Catholic Bible Studies vs. "Non-denominational" Bible Studies

[KathleenLM]

Catholic Bible Study opened my eyes to the faith I was raised in. I had let so much go in one ear and out the other over 16 years of education in Catholic schools. After having my children, I became committed to dig in and discover God - whether that was in the Catholic Church or not. God heard my prayer and led me to a Catholic Bible Study which was the perfect environment for me to learn and grow - I was embraced and accepted even with all the misconceptions I had picked up from letting secular views direct my opinions for years. I became very committed to the Church, studied apologetics, traditional devotions, Church documents and papal writings and longed to find another Catholic Bible Study when we moved out-of-state a year later (1992). It was difficult back then to find Catholic Bible Studies and the only Catholic videos available to use were Little Rock Scripture Study, so I started that at the new parish. It has been a long journey and now there are SO many wonderful Catholic resources and options for bible studies. I just want to encourage other Catholics to seek out CATHOLIC resources!! A parish near where I live now is offering Beth Moore series rather than using Catholic resources. Yes, she is dynamic. Yes, she can help others grow in faith - but is it YOUR faith? Unless you have studied Catholicism as an adult and know the differences between Catholic teachings and non-Catholic teachings, it is dangerous to attend non-Catholic Bible Studies. Somehow, there is the impression out there that the non-Catholics do Bible Studies better than the Catholics! Sonja Corbitt is a Catholic speaker who is just as dynamic (and Baptist convert to Catholicism) and you don’t have to sort through what she says to figure out if it is consistent with Catholic teachings. There are a LOT of converts to the faith who are extremely dynamic and have books, videos, Bible Studies - there are even conferences across the country with them as speakers. Why spend precious time on a non-Catholic bible study if you can get the “fullness of the Truth” in a Catholic bible study?

 

[GladTidings]

I am glad you were committed to using Catholic resources early on instead of getting drawn into a non-d Bible study.

However, one good thing about non-d Bible studies is this: eventually the attendees have to face that nagging thought in the back of their head that something isn’t right.

This is what happened with me as a non-d when I was 14: a woman at a non-d Bible study explained what the Catholics say Matthew 16:13-20 means. Of course, we then proceeded to try to figure out what it really means. After a half hour I finally said, “Can we talk more about what the Catholics say it means?” It was clear and concise compared to jumping around the Bible and self-interpreting.

Yes, we definitely have a lot more resources now. Dynamic, exciting presentations regarding a wide range of topics.

Do you lead a Bible study now? What can you recommend as a study guide in case I wanted to start a Bible study in my small parish?

 

[KathleenLM]

Hello! Thanks for sharing your story about the non-denoninational studies. I also have experienced the opportunity to explain Catholicism at the ones I attended in the past. But, at my age now, I really want to focus on getting fed instead of spending my time at non-Catholic studies explaining the Catholic faith.
Yes, I do facilitate some Bible Studies still. Currently, I have discovered Sonja Corbitt, as I mentioned. I like to use Ascension Press because they have excellent presenters plus they include downloads of the pulpit announcement, bulletin article, posters, certificates etc. They also have the workbooks, of course and I am impressed with how well-organized it is. Very easy to implement in a parish. I also like that they have a feature for participants that buy the workbook to stream the videos. Also, you can check on their website to see what parishes are offering their different offerings. I also like the Salvation History series from years ago that Scott Hahn had. Jeff Cavins has a Bible timeline series. Ascension offers quite a variety. There is a series Jeff Cavins has called “Walking Toward Eternity” it is 2-parts - each part is 8 weeks. The first part is on the virtues and the second part is on the obstacles (sins). It is a real dig-in type of study which challenges the participants to apply what they learn. There are other vendors, like St. Joseph Communications, which I am very familiar with and have purchased apologetics material from for years. They offer a very large variety of excellent materials by great presenters. I wish you well.