Divinatory Art of Bibliomancy

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Another word for that is “divination”, which is categorically condemned by the Church.

It’s an objectively evil act, and so if done with full knowledge and consent of the will, it’s a mortal sin.
 
So you’ve never asked a question and opened the bible to find the answer?
 
Perhaps we have a difference of definition here. Here’s the one I’m operating with:

bib·li·o·man·cy
/ˈbiblēəˌmansē/
  1. foretelling the future by interpreting a randomly chosen passage from a book, especially the Bible.
  2. The method of employing sacred books (especially specific words and verses) for ‘magical medicine’, for removing negative entities, or for divination.
 
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You’ve never asked God a question and then asked him to guide you to a part in the bible that would tell you?
 
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What sort of question do you mean? The issue here is that the Bible is not intended to be a magical book of answers. Reading of the sacred texts to get the answer to some question like “Should I date this person” or “Should I quit my job and find a new one” is not appropriate.

If you’re referring to reading the Bible in search of an inspiration on how to grow in your spiritual life, or some similar intent, that is of course absolutely appropriate - and generally we wouldn’t refer to that as “bibliomancy”.
 
No, that’s not what I mean. I am referring to the bible as a source of physical and spiritual growth, and being guided to passages that speak to your life.
 
Ok, great. So as I said before, that wouldn’t generally be referred to as “bibliomancy”. And it’s certainly a fine practice.
 
AlanBaker773 said:
Ok, but it IS bibliomancy, is what I’m saying.
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What’s your reasoning for that?

I’m in agreement with Dshix here. What you’re saying you’re actually doing is fine. But I see a clear distinction between it and Bibliomancy.
 
Heh. Well, not sure what more there is to say if we disagree upon the definition of a word. Dictionary.com says it’s a form of divination, so if you’d like to disagree with the currently established definition of an English word, that’s your prerogative.
 
AlanBaker773 said:
No, that’s not what I mean. I am referring to the bible as a source of physical and spiritual growth, and being guided to passages that speak to your life
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But you’re meaning of “being guided” is that of your title to this thread: Divinatory Art of Bibliomancy

So what do you mean by “being guided”?
 
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There’s an old joke about a person picking a random bible verse for guidance and got “and Judas went and hung himself”.

The person figures there must be some mistake, tries again, and gets “go thou and do the same”.
 
If people read the Bible prayerfully, of course they will find answers. God revealed His Word to be helpful to us.

If people treat the Bible like a magic vending machine, they will get bad results.
 
I had a beautiful life changing encounter with God at a retreat in high school. I had never read the Bible before that. I got home that first day and didn’t know whether to start in the Old Testament or the New Testament, so I flipped it open. I flipped it open to Psalm 22, which is powerfully prophetic about the sufferings of Jesus. I knew God led me there. So keep doing what you’re doing. If I were you, I would avoid the using the term Bibliomancy, as that sets off alarm bells in people‘s heads unnecessarily. Although I generally read the Bible more systematically now, I often flip it open and see what might be there for me to read. I’m often very pleasantly surprised.
 
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