace that leads us to salvation. He promised us that through His Church the truth will be revealed and it will be protected by the Holy Spirit. No other church can claim that. Only one was started by Christ to be the teaching mechanism of the truth and the dispenser of graces. Other churches have started and had to limit the truths of the church so they could exist, like removing books from the bible and eliminating the priesthood, disavowing the sacraments and preaching the importance of faith alone to the detriment of Baptism. I personally would not want to learn my faith from any other than the original and Christ Centered Catholic Church. Others have a built in bias as I have stated above. This does not mean that those who are in BSI are not personally good people and graced by the Holy Spirit. No one can make that judgement, but if one really wants to know what it is that Christ’s Church is all about, I would not settle for just bits and pieces, but the whole version of Christ’s revelation. I don’t check dogma at anybody’s door. It is what Christ wants us to know and believe and it is the will of Christ for all of us to be joined to Him in His Church. Maybe someday that will happen as stated by the Gospel of John. Anyway, John writes that My sheep know my voice and follow. I always want to hear the voice that I know is of the Lord’s.
mdcpensive1
 
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