Different Religions Interpreting The Bible. Can Someone Point Me In The Right Direction?

[dailey]

In my quest to read and understand the bible better, i stumbled upon a site that bashed the beliefs of Catholics. They posted scriptures from the bible that seem to “prove” that we are going against God. Just to name a few, they point out the rosary and scripture in the bible where Jesus says not to recite prayer in mindless repetition. Another one was the verse where Jesus says we are not to call anyone “father” except for God (obviously referring to us Catholics giving this title to priests). The list goes on and on…

So here is my question. Is there some way on this site I can type in the different verses and get “our side” of the story? Or perhaps there is a different website that you know of that would be helpful? I attempted to search here on CAF but did not have any luck finding the specific verses. Thanks

 

[EnglishTeacher]

www.scripturecatholic.com

Scroll down the main page (past the video), and you will see a long list of Catholic topics. When you click on a topic, a page with relevant Scripture passages comes up.

This page is the one on “vain repetitions” in prayer, and this one covers the “call no man your father” issue.

 

[Barbkw]

Also, look at the differences in how Scripture is being interpreted and how denominations lead their congregations in our generation.

How do the denominations differ from Catholicism:

Marriage between one man and one woman
Same sex marriage
In vitro fertilization
Noncelibate ordained ministers
Noncelibate ordained coupled ministers
Contraception
Abortion
Fetal stem cell research
Woman priests
Mortal acts; individual conscience vs structured lists of sin

 

[Scoobyshme]

In my quest to read and understand the bible better, i stumbled upon a site that bashed the beliefs of Catholics. They posted scriptures from the bible that seem to “prove” that we are going against God. Just to name a few, they point out the rosary and scripture in the bible where Jesus says not to recite prayer in mindless repetition. Another one was the verse where Jesus says we are not to call anyone “father” except for God (obviously referring to us Catholics giving this title to priests). The list goes on and on…

So here is my question. Is there some way on this site I can type in the different verses and get “our side” of the story? Or perhaps there is a different website that you know of that would be helpful? I attempted to search here on CAF but did not have any luck finding the specific verses. Thanks

dailey, you came to the right place.

You need to listen to the six-part audio series (free) by Fr. John Corapi on how we should read the Bible, etc.

alabamacatholicresources…n%20Itself.mp3

alabamacatholicresources…Revelation.mp3

alabamacatholicresources…rpretation.mp3

alabamacatholicresources…0Testament.mp3

alabamacatholicresources…0Testament.mp3

alabamacatholicresources…e%20Church.mp3

The Bible wasn’t assembled till the 4th century after Christ. Jesus didn’t write a book. He taught orally, and commanded the Apostles to do the same. He never commanded the Apostles or anyone, as far as we know, to write anything. The deposit of faith given mankind by Jesus Christ was given orally, and passed down through the Apostles and their successors, the bishops, for 2000 years now. We don’t claim the right to change these teachings. Protestants do. That’s why they’re continually splintering into more and more denominations. There are literally thousands of Protestant denominations, all based on someone personal interpretation of the Bible. The Bible itself claims that it does NOT have all the teachings of Jesus. (See John 21:25) Yet, Jesus commanded the Apostles to teach “everything” that He taught them. (See Matt. 25:20) If we were to compile a document with every quote from Jesus in the New Testament, it would only be 15-20 pages long (depending on the size of the print). It would probably take 90 minutes, give or take, to read it aloud. Would we suspect that in Jesus’ entire three year ministry that He only spoke a grand total of 90 minutes?! Hardly! The Bible indicates He was a prolific speaker! So, the Bible is not the “be all and end all” of Christ’s teaching. Only SOME of what was passed down orally was written down. Not all.

 

[mcrow]

In my quest to read and understand the bible better, i stumbled upon a site that bashed the beliefs of Catholics. They posted scriptures from the bible that seem to “prove” that we are going against God. Just to name a few, they point out the rosary and scripture in the bible where Jesus says not to recite prayer in mindless repetition. Another one was the verse where Jesus says we are not to call anyone “father” except for God (obviously referring to us Catholics giving this title to priests). The list goes on and on…

So here is my question. Is there some way on this site I can type in the different verses and get “our side” of the story? Or perhaps there is a different website that you know of that would be helpful? I attempted to search here on CAF but did not have any luck finding the specific verses. Thanks

Many non-Catholic christians are fundamentalists, meaning they cherry pick verses from the bible and don’t consider the context of the verse or the situation of the entire book or bible.

For instance, about repititve prayer:

Fundamentalists often quote Matthew 6:7 as proof you are not to use repative prayers. However, they seem to over look Matthew 6:9-15

"Pray then like this: Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our debts, As we also have forgiven our debtors;And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. "

Jesus gives us specific instructions to “pray like this” which becomes The Lord’s Prayer which is ironically repeated every week in many Protestant Churches. What Jesus was really speaking of is don’t just say mindless, meaningless prayers no matter how many times you say them.

 

[svid]

alabamacatholicresources.com is a GREAT site! Not only the talks on Scripture, but many others by Fr. Corapi (my fave!) as well, and lots of other speakers I can’t wait to check out!

Go there! Bookmark it! Love it!

 

[dailey]

Thank you everyone for replying!

I am sooo glad I posted this question! :extrahappy: Being a HUGE fan of Father Corapi, you can only imagine my delight when I read about the audios. Can not wait to listen to them!! Thank you again…:tiphat:

 

[Vince1022]

In my quest to read and understand the bible better, i stumbled upon a site that bashed the beliefs of Catholics. They posted scriptures from the bible that seem to “prove” that we are going against God. Just to name a few, they point out the rosary and scripture in the bible where Jesus says not to recite prayer in mindless repetition. Another one was the verse where Jesus says we are not to call anyone “father” except for God (obviously referring to us Catholics giving this title to priests). The list goes on and on…

So here is my question. Is there some way on this site I can type in the different verses and get “our side” of the story? Or perhaps there is a different website that you know of that would be helpful? I attempted to search here on CAF but did not have any luck finding the specific verses. Thanks

The Church came first, not the Bible.

 

[Mark01]

One of the best ways I have found in my study method is to use the Catechism and read the footnotes that point to Scripture. It is a wonderful way to understand just how Scripture based our Catholic Faith is.

Here’s a link to the Vatican version on line.

vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM

 

[Abu]

Dailey
This may help too.

As Jesus of Nazareth did not write anything and founded His Church on Simon Peter with primacy and infallibility, His followers wrote the New Testament and His Church infallibly declared which writings in both the Old and New Testaments are the inspired Word of God, and no others. These writings are without error.

The books that actually are the inspired Word of God was decided by Pope Damasus at a Council of Rome in 382, confirmed at the Councils of Hippo, 393, Carthage III 397, Carthage IV in 419 and canonised at the Council of Trent (1545-1563).

BTW, Protestants lack seven books of the O.T., which is why most fail to believe in Purgatory and prayer for the departed, because they lack the authority of Christ through His Catholic Church.

From the earliest times popes and councils, saints and scholars have encouraged Bible reading. Until some years after the printing press was invented, Bibles were scarce and expensive because copied by hand - so often there could be only one book in a town but, nearly everyone who could read could read Latin. Catholic monks faithfully copied the texts, and the production and use of translations, corrupted to support false teachings, was condemned. Without the Holy Mass, Protestants had only the Bible for spiritual growth and came to see it as the only way to God, missing out on many essential truths, and splitting into some 50,000 differing denominations. Also, the Scriptures privately interpreted cannot always guide us on contraception, on remarriage, on capital punishment, IVF, cloning and many other modern problems - this results in uncertainty and lack of unified Christian action at times. [See *What Catholics Really Believe, by Karl Keating].

Johann Gutenberg, a Catholic, produced the first printed Bible, with the Church’s approval, in 1455. Luther was not born until 1483. There were 18 German editions of the whole Bible before the Catholic monk Luther posted his 95 theses in 1517, and there were German, Flemish, Italian, Spanish, and Polish editions before Luther left the Church. The first English edition appeared in 1525. James I in England authorised the “King James” version only in 1604.

Christ’s Church has declared that the Sacred Scriptures are without error as they are inspired by the Holy Spirit, while individual opinions and interpretations are not without error. Error is incompatible with truth.