Catholics and the Bible:Update

[DrPiano]

These stats are terrific!

I’m glad to see that so many of us own, read, and carry Bibles to church.

Question:

How many of you know that there are indulgences attached to reading the Bible?

Just one more excellent motivation to spend time reading it. (and a good point for those who have been misled to believe that the church does not want us to read it.)

Can I receive a plenary indulgence for reading the Bible?

Saw this and had to say - yes I knew! Sometimes its a bit of motivation (as is my priest’s almost weekly encouragement), but as it’s always been difficult for me, it often isn’t quite enough.

Ah… I found it.

Emmaus Road Publishing – St. Paul Center
Item #: 817 Our Price: $39.95

Amazon also has it and for Kindle as well.

Ooooo I want it!

Oh, and I often use the Universalis app (and the office of Readings is my favorite office, so when I do that I get more bible reading in) and basically what amounts to a missalette app (where I do the daily mass readings). So those usually account for the weeks when I log more bible readings. But as I mentioned above, it’s really inconsistent.

 

[Tiberius1701]

So…

I’m a convert to Catholicism from Methodism. I grew up in a home where my mother read the bible and prayed every day (and encouraged the same) but I’ve always struggled with building in my own time for such.

I chose not to answer the frequency question other than answering “I should read it more”, because the frequency with which I read the bible varies so much (and did long before I became Catholic). I’ve always felt that I should read it more than I do.

Between my husband and I we own… a lot of bibles. Some are holdovers from our pre-Catholic days (I don’t really ever get rid of bibles, although these rarely get used): NIV (study bible), TNIV (New Testament), NRSV (New Oxford Annotated Study Bible). Some are foreign language for my husband (Latin Vulgate, Greek Old and New Testaments). Some are newly acquired since we became Catholic (my favorite version now is RSV): we have an Ignatius Catholic Study Bible (only New Testament available right now… waiting for the OT), the Catholic Scripture Study Bible (also RSV), several Ignatius-published RSV Catholic edition bibles (two small leather-covered ones that we got as gifts during RCIA, one hardcover we bought at least a year before starting RCIA). Perhaps one day I’d like to own another version of a Catholic-edition bible (if it’s a really good one and comes highly recommended) and I would really like to have an Amplified version sometime, but that’s what we own right now.

I can quote chapter and verse quite often (my mother trained me well, and I continue to work on memorizing scripture now that I’m Catholic) and even if I can’t I can usually pick up a bible and find it quickly. I do not, however, usually carry my bible to church since a) the church uses a non-published (to my knowledge) version and b) it would take me far longer (and be more distracting) to find the scripture passages in my bible than it would to find them in the missalette (we have a really nice missalette at church) so I really don’t see the point.

I think I’ve answered all of the questions

The above, DrPiano, is my wife. I thank her profusely for checking and listing all our Bibles because I am at work and would only be guessing. Although, I think technically the abbreviation for the ones she called RSV are RSV:2CE. We don’t have any “First Catholic Editions” (never even seen one).

I am also a convert, but from Calvinism instead of Methodism like my wife. Both my parents also modeled very regular Bible reading and encouraged the same, though I don’t know for sure that it was daily for them. I’ve been trying hard to read daily, though usually (and unfortunately) I skirt the “at least 4 times a week” mark. We’ve been Catholic for just barely over 2 years now, so I’m still trying to familiarize myself with those wonderful books that Luther through out (aka the deuterocanon). I love Judith (Judith is way cooler and more daring than Esther) and Tobit and I’m just starting the Maccabees now.

I used to be able to quote some books and verses, and there are a few things I know by heart (like Matt 16:18 ) but not nearly as much as I could back in high school, and certainly not as much as my wife can. Keep it up, Honey!!

 

[kath85]

Ah… I found it.

Emmaus Road Publishing – St. Paul Center
Item #: 817 Our Price: $39.95

Amazon also has it and for Kindle as well.

I think I’ll buy it too