Bible Study

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djrakowski said:
My friend, if I had a dime for every time I’ve been asked that question… I’d have a lot of dimes 😃 (and sadly, I’d have to give 'em all back for the number of times I tried to get Catholics ‘saved’ - may God have mercy on my soul :()

My former Protestant pastor no longer speaks to me. I tried to open a dialog just to let him know that I still appreciate what he’s taught me, and he responded, “go talk to your priest. Unless you’re interested in coming back to my church, I have nothing further to say to you.”

One of my friends also left that church and became Catholic. She showed up at the church office to present our former pastor with a gift, and he turned his back and walked away from her without a word.
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You will know they are Christians by their love.
Prayers & blessings
Deacon Ed B
 
Deacon_Ed_B said:
You will know they are Christians by their love.
Prayers & blessings
Deacon Ed B
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Indeed… we even used to sing a worship chorus that included that line…

Getting somewhat back on-topic… I participated in Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) for a few years, and was asked to be a children’s leader. Near the end of the year, the director of the study asked if I had any recommendations on people who’d be good at leading children’s groups during our next session. I remembered a man who’d helped out in my classroom a number of times, who I thought had a pretty good grasp of the Bible and was outstanding with the kids (far better than I was, I have to admit). He was rejected because he was Pentecostal. At that time, I was informed that Catholics were the only other group excluded from leadership. So, it was far from the ‘non-denominational’ Bible study it claimed to be - it was a conservative, premil dispensationalist, OSAS Bible study.
 
Deacon_Ed_B said:
One of the problems that is usually encountered with going to a protestant bible study is that they work on the premise that there can be no wrong answers. That in and of itself should be a large red flag.
Prayers & blessings
Deacon Ed B
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This I can attest to, I’m on two other protestant centric forums and they think no answer is wrong by and large. The only ones that may approach right and wrong is the Reformed of which I use to be.
 
djrakowski said:
Clearly, we targeted non-Catholics because, in our mind, they weren’t Christian and had never heard the gospel.
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Well, clearly you attended a denomination that was ignorant, backwards in my mind. 🤷 That’s not being Christian just like it’s not being a good Catholic to tell Protestants they are heretics.

Like I said, the Protestant communities are very diverse. My daughter is 13 and still attends the same Protestant summer camp she has since she was very small. But it’s run by PCUSA so I trust them. They are not evangelicals and come from the high Church tradition. I would also send her to a United Methodist one if I had to as they are also not evangelical.

This must be a California thing because out here we don’t get hung up on where someone goes. :rolleyes: at least not in any neighborhood I’ve ever lived in. The one’s who ask if you are “saved” are usually street corner preachers. 😛
 
someone said…

To date have never met a protestant who has read the entire bible. The protestants who come here to the forum get offended in that I say that they don’t read the Bible and counter with a claim at Catholics but it is a non sequitur. I am Catholic. I read the ENTIRE Bible every year.

That is SO ridiculous. You have now read a protestant who has read the entire bible… and I also read the bible for an hour every single day. I would say that almost everyone is our church reads the bible on a regular basis, and most know a lot of scripture by heart. And they don’t twist it to match Catholic doctrine either.
 
myredeemerlives said:
someone said…

To date have never met a protestant who has read the entire bible. The protestants who come here to the forum get offended in that I say that they don’t read the Bible and counter with a claim at Catholics but it is a non sequitur. I am Catholic. I read the ENTIRE Bible every year.

That is SO ridiculous. You have now read a protestant who has read the entire bible… and I also read the bible for an hour every single day. I would say that almost everyone is our church reads the bible on a regular basis, and most know a lot of scripture by heart. And they don’t twist it to match Catholic doctrine either.
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But then why don’t you read the ENTIRE Bible. You don’t. You twist what is left in your bible to be against Christ so that you can worship the Book and not the Lord. We don’t twist anything. Catholics think the Bible MEANS what it SAYS. “THIS IS MY BODY.”

Wake up, READ a REAL Bible and you just might want to become a Christian. As you are now, I feel sorry for you.
 
I think this whole question of whether Protestants have read the “whole Bible” is mean-spirited.

Protestants don’t KNOW that there are more books in the Bible! They have been taught for five centuries that the extra books in the Catholic Bible are apocrypha that were added by the Catholic Church.

A few of the mainline Protestant denominations (e.g., the Calvinist denominations like the Reformed and the Presbyterian) who have studied the Belgic Confession will know that this Confession encourages Christians to read the Apocryphal books because they are edifying to Christians (Article 6). But the Belgic Confession states that these books are not inspired Scripture. (And then comes the question, how many of the Reformed and Presbyterian Christians have actually sat down and studied the Belgic Confesson?!)

It isn’t fair and it isn’t kind to hold someone’s ignorance against them and berate them for it and call them liars. It isn’t charitable to “trick” Protestants by saying, “Have you read the ENTIRE Bible? Oh, no no no you haven’t!” This is just mean-spirited, sneaky, double-sided talk that deliberately seeks to make other people feel small and stupid.

It’s like me saying to most of you, “You don’t know what a double back lunge intersection is and yet you call yourself a figure skating fan?! Liar!”

We should all remember I Corinthians 13–If you have all knowledge…but have not love…you have NOTHING! (my paraphrase)
 
Claudius said:
But then why don’t you read the ENTIRE Bible. You don’t. You twist what is left in your bible to be against Christ so that you can worship the Book and not the Lord. We don’t twist anything. Catholics think the Bible MEANS what it SAYS. “THIS IS MY BODY.”

Wake up, READ a REAL Bible and you just might want to become a Christian. As you are now, I feel sorry for you.
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The Catholic Church defines a “Christian” as someone who has been baptized in water in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

By this definition, most of the Protestants ARE Christians. To deny this is to accuse the Catholic Church of lying.

And I feel sorry for you because you have read the Bible–the whole Bible–and missed the admonitions of Our Lord to Love One Another.
 
Cat said:
I think this whole question of whether Protestants have read the “whole Bible” is mean-spirited.

Protestants don’t KNOW that there are more books in the Bible! They have been taught for five centuries that the extra books in the Catholic Bible are apocrypha that were added by the Catholic Church.

A few of the mainline Protestant denominations (e.g., the Calvinist denominations like the Reformed and the Presbyterian) who have studied the Belgic Confession will know that this Confession encourages Christians to read the Apocryphal books because they are edifying to Christians (Article 6). But the Belgic Confession states that these books are not inspired Scripture. (And then comes the question, how many of the Reformed and Presbyterian Christians have actually sat down and studied the Belgic Confesson?!)

It isn’t fair and it isn’t kind to hold someone’s ignorance against them and berate them for it and call them liars. It isn’t charitable to “trick” Protestants by saying, “Have you read the ENTIRE Bible? Oh, no no no you haven’t!” This is just mean-spirited, sneaky, double-sided talk that deliberately seeks to make other people feel small and stupid.

It’s like me saying to most of you, “You don’t know what a double back lunge intersection is and yet you call yourself a figure skating fan?! Liar!”

We should all remember I Corinthians 13–If you have all knowledge…but have not love…you have NOTHING! (my paraphrase)
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You know, this is interesting. You read the post, thought it mean something about the Deuterocanonical books (which the Protestants did remove), took offense and posted this.

I read the post, and thought “why yes, inside of three years Catholics who go to Mass, do hear the complete Bible read to them, while my Protestant family only hear snippets of what their pastor likes–but not the whole thing.” I also didn’t take offense. It was just a statement of fact, nothing more.

Perhaps you would do well to re-read the Corinthian quote.
 
myredeemerlives said:
Yep it was me. It was a combination of things really… realising that Christ really did it all on the cross made me doubt the need for priests and sacraments at all… it was conflicting for me. So I went to a Christian church that followed the bible alone out of pure curiousity more than anything… the signs and wonders, and a direct word from God converted me. God was there, among the people.

Also, as I repented of my sin (worshipping the Eucharist… I’m so sorry if this offends anyone) God actually came into my life… for the first time I actually know Him personally. I never knew that God spoke to people, healed them spiritually and changed circumstances to discipline and teach. It’s awesome. All you need is Jesus, I promise you that. God loves us so much, and He wants to be our father… but not in a “holy our father” kind of way but a real personal kind of way. Like waking you up in the middle of the night just so he can tell you that He just wanted to see your face and look at you. He does that. I ask Him what sins he hated the most from me and He tells me He can’t remember them, because I am forgiven. Same as any father loves to watch over His child and He wants that relationship with all of us, and it’s truly possible if you will just believe.

I can just really feel God’s heart for all of you… He just wants you to believe and trust Him with everything you have. Think of the parable of the prodigal son, who came back to His father in repentance and sorrow… the father didn’t judge Him, he just opened His arms and welcomed Him with rejoicing. I want that for all of you.
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Thank you for your honesty… of course I would disagree with you but that isn’t the purpose of the thread… I was simply wondering if Catholics attending non-Catholic Bible studys may often be a reason for them leaving the Church… You answered my question…

Sorry for the other posts that came as a result of your answering my question… I promise that was not my intentions but I should have seen it coming:o

SD
 
You know I have learned alot here. The first thing is something I truely never thought about no disrespect directed to anyone especially protestants, (we are all Gods Children), but a good point did come up, all the books. I forgot that they dont have all the books. i agree with the one thread also, and they are right they have been taught we added them, we, they took them away. The truth must be told. But lets face it we only know what we are taught, But with a little love and compassion we can hopefully show them why we need all the books. But lets face it as Catholic’s we must be Christlike. But I must say I do agree with what the protestant said they only know what they were taught the same as us. But lets pull together as all Children of Christ and help each other especially those who dont know that there are some books they may want to study a little. And they are the words of Our Beloved Jesus Christ, and thats what we have in common our Love for Christ, and explore them with a open mind. But I never thought about the books missing. It never entered my mind. Good point very good point. And so far that is probally the best reason so far that there would be a big problem.
 
Also my redeemerlives, If I can side track for a second ( im sorry to everyone) Im lost here isnt Jesus and the Eucharist the same thing. Do you not agree that the Eucharist is Christ himself. I thought Protestants also believed This is my Body which was give up for you. I know protestants and Catholics had disagreements on authority to give communion but I though we both thought it was still Christ. If not what is the Eucharist to a Protestant. My husband was protestant and thought it was Christ too. Please if you dont mind, help me here and then we can move on. Sorry again to everyone else. And again redeemerlives no disrespect just confused here.
 
AMDGtoo said:
You all are talking about how it’s only fear that keeps Catholics from Protestant Bible Studies. Ummm, no. It’s reality. In our parish we have had both the Paulist study and the Little Rock study. The Little Rock study ended up being favored–it provided the separate books for the study and a movie about what was studied all for about $10 a person. Well, after completing one of the studies (there are several), those taking the Bible Study decided to “save money” by just using the instructions for teaching Romans from a Protestant friend for teaching our class. Well, that class did more than “save money”–it actually taught interpretations that went against Catholic teaching. :bigyikes: It was not about “fellowship”. Those taking that class were subtlely being indoctrinated into heresy! (What’s really scary, is that most of the people didn’t even realize it–they though it was just “the Bible says” and “the Catholic Church must have gotten wrong”.)
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Yep. That’s usually the bottom line to so-called ‘fellowship’. Had a guy in the Army in Korea persistently invite me to his ‘fellowship’ meetings. I interrogated him at length about denominational affiliation, because I was tempted to go out of loneliness. He swore they were truly ‘non-denominational’. Nope. They were Church of Christ Bible studies and recruitment gatherings. Got him to confess at the last minute. Didn’t go.
 
rinnie said:
Also my redeemerlives, If I can side track for a second ( im sorry to everyone) Im lost here isnt Jesus and the Eucharist the same thing. Do you not agree that the Eucharist is Christ himself. I thought Protestants also believed This is my Body which was give up for you. I know protestants and Catholics had disagreements on authority to give communion but I though we both thought it was still Christ. If not what is the Eucharist to a Protestant. My husband was protestant and thought it was Christ too. Please if you dont mind, help me here and then we can move on. Sorry again to everyone else. And again redeemerlives no disrespect just confused here.
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Hi Rinnie, it depends on what type of “Protestant” your husband was. Most people apart from Catholics don’t call me Protestant, I’m a born again Christian or Pentecostal Christian. We don’t believe that Jesus and the Eucharist are one and the same thing, no. We believe that Jesus insituted the communion as a way of remembering Him and what He has done for us on the cross. We believe that Jesus is in His glorifed body seated at the right hand of the Father, and the Holy Spirit comes and dwells in us.

Hope that helps.
 
Okay now Jesus said I am the living bread that came down from heaven if anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and abides in me, and I in him. Now I am not trying to preach to you, the only reason i said this is for two reasons. First to a Catholic we believe these words okay. Second this is probally another example why our bible study together can not work. Now lets say you and I were at bible study together, I know as being a born again christian you and i will not agree. Now here is the problem there is no way in the world you can get me to except that those are not the words of Christ and they are not the truth, now what will happen to us. Would we argue, ignore this, just say okay you see it your way i will see it mine? Please understand im not being sarcastic, but how could we call this bible study when we would not get to the truth to what those words mean. It would come down to your truth, my truth, we would probally just throw scripture back and forth at eachother, take scripture out of context. But my question here is how would we learn anything. Yes you can read the bible and see it you way, and i could read it and see it my way but we could do that on our own. But i thought bible study was to learn what Christ wanted us to know? See what i mean, how could this work?
 
Well, for me, the bible says that we need to rightly divide the word of God. So, going by other scriptures in the bible that say Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficent for the whole world I can safely say that eating Jesus’ flesh and blood isn’t what saves us.

It’s not about taking one scripture out of context, it’s about getting the whole message of salvation right. Many things, I believe, that the Catholic church do have no basis in scripture… they rely on tradition. So, while we could bible study together… you can’t take the bible as the final authority as you also rely on Church traditions and Papal authority.

For me, God’s word is true and authoritive in of itself. So that’s where the main problem would lie with us studying together.
 
myredeemerlives said:
For me, God’s word is true and authoritive in of itself. So that’s where the main problem would lie with us studying together.
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But isn’t this the problem, myredeemerlives? The bible says that the CHURCH is the pillar and foundation of truth. Do you not accept this?
 
myredeemerlives said:
Well, for me, the bible says that we need to rightly divide the word of God. So, going by other scriptures in the bible that say Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficent for the whole world I can safely say that eating Jesus’ flesh and blood isn’t what saves us.

It’s not about taking one scripture out of context, it’s about getting the whole message of salvation right. Many things, I believe, that the Catholic church do have no basis in scripture… they rely on tradition. So, while we could bible study together… you can’t take the bible as the final authority as you also rely on Church traditions and Papal authority.

For me, God’s word is true and authoritive in of itself. So that’s where the main problem would lie with us studying together.
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So you more or less agree also it just could not be done. There is no way a Catholic and other Religion could study together.
 
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