I just got told by RC person that Bible study is "Protestant"

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Bev17243

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I used to attend Bible study in Baptist church and really enjoyed it. Its was not about “feeling” but really studying theology.
Would have loved to find something like that in RCC but so far no local churches hold Bible studies and today I was told by one of them that Bible study is a “Protestant” thing.
 
Bev17243 said:
I used to attend Bible study in Baptist church and really enjoyed it. Its was not about “feeling” but really studying theology.
Would have loved to find something like that in RCC but so far no local churches hold Bible studies and today I was told by one of them that Bible study is a “Protestant” thing.
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sigh Whoever told you that was wrong. The Church strongly encourages Bible study. There’s even an indulgence attached to it.

I would have this person read the document Dei Verbum from Vatican II. The Catechism has a good section on Scripture also. There’s absolutely no good reason for a Catholic to not study scripture. We should all read it regularly.

I’m sorry to hear no Catholic churches in your area offer a bible study. That’s terrible. They should have at least something.

It’s possible you’re being called to start one though. Perhaps you can share your love of Scripture and wake the Catholics in your area up to how rich and rewarding it is to study God’s word.👍
 
Bev17243 said:
I used to attend Bible study in Baptist church and really enjoyed it. Its was not about “feeling” but really studying theology.
Would have loved to find something like that in RCC but so far no local churches hold Bible studies and today I was told by one of them that Bible study is a “Protestant” thing.
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Bible study is NOT just a “Protestant thing.” Sadly, however, many more Protestant churches have Bible study than do Catholic parishes. Resources are an issue, and certainly lay Bible study has not been an emphasis in our culture. Certainly in my parents’ and grandparents’ generations, every home likely had a beautiful family bible, which most typically would have been opened only to record family births and deaths.
 
St. Jerome said, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of God.”
Some of the best testimonies I heard from converts to Catholicism came from former non-Catholics who discovered more scripture read at Mass than during one of their services. As one former Baptist put it, “The preacher preached on the Word, while at Mass the Word is proclaimed.” Why wouldn’t Catholics want to study the Word that is proclaimed everyday from the altar? There too, we have something that the other denominations do not have. They go to church on Sunday. It is possible in many parishes to attend Mass everyday of the week. What an awesome God we have! Why remain ignorant?
 
What is the Liturgy of the Word/Hours but Bible study? Protestants just don’t use the liturgical form. Having said that, there’s a tendency of Catholics to just gloss over the readings. I try to read them before hand then close my eyes and really listen during the readings. Whatever works for you.
 
Robyn_p said:
sigh Whoever told you that was wrong. The Church strongly encourages Bible study. There’s even an indulgence attached to it.

I would have this person read the document Dei Verbum from Vatican II. The Catechism has a good section on Scripture also. There’s absolutely no good reason for a Catholic to not study scripture. We should all read it regularly.

I’m sorry to hear no Catholic churches in your area offer a bible study. That’s terrible. They should have at least something.

It’s possible you’re being called to start one though. Perhaps you can share your love of Scripture and wake the Catholics in your area up to how rich and rewarding it is to study God’s word.👍
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I am starting to think that Churches in my area either don’t have anyone who wants to do it or they just don’t care. I called 3 so far and not one was offering anything
 
It depends what you mean by “Bible study.” If you mean sitting around in a circle and asking each person, “What does this verse mean for you?” then yes, that is very Protestant, because Protestantism is founded on the idea that anyone can understand the Bible, without the aid of the Church.

Do I really think my own personal idea of what something means is more relevant than what the Church has solemnly taught, or even than what her eminent Fathers, Doctors, and theologians have written? Sure it takes more effort to find out; but isn’t it worth the effort?
 
I’m sure there aren’t enough qualified people to teach – that’s always a problem. In my area there’s a 3-year Catholic Bible Institute designed to give people the background to be able to teach about Scripture. See la-archdiocese.org/org/ore/aff/Pages/cbi.aspx

They’ll start a new cohort next year (this year they’re offering only year 2). I’m seriously thinking about signing up.
 
Bible studies are good and useful things, but there are two things I would like to see in more of our parishes above and beyond Bible studies:
  1. The public celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours. Together with the mass, the LOTH is the prayer of the Church, and thus, the prayer of Christ Himself. When we recite the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours), we are not only reading Scripture, we are *praying * Scripture with the Church and with the Lord.
    We must keep in mind that for most of Church history the average Christian was not able to read. The primary purpose of the Scriptures always has been and always will be proclamation and worship in the context of the liturgy of the Church. It was for this reason that the Church saw fit to define a canon of Scripture in the first place.
  2. Adult catechesis. Bible studies are useful, but in my humble opinion, the average Catholic is not ready for an indepth study of the Scriptures right off the bat. General catechesis for adults, drawing from the Bible but also from the Catechism, the Fathers, and the saints, should be a high priority for all parishes.
 
Bev17243 said:
I am starting to think that Churches in my area either don’t have anyone who wants to do it or they just don’t care. I called 3 so far and not one was offering anything
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try biblestudyforcatholics.com

Sometimes Catholics have Bible studies that are run on a Diocese level or community level, and not via the Parish. Perhaps, there is one in your area?

You could start one too… with your Parish or inter-parochial
 
I live in an area where only about 10% of the population is Catholic, and there are three Catholic Churches near me that have the Jeff Cavins “Great Adventure” Bible study.

We meet once a week for two hours, get homework of what Scripture to read, have a workbook where we answer questions and discuss with the other participants, and after that we watch a 45 minute DVD of Jeff Cavins go even deeper into the lesson for that week. He is an excellent bible teacher and a pleasant speaker. It is not hard to understand what he is saying.

Some programs are 24 weeks, some are 20, and some are 10. The facilitator is learning at the same time - but has the job of taking attendance, and directing the participants to share the answers to the questions and promote dialogue in the group.

I find it very inspiring and have learned a lot. It has helped me appreciate Scripture more than ever before, and I look forward to the upcoming study on the Book of Revelation which is for ten weeks.

It is nothing at all like sitting around and discussing what you think the Scripture means. It truly is an in-depth learning tool.
 
Bev17243 said:
I used to attend Bible study in Baptist church and really enjoyed it. Its was not about “feeling” but really studying theology.
Would have loved to find something like that in RCC but so far no local churches hold Bible studies and today I was told by one of them that Bible study is a “Protestant” thing.
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No – it is not a Protestant thing — but those involved in Catholic bible study – need to be aware–as to how the Catholic Church interprets scripture. Without the Church as the guide and interpreter – those involved in bible study may end up deviating toward fundamentalism.
 
Here is a very good free Catholic Bible study…

agapebiblestudy.com/

Remember that any decent Catholic Bible study will have references to the Catechism of the Catholic Church so having a CCC along with a Catholic Bible is necessary.
 
Bev17243 said:
I am starting to think that Churches in my area either don’t have anyone who wants to do it or they just don’t care. I called 3 so far and not one was offering anything
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Try searching ascensionpress.com/map. I have been leading the Great Adventure/Jeff Cavins studies in my home for five years and they are excellent.

-Tim-
 
My parish arranges their own Bible studies, meaning the participants decide on the curriculum. Of course, with Father’s approval–we select the material, he yeas or nays it. He looks for adherence to Church teaching, references to the CCC, other Church documents( the Holy Fathers’ encyclicals, etc). and must be solidly Catholic.

So far we’ve done (a sampling, too many to list):
The Great Bible Timeline
I & II Corinthians
Romans
Ruth
John
Matthew
Revelations
Praying with the Psalms
Father Gaitley’s 33 Days to Morning Glory
Consoling the Heart of Jesus
The Fulfillment of All Desire, Dr. Ralph Martin
Angels and Demons
For Lent: The Seven Last Words, Archbishop Fulton Sheen

This Fall and Spring, 2015, we’re doing:
Father Gaitley’s The One Thing is Three
Luke
A Walk with Mary
Epic: First 500 year history of the Catholic Church

Our resources have been:
Catholic Scripture Study International
Ascension Press

Whoever told you, Bible Study is a Protestant thing, needs to reevaluate. 🤷
 
About 40 to 50 years ago the CC frowned on people reading the Bible. But I did it anyway, and I became protestant. But now today protestantism is a mess. For over a year I’m trying to come back to the CC but I keep finding Catholic practices that don’t go along with the Bible. As an old man who has been both, I think the CC has to do away with certain things, such as statues. However, protestant churches need to realize other Catholic practices are right on. But neither of these things are happening. We all need to kill our pride. Human pride is against God.
Our world is in dire straits. I see God as the only hope we have. I think anyone who considers Jesus Christ as God, Lord and savior, needs to make peace with anyone else who does also.
 
Geo17 said:
About 40 to 50 years ago the CC frowned on people reading the Bible. But I did it anyway, and I became protestant. But now today protestantism is a mess. For over a year I’m trying to come back to the CC but I keep finding Catholic practices that don’t go along with the Bible. As an old man who has been both, I think the CC has to do away with certain things, such as statues. However, protestant churches need to realize other Catholic practices are right on. But neither of these things are happening. We all need to kill our pride. Human pride is against God.
Our world is in dire straits. I see God as the only hope we have. I think anyone who considers Jesus Christ as God, Lord and savior, needs to make peace with anyone else who does also.
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You might want a copy of The Catholic Answer Bible regarding many of your objectives concerning Catholic practices.
Growing up, we always had Bibles in our Catholic home. They were Douay-Rheims. I was given my own Children’s Bible to read. Most of the prayers that Catholics recite from memory have a scriptural basis, even if we don’t cite chapter and verse. On my wedding day, my brother gave my husband and me our Family Bible. By then, the Church had moved to the newer NAB translation for the liturgy.
Pope Francis is encouraging every Catholic to carry a small Bible with him or her much in the same way that each of us used to carry our Missals to Mass on Sunday morning.
 
It would be much better to study from these materials on your own rather than go to a Baptist Bible study. You have to be well versed in the Catholic interpretation otherwise you get some very twisted interpretations off the tops of peoples heads or even their demonetization’s theologies.

One time I decided to go to a dorm room “Bible Study” when a well prepared Presbyterian lead a study of John 6. He constantly miss-read the Chapter as everyone read along that you were baptized by water and “then the” Spirit. I would correct “and Spirit” as it said in all the translations; as a few asked if his translation was different, but it wasn’t. He got indignant and said that it means that at one time you would be baptized by water as a symbol and later be baptized in the Spirit. I just answered, “so you don’t want to study the Bible; you want to insert your own words according to your theology”. He wined about researching this very carefully; then they went on ignoring me and I got up and left. Two later came by who were questioning their Evangelical Free denomination and how they have very forceful preachers that interpret things like this. They said I was right, but they stayed in their church and just ignored what they thought were poor interpretations.

So what he should have said is that Protestant Bible Study is mostly a very poor form of Bible Study and is most often worse than reading the Bible on your own.
 
Geo17 said:
About 40 to 50 years ago the CC frowned on people reading the Bible.
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This is one of the things that “everybody knows is true.” But… is it? In 1943, in Divino Afflante Spiritu, Pope Pius XII remarked positively about the efforts of his predecessors in encouraging the laity to read the Bible: "Pius X most heartily commended … the truly praiseworthy custom of reading and meditating on the holy Gospels; … seeing that it helps in no small way “to dissipate the idea that the Church is opposed to or in any way impedes the reading of the Scriptures in the vernacular.” Further, he wrote, “Benedict XV… exhorted ‘all the children of the Church… to reverence the Holy Scripture, to read it piously and meditate it constantly.’” (DAS, #9)

So, this may be something that, at a local level, certain teachers may have recommended against; yet, the Catholic Church encouraged the laity to read the Bible… 😉
But I did it anyway, and I became protestant.
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With all due respect, if you feel that the Bible led you away from the Catholic Church… then you’ve misinterpreted what you read. 🤷
I keep finding Catholic practices that don’t go along with the Bible.
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I think I would advise you to bring up your problems with such practices here at CAF; there are many folks here who would be able to demonstrate how the Church’s practices aren’t at odds with the Bible.
I think the CC has to do away with certain things, such as statues.
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Umm… why? Are you aware that the Christian Church, in the 8th century, dealt with exactly this concern (i.e., the ‘iconoclasm controversy’) and in the second council of Nicaea, decided that ‘representational art’ was both “in harmony with the spread of the gospel” and draw Christians to “remember and long for those who serve as models” of the faith.
 
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