Catholics accused of not knowing the Bible

[Engineer1]

I wrote about this subject a few weeks back at RosaryArmy.com

rosaryarmy.com/?p=599

Some Christians believe that Catholics are not encouraged to read the Bible. In fact, the opposite is true…and why wouldn’t it be, after all, the Bible is a Catholic book.

What do I mean by that? Simply this: The Catholic Church, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote the Bible. The Catholic Church assembled the Canon (List) of books in the Bible, and the Catholic Church has safeguarded the Bible for 2,000 years. The Church treasures Sacred Scripture because it is the Word of God. The Church loves Holy Writ, so much so that she orders her prayer and worship around it.

 

[vocatio]

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.

The early church fathers did the trick for converting me. Even though they not considered inspired doesn’t mean they don’t reveal the historical church…

It seems that Protestants quote from heretics that they call early church fathers and those tend to deny the trinity and such.

The belief in the Eucharist is far more important than a strong memorization skill. however, we should study scripture to help us and to teach others as the time comes.

Atempt at a really lousy analogy:
A steak consists of bone, meat and fat.
Most would say that a fatty meat tastes the best.
If you cut out the meat and the bone you have only the fat left.
Fat is essential to the body, especially the brain.
But if you cut out the meat and bone you lose the structure and the protein.

This is more silly analogies by me.

 

[wisdomseeker]

Catholics have been accused of many things. does it really matter?

went into apostasy.
worship statues.
worship Mary.
worship popes.
are not christians.
and the list goes on and on.

do i care what anybody says about us? no. not really.
actually i rejoice on the Lord when we are accused falsely for the Love of Our Lord.

also i always remember what happened on the Garden of Eden. the temptation and falling.

Do not yield to temptation. you will make the devil happy.

 

[Canto]

4 readings from the Bible at Mass

A homily from someone more equiped then I

The whole Mass text out of the scriptures

The true Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ in the Eucharist

The life and teachings of Christ in prayers (Gloria Patri), hymns (Sacris Solemniis), devotions (the Rosary), and actions (Caritas).

That’s a lotta Bible folks!

 

[Gabriel_of_12]

I think vocatio has the right idea. Why dont we encourage our Catholic brothers and sisters to find the Catholic church, sacraments, Mary, communion of Saints, the Eucharist etc. in the Holy Bible.

And encourage our seperated literate brothers and sisters to read about the Early church fathers, and the True History of the Roman Catholic church, her popes, Saints and martyrdom in history for the Christian faith.

In other words, Catholics need to find their faith in the scriptures, because the Catholic doctrines are all there in scripture including the Mass. And our seperated brethern who already claim to know more about scripture than Catholics, should take their reading talents and read a little history without prejudice.

My only rebuttle to the negative Catholic remarks, is that Cathoilcs May not read the Scriptures, but they live the scriptures out from their faith from hearing the Word of God, and consuming the Word of God made flesh in the Eucharist.

Protestants read scripture, but live the scriptures symbolically, Catholics hear and read the scriptures, but live the scriptures literally, example the Eucharist.

Peace be with you.

 

[Gabriel_of_12]

the same is true with my parents except that they couldn’t really explain the difficult ones. they brought us up the best they could and thanks God up until now we’re still on the same old Roman Catholic Faith!

But as I’ve said, we need to learn our bible and our faith still. Confusion is among us- like father Corapi says," we are fighting against principalities and powers…"

---

Be angry, and sin not… Give not place to the devil.
Ephesians 4:26-27 +

A double AMEN!! to that, and father Corapi. You know I used to amateur box in the ring. Fighting against these powers and principalities is alot tougher than the boxing ring. Thank God for the Holy Spirit who is always faithful.

 

[Gabriel_of_12]

**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.”**

Amen, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, blessed are the clean of heart for they will see God, blessed are the meek for they will inherit the land.

John 6:44…No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him.( HOLY COMMUNION AT MASS) and I will raise him on the last day. "it is written in the prophets; "THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT BY GOD.

 

[onmywayagain]

Why does everyone say this? We have bible study every Tuesday night and it’s packed. This is simply not so and there is no possible way to prove it.

They(protestants) say this about Catholics maybe because there are many who cannot qoute scripture right of the top of there heads. I, for one, cannot remember what John 3 verse 8-10 says. But, if I read it I will tell you what the Church teaches me about it. Protestants think they are smarter than Catholics because they can sling verses out of their mouths faster than Catholics can. What they seem to forget is that it doesn’t make them more knowledgable about Scripture, to me it just shows that they rehearse it more, just so they can catch a Catholic off guard.

I have had many protestants come to my home on a saturday and ask me if I know the Bible. Many of them have said they would like to speak with me more, but have never come back. If they walk on my street, they don’t come on my side. I wonder why?

 

[onmywayagain]

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.

My son goes to Catholic school and knows more about scripture than his aunty who goes to a protestant church and goes to bible study on thursdays. He has taught me a few things about the Catholic Faith. They get Religion everyday and have worship services once a week. It may have been different in your time, i’m not calling you old, but he(son) does know a little about the early church fathers.

I can only blame myself for not reading the Bible more. I have read it from front to back, but that is not enough. The Church has nothing to do with parishoners not reading the Bible on their own time.

I do feel that protestants feel some sort of power when they question a Catholic on the Bible and the Catholic can’t answer them. To me it is a bit of arrogance. Again, like I tell people, it is all about interpretation. The Catholic Church holds the authority over interpretation and that is what protestants don’t believe.

 

[thirdn6]

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…

Hi Curious One,

First, God’s grace be with you…

In your first paragraph, can you explain how will the Holy Spirit interpret the bible for you? Whatever you read in the bible without some guidance would still be your own interpretation, correct? How about the early christians who didn’t have a bible, especially at the time when the bible was not yet put together? Based on what did the HS interpret for them? From listening to what they’ve heard most likely, correct? Your answer is not wrong- it is partly correct, imho. The HS doesn’t teach us or interpret for us, individually, of what we read in the bible especially in regards to certain doctrines of faith. (Surely he leads us to righteousness and adherence to good morality.) IMO, no person can interpret a certain verse or passage and claim absolute truth for it consistently. There has to be an unchanging and consistent teachings where we can base our interpretations whether these are correct or not. That is where the sacred traditions of the Catholic church come in- the revealed truths from Christ, the doctrines of the Church as proclaimed by the Councils and the Magisterium. Without which we are bound to get confused.

Re second sentence, first paragraph. 1 John 4:1 says, " Dearly beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits if they be of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."
So, how would you try every spirit? How did the early christians try every spirit? Based from what?Not from the bible since bible was very scarce in those times. The same is true in our time. Not just from the bible. Not just from our own judgment and understanding. But still based from the revealed truths passed down to us- the sacred traditions.

I don’t have much to say about the other paragraphs . I’d like to add something, though. If we believe and truly converted, in heart and in mind, we consider ourselves as really the temple of the Holy Spirit. We do our best not to commit sin- we do not want to defile our ownselves. We do our best, thru the mercy and grace of God, to become worthy everytime we approach the altar and receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. For that’s how we are nurtured. In our spirituality. In our soul. Perseverance. Until we have the mind of the Lord in our life- the mind of Christ. For we are His members- His body!

God bless.

---

Be angry, and sin not… Give not place to the devil.
Ephesians 4:26-27 +

 

[thirdn6]

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.

LOL… can’t help it. Kalt talked to a 65 yearolder sitting on a fence watching the sun making its way from east to west, he-he-he!

---

Be angry, and sin not… Give not place to the devil.
Ephesians 4:26-27 +

 

[CBS]

But as I’ve said, we need to learn our bible and our faith still. Confusion is among us- like father Corapi says," we are fighting against principalities and powers…"

Exactly, I can’t believe some of the responses in this thread.

Even if you let the church interpret scripture for you, it’s not a free pass not to know scriptures. I can’t imagine that you could possibly defend the Catholic Church to someone or try to convert someone without knowing scripture.

The Church certainly doesn’t teach mediocrity and laziness.

 

[Curious_One]

Rightiousone: you say…“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?”

Ans: Yes

Ans: Yes … from Genesis - Revelation over 4000 years from 350 AD to the Present Day…Going to hell is not a new thing!!

Ans: the same as happens to them now…

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who surpress the truth by their wickedness . For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities - his eternal power and devine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkned” Romans 1: 18-21

 

[Righteousone]

Rightiousone: you say…“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?”

Ans: Yes

Ans: Yes … from Genesis - Revelation over 4000 years from 350 AD to the Present Day…Going to hell is not a new thing!!

Ans: the same as happens to them now…

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who surpress the truth by their wickedness . For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities - his eternal power and devine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkned” Romans 1: 18-21

So what you are saying is everyone went to hell BEFORE the bible was put into printing presses in the 1500’s? And who is ignorant of Scripture here?

 

[kalt]

LOL… can’t help it. Kalt talked to a 65 yearolder sitting on a fence watching the sun making its way from east to west, he-he-he!

---

Be angry, and sin not… Give not place to the devil.
Ephesians 4:26-27 +

Are you saying that 65 is ancient? Sitting on a fence, apparently waiting to drop dead!

The truth is that I’ve known this person since 1979. I just never knew how little he knew about the Bible. The topic came up in a conversation when he asked what someone else had said about one of the Gospels.

 

[kalt]

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.

I said no such thing. You either have me confused with another poster, or you’re off your rocker.

You jump to all kinds of conclusions, don’t you? I didn’t belong to a Methodist church. I was there.

If you don’t like this topic, don’t post in this thread.

I think it’s a great topic! It points out something that many, many Catholics, including you, need to work on.

Again, reread the first post in this topic–that’s mine. You’ve actually been arguing what I said in that first post–that many Protestants also don’t know the Bible.

 

[kalt]

Catholics have been accused of many things. does it really matter?

went into apostasy.
worship statues.
worship Mary.
worship popes.
are not christians.
and the list goes on and on.

do i care what anybody says about us? no. not really.
actually i rejoice on the Lord when we are accused falsely for the Love of Our Lord.

also i always remember what happened on the Garden of Eden. the temptation and falling.

Do not yield to temptation. you will make the devil happy.

That many Catholics don’t know the Bible as well as they could is a valid point. But as I said, many of the Protestants who think they know the Bible, don’t know it any better than Catholics do.

 

[kalt]

4 readings from the Bible at Mass

A homily from someone more equiped then I

The whole Mass text out of the scriptures

The true Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ in the Eucharist

The life and teachings of Christ in prayers (Gloria Patri), hymns (Sacris Solemniis), devotions (the Rosary), and actions (Caritas).

That’s a lotta Bible folks!

But you have to read and study the Bible to really know it as well as you could.

 

[Righteousone]

That many Catholics don’t know the Bible as well as they could is a valid point. But as I said, many of the Protestants who think they know the Bible, don’t know it any better than Catholics do.

But who are you to judge anyone? This is absolutely untrue. Instead of you telling me to study my bible in which I have, perhaps you should study your Catholic faith first.

 

[kalt]

The CCC tells us, in no uncertain terms, to read the Bible. Why is it so unsettling to hear a fellow Catholic say that many Catholics don’t know the Bible as well as they could?