Is not reading the Bible a sin?

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I’ve read about Catholicism for a fairly long time and have never heard someone say we were bound under the pain of sin to read the Bible.

The rosary is a Compendium of the Gospels (John Paul II) which are the center of the Bible. The Bible is about Jesus, not about the Bible. Jesus is the Word spoken by the Father.

That said, many people I trust advise we read the Bible daily. I have to get back into that again.
 
It’s a good practice, but I know of no requirement that we read the Bible with some specific frequency.

We ARE required to attend Mass, where you will hear readings from the Bible, so even if you never read it on your own you’re going to hear it.
 
The protestants are wrong (as usual).

Some thoughts, in no real order:
  1. The verse cited is not authoritative: It says we sin and fall short of the glory of God. First, that assumes the translation is correct and I would add that numerous other translations frame it differently, but assuming they’re accurate, they then leap to the conclusion that everything - thoughts, whatever - that “falls short of the glory of God” is automatically sinful. This is false, and unproven. Do I sin if I watch a baseball game tonight instead of praying? Do I sin by doing something, anything, mundane (the laundry?) instead of reading the Bible? No one thinks that.
  2. AFAIK, the Catholic Church has never said I sin by not reading the Bible.
  3. What if I can’t read (much of the world can’t)? What if I’m blind? The answer is ill-thought out, and sees sin everywhere.
As an aside, I am dubious of any so-called Christian organization where you can’t readily determine who they are or what they believe - made worse because they are clear that their “address” is a mail drop. The Catholic Church isn’t hard to find. These folks? Who knows. I’d ignore them.
 
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No, it’s not. Jesus taught the faith comes from the ear, besides He always told to have beware with the letter which can kill. That means read The Bible like you can understood for yourself.
 
I don’t necessarily agree with the writer of that article. I’m afraid that he/she engaged in eisegesis. However, I appreciate what he/she is trying to say. In Joshua 1:8, God tells the prophet Joshua to meditate on His law day and night. One of the characteristics of being a prophet is that you are to be a role model. If Joshua is a role model, we should likewise meditate on God’s laws day and night.

I believe that we should be active in the Word. Paul said that all of the scriptures are God-breathed. One should, therefore, not be involved in seeking guidance [if you can call it that] from channelers, magick, psychics, mediums, necromancers, horoscopes, etc. One should always, before undertaking a task, bring God to remembrance and ask Him to guide you as you do said task. We dishonor Him if we turn to new age nonsense.

I don’t know if it’s necessarily sinful to not read the Bible because there can be a ton of exceptions. Take it up with the Lord and He will guide you to the correct answer.
 
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I think it’s good practice, but I don’t think not reading is a sin, but I TOTALLY think you SHOULD.
 
Since the Church for centuries has offered indulgences (no, they aren’t bought or sold) for reading Scripture, provided one has the ability to read, I’d say that to turn this around a bit, Reading the Bible is not a sin.

Despite the canards that the Church “forbade’ people to read the Bible, it still seems that some today have been confused into thinking either that it’s a sin to read on one’s own (it never was) or that it’s a sin NOT to read it (many Protestants).

Obviously if one can read at all, reading the Sacred Scriptures is not only a pious act of love of the Lord whose Written Word this is, it is also helpful to learn about the Faith and to reinforce it.

However, if a person cannot read then there are plenty of other ways (including aural or spoken word) to learn the Bible. So it is not the actual, “Thou Shalt read the Bible one chapter per night” idea. But just because it is not written that “One dost not have to read the Bible as doing so is not a sin per se” does not mean that one crosses off an item on the “I don’t have to do X at all because it isn’t essential to my salvation” list and then continues to look to do the minimum possible.
 
Given that (most?) Protestants hold to Sola Scriptura, I think it follows from that principle that neglect of the Bible constitutes a sin. If Scripture is the absolute rule of faith, trumping things like tradition, then it is the main authority. I might be butchering it, but that’s kind of the main idea, I think.

So the sinfulness of neglecting the Bible may therefore be a sin specific to Protestantism since Catholics have Tradition and the Magisterium to go on along with the Bible, that it isn’t sufficient.

But did they have the Bible in the earliest times?

That said, I think one should avail oneself of ALL the tools in his spiritual toolbox, that the Church has gifted us. That’s what I think.
 
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Stepinac said:
Protestant brothers say it is a sin not to read the Bible regularly,
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As Sola Scriptura believers, of course they would say this. Reading the Bible is profitable to your spiritual life, no doubt. Consider how many people would have been in sin throughout Christian history. The masses have been literate for roughly 100 years only.
 
I don’t refer to Protestants about anything with regard to what’s a sin. Nothing personal, but that’s what the Church and the Catechism is for.

While personal devotion and reading scripture is good, if you are reading along with any of the readings during the Mass, then you are reading the Bible.
 
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Intent is important as well. If one decides not to read the bible because, for example, they prefer to hear the spoken word at mass or in a homily is very different from simply rejecting the written word of God.

Sinful? Possibly, but as previous posters have indicated, the RCC doesn’t specify not reading scripture as a sin.
 
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