Catholics accused of not knowing the Bible

[Curious_One]

Hi thirdn6,

I guess my point was more that the Holy Spirit is the one that interprets and enlightens via the Word of God. Whilst church history can enlighten us to false and heretical teaching all teaching whether true or false must be tested by the Word of God which alone is infallable.

Those who have the Spirit not only have eternal life, they also have clear spiritual insight due to the indewelling of the Holy Spirt…

“We have not recieved the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in word taught us by human wisdom but in word taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgements about all things, but he himself is not subject to any mans judgement: For who has known the mind of the Lord that they may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ” 1 Corinthians 2: 12-16

Jesus put it more simply…“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no-one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no-one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” John 10: 27-30…

 

[Righteousone]

This is a myth. Catholics do not know the bible compared to what? Quoting scripture does not equate to knowing scripture. If someone can show me one protestant who knows scripture I can show you a hundred Catholics who can expound it better. One way this is demonstrated, is through the thousands of books in print by Catholic authors.

Peace,
DCD

 

[Righteousone]

Hi thirdn6,

I guess my point was more that the Holy Spirit is the one that interprets and enlightens via the Word of God. Whilst church history can enlighten us to false and heretical teaching all teaching whether true or false must be tested by the Word of God which alone is infallable.

Those who have the Spirit not only have eternal life, they also have clear spiritual insight due to the indewelling of the Holy Spirt…

“We have not recieved the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in word taught us by human wisdom but in word taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgements about all things, but he himself is not subject to any mans judgement: For who has known the mind of the Lord that they may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ” 1 Corinthians 2: 12-16

Jesus put it more simply…“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no-one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no-one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” John 10: 27-30…

Do you know anything before the bible came? I mean the history of the bible and before it was to be? Do you think that all men were condemned to hell before the printing presses? What happened to the thousands of people who couldn’t read or write centuries ago?

 

[kalt]

This is a myth. Catholics do not know the bible compared to what? Quoting scripture does not equate to knowing scripture. If someone can show me one protestant who knows scripture I can show you a hundred Catholics who can expound it better. One way this is demonstrated, is through the thousands of books in print by Catholic authors.

Peace,
DCD

It’s not a myth. I talked to a life-long Catholic man (65) yesterday
who couldn’t name the 4 Gospels. He didn’t know that there are only 4 of them, or that there were as many as 4, depending on if he thought 4 was a lot or too few.

There are a lot of Catholics who don’t know as much as they could. They know a lot more about pop culture than about the Bible or even the Church.

 

[Righteousone]

It’s not a myth. I talked to a life-long Catholic man (65) yesterday
who couldn’t name the 4 Gospels. He didn’t know that there are only 4 of them, or that there were as many as 4, depending on if he thought 4 was a lot or too few.

There are a lot of Catholics who don’t know as much as they could. They know a lot more about pop culture than about the Bible or even the Church.

So you talked to ONE 65 YEAR OLD man and made your statistics based upon him? Come on, you could do better than that…and you are telling false accusations here Kalt. It is simply not so…profile lists you as a Catholic, yet you say things against us that aren’t true.

 

[kim3260]

I can not correctly quote by verse and chapter, but I do better then that, I live It.

Because of my limited education, I love the easy to read NASB (St. Joseph’s study edition).

 

[DCD]

It’s not a myth. I talked to a life-long Catholic man (65) yesterday
who couldn’t name the 4 Gospels. He didn’t know that there are only 4 of them, or that there were as many as 4, depending on if he thought 4 was a lot or too few.

There are a lot of Catholics who don’t know as much as they could. They know a lot more about pop culture than about the Bible or even the Church.

This may be but I could apply this statement to non-Catholics as well.

Peace,
DCD

 

[PatrickJT914]

Doesn’t anybody care or realize that we are losing our Catholic brothers and sisters to Protestants. Do know one reason why that
is? It’s because Protestants have a much better understanding, read more of the bible than Catholics. They convert them over to their faith. Simply by challenging Catholics to show where it says in the bible that our beliefs are supported by scriptures. Many of our ex-Catholic faithful have left because they thought the CC was not a bible believing church. That we tend to rely more on the Mass, tradition, statues, sacraments,etc.

Maybe the question that should be asked: Why are Cathoilcs afraid of reading the bible? And a follow up question: Do you think that if you read the bible you might become a Protestant?

 

[PetersKeys]

Catholics are frequently accused of not knowing the Bible. That’s a valid point, I think. Many Catholics don’t know the Bible as well as they should. Some don’t know it at all.

I’ve found, though, that non-Catholics often don’t know the Bible any better. They know the verses they use to support their beliefs, but that’s as far as it goes. They often don’t know any more about the Bible. In fact, they often don’t know the quotes they use–they don’t know or don’t understand the context. These verses are used as soundbites.

I’m Catholic and could know the Bible a lot better than I do.

What about you? What religion are you? Do you think you know the Bible as well as you could?

I think its personally the responsibility of the Catholic to go home and study the bible with a good Catholkic commentary(like the Navarre and the New Jermone Biblical Commentary)

Also there is a video bible called the Watchword bible series. It is not Catholic, its an independant video(though I heard it was expensive to make). The imagery is really nice(shows real lands of jerusalem and the greek areas like Patmos and Ephesus) and is a great tool for children who find it boring to read. it is one of the best tools that I have had as far as studying the bible and it is very touching visually and spiritually. Their book of Revelation video won at the 2000 New York International Independent Film and Video Festival

parable.com/thebiblechannel/default.asp?page=filmAwards

Here is the full book of acts on youtube and part of Revelation. Watch it

youtube.com/watch?v=CbZQ5m6uT_4&feature=related

youtube.com/watch?v=txScPyoC6Zs&feature=related

youtube.com/watch?v=8F_Y0aBSe8E&feature=related

 

[Righteousone]

Doesn’t anybody care or realize that we are losing our Catholic brothers and sisters to Protestants. Do know one reason why that
is? It’s because Protestants have a much better understanding, read more of the bible than Catholics. They convert them over to their faith. Simply by challenging Catholics to show where it says in the bible that our beliefs are supported by scriptures. Many of our ex-Catholic faithful have left because they thought the CC was not a bible believing church. That we tend to rely more on the Mass, tradition, statues, sacraments,etc.

Maybe the question that should be asked: Why are Cathoilcs afraid of reading the bible? And a follow up question: Do you think that if you read the bible you might become a Protestant?

This is NOT true. The truth is if Catholics are converting over to Protestanism, it is because they do not know their history
if they knew where their bible originated from and the history of the Catholic church, they would not convert. But to say the Protestants “know” their bibles better is simply not true. Just because someone quotes Scripture lines, doesn’t mean he/she understands what it truly means, or that he/she is religious.****

 

[rpp]

You are right, Catholic should study the Bible more. In fact we can see in both the Gospel Matthew chpater 29 and the Gospel of Mark chapter 17, the apostles were told to write everything down and study hard. And then there was St. Paul’s admonition in Romans 17.

Go check it out for yourself.

 

[SCALCO]

Doesn’t anybody care or realize that we are losing our Catholic brothers and sisters to Protestants.

Patrick,

My cousin recently left the Catholic Church to join a Luthern Church. When I first questioned her about this, here were her exact words:

“It seems your questions seem to be in regard to the “church”… a lot of my searching for answers and reading has been about the bible and reading the bible to understand more vs about the church.”

She seems to have the idea that the Catholic Church does not teach enough about the Bible.

So, I think this is a problem and now I feel I have a responsibility to help bring her back.
Even though she was raised Catholic, it could be that she never actually accepted the Catholic faith due to absent or grossly defective catechesis, so the task will not be easy.

Maybe the question that should be asked: Why are Cathoilcs afraid of reading the bible? And a follow up question: Do you think that if you read the bible you might become a Protestant?

I don’t think Catholics are afraid of reading the Bible. I think the question could be, is the Catholic Church doing enough to educate? Other than the Mass, where do Catholics learn more about the Church, etc.?

The Priest’s homily is normally about 10 minutes or so. Compare that to a typical protestant service that allocates a lot more time to “teaching”.

 

[SCALCO]

I went to Catholic School from kindergarten to 8th grade. The first time I heard anything about the “early church fathers” that I can remember was in my early 30’s.

So, I think the education needs to improve. Maybe it has and I just missed out.

 

[PatrickJT914]

Hello Righteousone,
Are you sure that more people are becoming Catholics? Than the other way around? After I read your response to me. I decided to do a quick web search, using "Catholics leaving the Catholic Church" Do you know how many entries that showed up? 46,800,000:bigyikes: I only looked at a few. I decided that if you or anybody else had the time or know a more advanced way to search and would like to. Please let me and others know what you found.

 

[Righteousone]

Hello Righteousone,

  Are you sure that more people are becoming Catholics? Than the other way around? After I read your response to me. I decided to do a quick web search, using "Catholics leaving the Catholic Church"  Do you know how many entries that showed up? 46,800,000:bigyikes:  I only looked at a few. I decided that if you or anybody else had the time or know a more advanced way to search and would like to. Please let me and others know what you found.

As a Catholic, why are you spreading lies? Because that is what they are. I am afraid it is people like yourself that are pushing Catholics away with your misguided information…smarten up.

 

[DCD]

Doesn’t anybody care or realize that we are losing our Catholic brothers and sisters to Protestants. Do know one reason why that
is? It’s because Protestants have a much better understanding, read more of the bible than Catholics. They convert them over to their faith. Simply by challenging Catholics to show where it says in the bible that our beliefs are supported by scriptures. Many of our ex-Catholic faithful have left because they thought the CC was not a bible believing church. That we tend to rely more on the Mass, tradition, statues, sacraments,etc.

Maybe the question that should be asked: Why are Cathoilcs afraid of reading the bible? And a follow up question: Do you think that if you read the bible you might become a Protestant?

Certanly I care to the point of tears at times. In the final analysis The Bible is the remote rule of faith. The Church is The proximate rule of faith. At what point IF you are a person of faith do you take some personal responsibilty? If by the grace of God you are Catholic and you take your faith seriously you will never leave The Truth. Period. A Catholic who leaves because of a proof text never had The Faith.

Myth # 2

Yes Catholics leave The Church. Well non-Catholics leave their church too.

In 1917 there were 300 million Catholics worldwide. In less than a century those numbers have reached 1.2 billion.

As the great Father James Cardinal Gibbons said, "In her alone is literally fulfilled the magnificent prophecy of Malachy; for in every clime, and in every nation under the sun, are erected thousands of Catholic altars upon which the “clean oblation” is daily offered up to the Most High.

Peace

 

[Righteousone]

Hello Righteousone,

  Are you sure that more people are becoming Catholics? Than the other way around? After I read your response to me. I decided to do a quick web search, using "Catholics leaving the Catholic Church"  Do you know how many entries that showed up? 46,800,000:bigyikes:  I only looked at a few. I decided that if you or anybody else had the time or know a more advanced way to search and would like to. Please let me and others know what you found.

And yes I am sure, for every sixth person on the planet is a Roman Catholic.

 

[kalt]

So you talked to ONE 65 YEAR OLD man and made your statistics based upon him? Come on, you could do better than that…and you are telling false accusations here Kalt. It is simply not so…profile lists you as a Catholic, yet you say things against us that aren’t true.

Before you accuse me of saying something I haven’t said, check your reading skills. Go back and read my first post in this thread.

BTW, I didn’t give any kind of statistic. You assumed that when I said that many Catholics don’t know enough about the Bible, that that is a statistic? Many is a stat? Good Lord.

The truth is that few on this planet know as much about the Bible as they could. Do you know biblical Greek? How much do you know about the cultures of the Bible–this includes all the cultures in all the time that the books of the Bible were written in? Are you an expert in either of those topics?

Unless you can answer that you are one of the very few experts in these fields, you don’t know as much about the Bible as you could. So my “stat” has moved up to 3, You, me, and the 65 yr-old man.

BTW, icluding the story of one person doesn’t mean that that’s all someone has experienced. It was an example given to show that Catholics don’t know as much about the BIble as they could.

And please don’t accuse me of “telling false accusations”. Several people here have admitted that although they have read the Bible, they could know more.

Are you having a bad day? Need to kick someone when you’re down?

Can’t you admit that Catholics aren’t perfect? Can’t you admit that many Catholics aren’t as well-versed in the Bible as they could be? Why not? What do you think will happen if you do? Do you think it will prove to the Protestants on this board that the CC is not the Church of Christ?

I think the Church can do much better in the education department. That 65-yr-old man had recieved “religious instruction”, as it was called then, and yet he didn’t know that there are 4 gospels. He is 65, and still doesn’t know that there are 4 gospels. That may be an extreme example, but I bet if you go out and interview 100 Catholics from all walks of life, you will find that there are more that are as, or almost as ignorant of the Bible as this man. It’s just a fact.

How many run-of-the-mill Catholics do you think can name 2 church fathers? How many know when the canon of the Bible was set? How many know the number of books in the Bible?

Thik up a few more questions, and go to the mall and ask those questions of the Catholics you find there on a Sunday. See how many can accurately answer.

FWIW, I was in a Methodist church when the minister was asking people to name some people in the New Testament. Someone yelled out an OT name

As I said, it’s not just Catholics.

 

[Righteousone]

Before you accuse me of saying something I haven’t said, check your reading skills. Go back and read my first post in this thread.

BTW, I didn’t give any kind of statistic. You assumed that when I said that many Catholics don’t know enough about the Bible, that that is a statistic? Many is a stat? Good Lord.

The truth is that few on this planet know as much about the Bible as they could. Do you know biblical Greek? How much do you know about the cultures of the Bible–this includes all the cultures in all the time that the books of the Bible were written in? Are you an expert in either of those topics?

Unless you can answer that you are one of the very few experts in these fields, you don’t know as much about the Bible as you could. So my “stat” has moved up to 3, You, me, and the 65 yr-old man.

BTW, icluding the story of one person doesn’t mean that that’s all someone has experienced. It was an example given to show that Catholics don’t know as much about the BIble as they could.

And please don’t accuse me of “telling false accusations”. Several people here have admitted that although they have read the Bible, they could know more.

Are you having a bad day? Need to kick someone when you’re down?

Can’t you admit that Catholics aren’t perfect? Can’t you admit that many Catholics aren’t as well-versed in the Bible as they could be? Why not? What do you think will happen if you do? Do you think it will prove to the Protestants on this board that the CC is not the Church of Christ?

I think the Church can do much better in the education department. That 65-yr-old man had recieved “religious instruction”, as it was called then, and yet he didn’t know that there are 4 gospels. He is 65, and still doesn’t know that there are 4 gospels. That may be an extreme example, but I bet if you go out and interview 100 Catholics from all walks of life, you will find that there are more that are as, or almost as ignorant of the Bible as this man. It’s just a fact.

How many run-of-the-mill Catholics do you think can name 2 church fathers? How many know when the canon of the Bible was set? How many know the number of books in the Bible?

Thik up a few more questions, and go to the mall and ask those questions of the Catholics you find there on a Sunday. See how many can accurately answer.

FWIW, I was in a Methodist church when the minister was asking people to name some people in the New Testament. Someone yelled out an OT name

As I said, it’s not just Catholics.

Shame on you with this post about Catholics. You gave a statistic. You said a hundred thousand people have left the CC for another religion. And I told you it was because they didn’t research their history and find the Catholic church is the true church. You sound to me like doubting Thomas here.
I happen to be fortunate enough to have attended a popular Catholic college and get my degree. I don’t have to disclose what Master’s I have and I will not disclose what college I attended. Let’s say you’d be extremely surprised.
But that isn’t the point. There is not one Catholic here that would even go against the church for whatever reasons as you’ve done. Perhaps you are the one that should research again and tell the correct information. I know a ton of Catholics who are very learned in their bible because I sit with them every week. They just don’t turn to it constantly for quotes as the Protestant’s do because there is evidence that in Sacred Tradition also where our church comes from including the bible. Do you know where your own bible came from?
This is not a thread to be started by a Catholic. And you ask sarcastically if I am afraid of Protestants finding out something?? You can’t be serious…I am afraid of the Protestants who don’t have the correct doctrines and the Catholic church started by Christ. Do you not believe this?

Perhaps your belonging to a Methodist church explains it all.

 

[wisdomseeker]

My mother is 78 yrs old. She cannot read or write. She comes from a long line of Roman Catholics. Yet she can quote scripture and understand the holy spirit, know who the saints are, know who the pope is, understand what is Catholic church teaching and what is not. Now why do you think this long life living Catholic is able to do this without reading a bible?

The answer is very simple really;, She does not read the word of God, she consumes the Word of God made flesh, she hears the Word of God at every Mass,These many years God’s word is made manifest in her, because her faith comes from hearing and hearing the Word of God, and then Consume the Word of God made flesh. That’s not all, she prays the Gospels, in every Rosary. My mother may not be able to read, but she makes up for it in her Christian walk of faith, never doubting God in anything, she accepts only God’s will, know one else, including my fathers.

So for my mom, I dont think one would want to contest her faith for not being able to read the bible. She is always giving testimonies of her faith in Jesus and Jesus blessed Mother Virgin Mary. Let us not forget that God has written his laws in our hearts. We are called not to read, but to love God with all our hearts, mind, soul and strength…It was for these little ones the humble, simple people of God; why God has sent his Holy Spirit to teach, and reveal himself to the humble hearted.

I have studied a little, but my Mothers faith will always surpass my knowledge of scripture, or any other scholar for that matter. I have witnessed her calling down heavens thunder, and praying for impossible circumstances, that have come to pass. I mean this literally. My mothers faith has inspired me to keep up the faith, and the race. Not to mention miracles in my life. Hey, mothers day is coming up

Peace be with you

**Great testimony. i too have seen many people with the kind of faith that no one could snatch them away from their catholic faith.

Remember this: “blessed are those who did not see and yet believed.”**