Catholic feelings of "Bible" inferiority

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pabloSD said:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Why is it that as a Catholic, I feel inferior when trying to discuss Scripture with Protestants?
It seems that they memorize chapters and verses, and know how to handle the Bible better.
As a Catholic, I feel that they have the command and authority… 😦

En Cristo,
Pablo
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pabloSD,

The Catechism of the Catholic Church is an invaluable resource. Sources are provided for each section—including Holy Scripture, quotes from ECF’s, Popes, etc. I have the CCC and refer to it often—and. . . .I’m Anglican. 😃

Peace,
Anna
 
Generally speaking, you’re right Pablo. The bible is very important to Catholics, but our mass revolves more around the Holy Eucharist. The protestants service revolves more around scripture. That said, Catholic churches all offer bible studies. Something we catholics should be better at attending.
 
yes…Pablo…get yourself the Catechism that parallels and provides authentic doctrine to the understanding of Scripture…Scripture and Tradition…learning Scripture and putting it into practice.

In the Catechism look up the part beginning with Sacred Scriptures and how Catholicism looks at Scripture from the context of its whole, every part connected to each other.

Then the CCC goes on to speak of the different levels in understanding Scripture.

Finally, we have to look at the Acts of the Apostles and early Church history to see how Scripture, the gatherings of people coming together…in liturgy, and the definition of faith found in the Apostles Creed all came from Scripture…

How The Word has been understood and lived out through the Holy Spirit in the transmission of faith is Tradition…the teaching Magesterium at work through the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit in consecrated souls in truth and spirit is the authentic interpreter, always bring to light God’s life in His Word in every generation.

You have good advice here from various posters.
 
They are just trying to make up for not having the truth of the Church. You can rest assured and trust in the Church, they can’t and don’t, so they study, and search the Bible, read commentaries, listen to famous speakers etc, all in a search for some kind of authoritive final truth.

This isn’t to say you shouldn’t read or learn about the Bible but you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You can spend more practicing your faith and less time trying to figure out what that faith is.
 
Speaking as a Protestant, It’s not just memory verses. Several non-denominational churches here in the KC area are also pushing for believers to read the whole bible, cover-to-cover in a year. Several years back, I purchased a NRSV One-Year Bible(Catholic Edition printed by Our Sunday Visitor Books) I try to read the bible daily, and I dont see that stopping once I cross the Tiber.
 
Anna_Scott said:
pabloSD,

The Catechism of the Catholic Church is an invaluable resource. Sources are provided for each section—including Holy Scripture, quotes from ECF’s, Popes, etc. I have the CCC and refer to it often—and. . . .I’m Anglican. 😃

Peace,
Anna
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Me too, Anna. This thread is interesting as I read it. As a Lutheran here, and from what I see other Lutherans do here over the years, we tend to not simply quote scripture, but rely quite heavily on our confessions, as well. I think it was Melanchthon who said something to the effect if you find a verse that supports your view, search for three that do not. And Chemnitz said don’t rely on your own interpretation, even in the clear passages.
I would think most Catholics here would agree that dialogue with Lutherans, and I’d say with Anglicans too, is much different than with non-denom, solo scriptura types.

Jon
 
JonNC said:
Me too, Anna. This thread is interesting as I read it. As a Lutheran here, and from what I see other Lutherans do here over the years, we tend to not simply quote scripture, but rely quite heavily on our confessions, as well. I think it was Melanchthon who said something to the effect if you find a verse that supports your view, search for three that do not. And Chemnitz said don’t rely on your own interpretation, even in the clear passages.
I would think most Catholics here would agree that dialogue with Lutherans, and I’d say with Anglicans too, is much different than with non-denom, solo scriptura types.

Jon
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Good to hear from you Jon.

Once we engage in conversation, it would be obvious that we rely upon Tradition as well. But, sometimes I get weary of hearing sweeping statements about non-Catholics, as if we all use the “Bible only” approach to Christianity.

Certainly, one can prove almost anything be pulling out selected Scriptures. I think we have to look at the Bible as a whole and the historical context in which it was written, while looking through the lens of Tradition. Though, Tradition can be a bit challenging; because there are early Traditions that seem to move in opposite directions as demonstrated by comparing Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.

As important as Tradition is, I do not want to impose human limits on God’s Word. I do believe the Holy Spirit can speak to us through Holy Scripture and that it is truly living and active. That sounds very Protestant.

Yet my beliefs, by and large, lean heavily towards Catholicism. I accept the traditional view of the perpetual virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, her Assumption and Intercession for us; the Communion of the Saints; the seven Sacraments–including infant baptism and the Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist. I accept the Catholic Canon and as I said before, I use the CCC often. I also believe that salvation is a process and can be lost. I am very conservative when it comes to the definition of marriage, etc.

Guess I rambled on a bit. 😊 Hope the OP will forgive my sidebar.

I always enjoy reading your posts, Jon. I follow some of your conversations on threads, even when I’m not posting on them. 🙂

May the Peace of the Lord be with you, :signofcross:
Anna
 
Anna_Scott said:
Good to hear from you Jon.

Once we engage in conversation, it would be obvious that we rely upon Tradition as well. But, sometimes I get weary of hearing sweeping statements about non-Catholics, as if we all use the “Bible only” approach to Christianity.

Certainly, one can prove almost anything be pulling out selected Scriptures. I think we have to look at the Bible as a whole and the historical context in which it was written, while looking through the lens of Tradition. Though, Tradition can be a bit challenging; because there are early Traditions that seem to move in opposite directions as demonstrated by comparing Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.

As important as Tradition is, I do not want to impose human limits on God’s Word. I do believe the Holy Spirit can speak to us through Holy Scripture and that it is truly living and active. That sounds very Protestant.

Yet my beliefs, by and large, lean heavily towards Catholicism. I accept the traditional view of the perpetual virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, her Assumption and Intercession for us; the Communion of the Saints; the seven Sacraments–including infant baptism and the Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist. I accept the Catholic Canon and as I said before, I use the CCC often. I also believe that salvation is a process and can be lost. I am very conservative when it comes to the definition of marriage, etc.

Guess I rambled on a bit. 😊 Hope the OP will forgive my sidebar.

I always enjoy reading your posts, Jon. I follow some of your conversations on threads, even when I’m not posting on them. 🙂

May the Peace of the Lord be with you, :signofcross:
Anna
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Hi Anna,
I agree with your post here, ***almost ***entirely.

Jon
 
pabloSD said:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Why is it that as a Catholic, I feel inferior when trying to discuss Scripture with Protestants?
It seems that they memorize chapters and verses, and know how to handle the Bible better.
As a Catholic, I feel that they have the command and authority… 😦

En Cristo,
Pablo
Click to expand...
As a Protestant, I can assure you that despite our familiarity with scripture, we seldom agree on interpretation.
Scripture can be used to prove any point one wants to make.
 
=pabloSD;8796996]Dear Brothers and Sisters,
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Why is it that as a Catholic, I feel inferior when trying to discuss Scripture with Protestants?
It seems that they memorize chapters and verses, and know how to handle the Bible better.
As a Catholic, I feel that they have the command and authority… 😦
Click to expand...
En Cristo,
Pablo
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My dear Brother in Christ,

There is [IMO} only one possible explaination in that the CC ALONE has the Truths of Christ and God intotal EXCLUSIVELY:) Therefore it has to to most likelyrelate directly with your knowledge or lack of knowlege of the bible:)

check out www.agapebiblestudy.com and discipline yourself to spend 15 minutes EVERDAY reading the Bibe. I RECOMMEND starting with the NT so that one can better understand the OT.

Also I’ll send you a document you might find helpful.👍

ALSO they learn verses and passages where we catholics try to actually learn the COMPLETE messgae and teachings of Christ, which MOST often can NOT be culled into short verses and passages.

God Bless you MY FRIEND!

Pat
PJM
 
Do you know the priest’s words and those of the congregation during the Mass? Do you know some of the Stations of the Cross, the Mysteries and prayers of the Holy Rosary, or the Angelus… You see what I’m getting at. These prayers & meditations are Scriptural. I bet you know more Sacred Scripture than you think. 🙂

I’ve also heard the same verses recited by well-meaning non-Catholic Christian friends. What can ya do - 'dive more deeply into your “How to Book of the Mass”, Catholic Bible, and the Catechism, for starters, to educate yourself well enough to put into words why you beleive what you beleive. You may have accepted many teachings on Faith, but it’s helpful to be able to communicate them to others who may be genuinely interested to know. There are many good books on apologetics as well.
 
Cable said:
Do you know the priest’s words and those of the congregation during the Mass? Do you know some of the Stations of the Cross, the Mysteries and prayers of the Holy Rosary, or the Angelus… You see what I’m getting at. These prayers & meditations are Scriptural. I bet you know more Sacred Scripture than you think. 🙂

I’ve also heard the same verses recited by well-meaning non-Catholic Christian friends. What can ya do - 'dive more deeply into your “How to Book of the Mass”, Catholic Bible, and the Catechism, for starters, to educate yourself well enough to put into words why you beleive what you beleive. You may have accepted many teachings on Faith, but it’s helpful to be able to communicate them to others who may be genuinely interested to know. There are many good books on apologetics as well.
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😊:)😃
however, that Catholics came first, that are first Christians, that would be understand Sacred Scripture more.
 
Some Protestants are very good at dedicating themselves to studying Scripture. We should imitate their efforts. But we have the advantage of having 2000 years of Church history and great theological minds to guide us through our study, seeing the big picture, rather than just bits and pieces enterpreted a thousand different ways. So many Catholics, I believe, take it for granted to a degree.

I believe that we should all be involved in a Catholic Bible study, as our Catholic truths are backed up by scripture. This way we can hang in there in those scriptural debates, and we will have the advantage of having the fullness of Truth on our side 😃

As it says in 1Peter 3:15, “Always be prepared to make to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence.”
 
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