How do the Protestants do it?

[LeahInancsi]

Catholics do a better job, in fact; the Catholic interpretation is the Apostles’ interpretation, not the theological musings of a super-pope.

I agree.

It’s not secret, because it’s no truth. I hear more Bible in Mass on Sunday than I ever did in a worship service at my evangelical church prior to converting.

There is more of the Bible read during Mass than in a Protestant service, but I’m interested in knowing all of the details of the Bible the chronology, the repetitious signs from God, etc., etc., I want to understand its meaning verse by verse.

I read things people write in this forum regarding Bible interpretation and I say to myself “how do they know that?”

Since becoming Catholic, I’ve found better interpretations of many things that were never explained by any Protestant I knew of; things such as why Canaan was cursed for Ham’s sin, what the significance of the blood and water that poured from Christ’s side is, and so on.

You’re picking up on the significance of the blood and water that poured from Christ’s side because that is very important in the Catholic church with regard to the Eucharist and baptism.

Wrongly, on many counts

I never meant to imply the Protestants teach the correct interpretation of the Bible. Not by any means. No way. :nope:

My problem is that I wasted so much time finding my way HOME, that I want to make up for lost time. I want to know everything NOW!

 

[LeahInancsi]

Yes, Bible reading begins in the home.

In families that have been Protestant for a really long time (generations) the habit of kitchen table Bible devotions is just part of the day. Breakfast time was Bible reading time, when I was a kid growing up - we had little monthly booklets (and a monthly missalette would be perfect for this, actually) that had prayers, stories, and a short Bible reading for the day. It took about 15-20 minutes to do this as a family, with Dad reading the Scripture verses and Mom leading the prayers, and us kids adding to the prayers whatever we wanted to add for each day.

Sounds like a wonderful family. You were very lucky.

 

[Maxply]

well, look, it’s easy to get boggled into thinking Protestants read the Bible more. . . simply because they CITE it more!

Catholics presenting the same information will rely on the Catechism (and its contents link to Bible verses) and such things as papal encyclicals (also linked to Bible verses). These are often very straightforward, and tend to present a point of view more immediately than a collection of Bible quotes.

But Catholics learn of the Bible through SundaySchool/CCD programs, through the weekly readings (and remember, Catholics are supposed to go each week; Protestants may not be so regular in attendance) and parish study sessions.

One attractive but dangerous feature of Protestantism is the heavy reliance on the individual minister’s sermon. This can be good, if the minister is well-trained and exercises good judgment on his topics. . . or it can be bad, if it all turns into some rant. I’m Catholic, and I like good homilies and sermons, and it helps if they cite the Bible. But a Protestant minister has a longer talk to give, is putting a lot of instruction in it, hence, more Bible. . . especially since it would look odd if he cited other sources.

I find it interesting that Protestants each generation seem to have their own pantheon of quotable popular Protestant books and writers. Kind of like an ad hoc, ongoing Magisterium.

 

[frnate]

How do the Protestants do it?..and why can’t the Catholics do it? Teach the Bible, that is.

The Protestants think that we do not teach the Bible because we don’t normally have long winded exigetical sermons or sermon series stretching for weeks. Having been raised in the Baptist church I know that is about as close as they get to sacramentality. I know this doesn’t really address your question but I thought it was important to point out the mis-conception.

Hey jmcrae, I too remember sitting at the breakfast table and going through the “Our Daily Bread” booklets. My parish has found a Catholic version at presentationministries.com
They are available for a donation. Not a “suggested donation” either but whatever God lays on your heart.

In the words of a good friend of mine, “Christianity is COOL!”

Peace,
+Nathan

 

[lak611]

Hey jmcrae, I too remember sitting at the breakfast table and going through the “Our Daily Bread” booklets. My parish has found a Catholic version at presentationministries.com
They are available for a donation. Not a “suggested donation” either but whatever God lays on your heart.

In the words of a good friend of mine, “Christianity is COOL!”

Peace,
+Nathan

Nathan, thanks for that great link. I am going to order those booklets.

 

[puzzleannie]

Don’t generalize - this is not true.

I was quoting OP and making just that point, that this is a generalization. please read all of my reply.

 

[puzzleannie]

Annie,

I’ve heard this from 70 & 80+ year old craddle Catholics and many Protestants who were raised in the Catholic church, but left in early adulthood. From my experience on a Baptist forum, many former Catholics, now Baptist, are very bitterly angry because they were not exposed to the Bible in depth in the Catholic Church.
.

my sister, Catholic turned Baptist, went to the same Catholic school I did for 12 years, exposed to the same opportunities, bible study 3 times a week beginning in 3rd grade thorugh 12th, church history the other 2 days. she still has the confraternity bible we were given in 3rd grade. She also complains bitterly that she “was not exposed to the Bible in depth”. she and I have entirely different recollection of the same experience. We were only a year apart in school so it’s not a generational thing.

You take advantage of opportunities only if you are motivated to do so. My dad read to us almost every evening from the Bible and we always discussed the gospel each Sunday on the way home from Church. I loved it. She hated it and always tried to get out of it.

When people make a subjective comment about any aspect of their experience in their church, especially remembered from childhood, it is just that subjective, and does not necessarily mean that is how things really were.

I have parents come in saying the are going to a non-denom mega church, or assembly or some other place because we don’t teach the bible in CCD. This in spite of the fact that every class from kinder on up to 12th grade spends the first half hour of each session on the liturgy of the Word from Sunday, with extended teaching and meditation. This in spite of the fact that every textbook lesson begins with a scripture passage. This in spite of the fact that one option for students who have made 1st communion is a 4 yr Bible Class–Catholic doctrine and practice presented in the framework of its origin in Divine Revelation. This in spite of the fact that 6th 7th and 8th grade are entirely bible based and present the overview of salvation history in the OT, NT and Early Church.

What they really mean is, IMHO, is that in CCD we don’t teach how to use scripture to reinforce your own prejudices and opinions.

 

[Mary3]

Protestants don’t always know the bible as well as you think.

I agree with that. I remember a discussion with my Baptist in-laws about the movie “The Passion of the Christ”. They did not know that Jesus’ scourging was mentioned in the Gospels. Also, they were unfamiliar with the opening quotation from Isaiah 50, or even that Isaiah is a book containing prophecy about the Messiah.

 

[flameburns623]

Protestants–even liturgical Protestants such as Lutherans–consider Scripture study–not just devotional reading of Scripture but down-and-dirty arm-wrestling with the text to extract every possible insight the text might hold–to be an integral part of their spiritual walk. By contrast, most Catholics read Scripture–or other spiritual literature–largely as a source of personal wisdom and insight. Many Protestants aggressively memorize significant portions of Scripture, though this discipline has gone into decline in recent years. Catholics used to memorize the Ten Commandments and portions of the Baltimore Catechism, but after Confirmation not much else. IMHO–and speaking as a convert to Episcopalianism–only Episcopalians rival Catholics in their neglect of adult Scriptural education.

Keep in mind too that Protestants often use study, reference, or specialty Bibles, which do provide helps for studying Scripture but also can serve as a ‘crutch’ which can make the Protestant seem vastly more knowledgeable about Scripture than they actually are. I have seen study Bibles which focus on eschatology, on personal evangelism, and on counter-cult/alternative religions, etcetera. I vaguely recall that I have even seen Bibles which attempt to refute the top 10 or 20 most popular proof texts used by Roman Catholic apologists. In any case, Protestants personalize their Bible-study by marking their scriptures with colored pencils or special markers designed so as not to ‘bleed through’ the ultra-thin paper used for most Bibles. Protestant Bibles often have margins wide enough to allow brief notes to be written on the edges of pages.

Having said all of this–it is fair to note that Protestants are often ‘top-heavy’ with knowledge but don’t necessarily have a rich or vibrant prayer life. Catholics, with their rosaries, Way of the Cross devotions, Benedictions of the Sacrament, Angelus, breviaries and the simplified variants thereof, and so forth are more likely to have fostered a prayer life which Protestants will look upon with envy. Roman Catholicism also has a much broader and much more rigorous intellectual,cultural, and theological tradtion to uphold. There is nothing wrong with incorporating serious systematic Scripture study into one’s life, but it might behoove Catholics to recognize their strengths lie elsewhere.

 

[lak611]

my sister, Catholic turned Baptist, went to the same Catholic school I did for 12 years, exposed to the same opportunities, bible study 3 times a week beginning in 3rd grade thorugh 12th, church history the other 2 days. she still has the confraternity bible we were given in 3rd grade. She also complains bitterly that she “was not exposed to the Bible in depth”. she and I have entirely different recollection of the same experience. We were only a year apart in school so it’s not a generational thing.

You take advantage of opportunities only if you are motivated to do so. My dad read to us almost every evening from the Bible and we always discussed the gospel each Sunday on the way home from Church. I loved it. She hated it and always tried to get out of it.

When people make a subjective comment about any aspect of their experience in their church, especially remembered from childhood, it is just that subjective, and does not necessarily mean that is how things really were.

I have parents come in saying the are going to a non-denom mega church, or assembly or some other place because we don’t teach the bible in CCD. This in spite of the fact that every class from kinder on up to 12th grade spends the first half hour of each session on the liturgy of the Word from Sunday, with extended teaching and meditation. This in spite of the fact that every textbook lesson begins with a scripture passage. This in spite of the fact that one option for students who have made 1st communion is a 4 yr Bible Class–Catholic doctrine and practice presented in the framework of its origin in Divine Revelation. This in spite of the fact that 6th 7th and 8th grade are entirely bible based and present the overview of salvation history in the OT, NT and Early Church.

What they really mean is, IMHO, is that in CCD we don’t teach how to use scripture to reinforce your own prejudices and opinions.

You are blessed to have been taught the Bible throughout your years in CCD classes and to have a father who knew and used the Bible in your family devotions. I never was told to read the Bible or study it, even though I attended CCD classes, Catholic high school and Catholic college. My parents owned a Bible (still do), but they only used it to record important family history (births, deaths, marriages, etc.); they never actually read it. I did not read it until I was living on my own, not attending church, and confused about my future. I must say, though, that God definitely knows what He is doing, because He somehow got me to read a Bible and return to the Catholic Church! :bible1: