Just because we are Catholics doesnt mean we can skip reading the Bible

  • Thread starter Thread starter goodcatholic
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
I agree we should read the Bible even though for centuries many were illiterate and unable to do so. But in that case the Church’s teachings on the faith more than sufficed, along with the Mass where Scripture is read and her sacraments which define her theology in physical form as well as giving us a means to act or live out the faith. Personally I quote Scripture often, depending on the particular need.
 
fhansen said:
Personally I quote Scripture often, depending on the particular need.
Click to expand...
A new kind of Catholic is growing. Bible literate Catholics are on the increase. We have a Bible study in our parish which is very popular !
 
Misinterpretation can occur just as easy when you hear the readings at Mass. Guess I don’t see the difference between reading the Bible or hearing it read at Mass. Both require alignment with the Magistrrium.
 
Lectio divina is great but it’s not “reading”. You would hear an enormous amount of Scripture at one Mass compared to lectio. I think praying with scripture using something like lectio divina and working your way through a book or set of books is a good combination. That way you get your daily prayer done which will be based on Scripture and you can “read” the Bible, too. At least that’s what I find works very well for me.
 
Protestants would be better off studying church history, in my opinion.

But, I must wonder, why we receive so much, yet they still misguided? What good do these divisions bring about?
 
It’s the word of God…it should be a sin not to read the bible for every Catholic…
 
I also came from a protestant family. The protestants tend to remember verses, no context, and ignore the ones they don’t like. They will always throw out ‘call no one father’ and forget all the ones about the real presence in the Eucharist. I was born into a Baptist family and didn’t realize that they didn’t believe that during communion that it was the real body of Christ until an Italian Catholic friend pointed it out to me. I’d received communion since I was ten and they read the same verses used at Mass. It is my body, so I assumed they meant it!

The other protestant oddity is that if the particular pastor interprets something different than what they think, they just go to a different church or denomination, which is the opposite of biblical teachings. In other words, they know verses, I doubt that they really know the Bible better.
 
Wait, what…?

We do read Scriptures everyday during the Holy Mass and during the catecism (which lasts the whole life btw)
 
(Not directed to anyone.)

Does anyone here have a parish which has a real ** pastor’s (or in my case, pastor emeritus’) bible study? Not one of those “let’s all sit around and share our ignorance” type, as my pastor emeritus calls it - I have been to those in my early college years.

You might start there.

** The type where the scriptures are taught considering the history of them and actual knowledge is imparted, not the kind where people start talking about their feelings, etc.
 
Last edited:
The real problem with all Christians is while many read and study scripture, too many fail to translate it into action and live the scriptures, especially the gospel.
 
On another forum I heard someone complain that ex Protestants were changing the nature of Catholicism in Catholic parishes. It could be interpreted positively or negatively. Catholics becoming more independent in their approach to what the Bible means. Or Catholics becoming more sola scriptura than obedience to the Church. I see it as a positive in waking cradle catholics out of their slumber.
 
Well spoken … How often do quoting scripture Aline with our daily life.

Psalms 25- 4-21
Proverbs 4:21
 
Last edited:
I can only speak from my experience but that concept that Catholics don’t read the bible is a overdone and dated expression. Every parish I have been to has numerous bible studies and is constantly pushing its members to read scripture. In addition of course to the bible readings during the mass. Of course you have to also consider that the majority of the Mass is itself quotations from the bible. I am of course not saying we cant do better but I would not say, again from my experience, that generally speaking Catholics are any less biblically literate than protestants.
 
I think the misnomer is mostly stemmed from the fact that very few Catholics can quote verses. Which, I think is not a fair basis.

When I was younger, we were taught while memorizing our lessons verbatim in school were important in tests, it was useless if we didn’t fully understand the meaning and context behind it. We should be able to explain the lessons and its concepts in our own words in order to say we “truly know” something. So I suppose it’s one thing to “memorize” the verse and another thing to “understand the context” of the verse.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top