Opinion please

[moedom]

I happened to come across this site www.bible.org and checked their online netbible. I was impressed by how easy it is to use. Would this be a good resource to use for my bible reading? In other words, what is your opinion on this resource?


Moe

 

[thistle]

I had a quick look and this is definitely a Protestant website. If you check the lefthand side Finding God all the comments and scripture are to do with being saved by faith alone and not by works and also once saved always saved.

 

[puzzleannie]

check on their doctrinal statement, and then go to Q&A and check on Catholicism, that should be enough to tell you the views of the translators and interpreters of this site not only do not share but disagree strenuously with Catholic biblical interpretation. Nowhere could I find a statement of who did the translation and interpretation, and under what authority. Since it is not a Catholic site, it should not be used by Catholics. There are many fine Catholic bible study sites, try catholicexchange.com.

 

[nordskoven]

Just heard a former Jehovah’s Witless convert to Catholicism on Dr. Laura saying he won’t raise his kids Catholic because he: 1. doesn’t believe in Real Presence 2. says we are not saved by works as Catholics teach. Well, Catholics believe in a process, a working out our salvation in fear and trembling, that: starts with God’s grace; flowers into faith; and bears the good fruit of works of love. As Christ said, those who love Him hear and obey, i.e., lovingly obey His command to love. There is none of Luther’s “grace alone” (an emendation to his work late in life) “faith alone” or any other “alones” because it’s a process, one that starts with God’s grace. That site is useless as perpetuating a lie.

 

[Tietjen]

moedom:

I happened to come across this site www.bible.org and checked their online netbible. I was impressed by how easy it is to use. Would this be a good resource to use for my bible reading? In other words, what is your opinion on this resource?


Moe

Have you considered one of these Bible websites instead:

Douay-Rheims Bible
or
The New American Bible

Take care and Merry Christmas

 

[Daniel_Marsh]

Hi Moe, you can download the full NET bible for free there. I think it is very useful in the notes. I have often used it to check claims of anti-catholics, often exposing a misinterpretation by an anti-catholic.

It is a tool, and as with any tool it is useful, when you know its bias. I have found it often in agreement with the linquistic tool published at rome.

A Grammatical Analysis of the Greek New Testament, Max Zerwick and Mary Grosvenor. Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1981. ISBN 88-7653-588-8

This book explains the difficult vocabulary and grammatical constructions for each verse in the New Testament. The explanations are concise and helpful, and grammatical constructions are indexed to Zerwick’s Biblical Greek, a good intermediate grammar.

I bought both books from Loyola University Press: (800) 621-1008. Highly recommended - I use this almost every day.

ibiblio.org/koine/#zerwick

 

[BayCityRickL]

As others have noted, the web site you mentioned is not only NON-Catholic, it is ANTI-Catholic.

I find Protestant bible sources to be useful, only if I stay well-tuned to and be careful of the anti-Catholic biases, and those can be very subtle.

Catholic Bible scholars have dragged a lot of Protestant Bible interpretation into the Catholic Church. There are plenty of threads here in the forums about the most prevalent and influential of these, modern historical criticism.

Catholic Bible Scholarship seems to have been lagging (for good reason) until Pope Leo XIII re-opened Catholic scholarship of the Bible, with cautions about that very thing, of dragging in the ideas of heretics into the Church.

Even Catholic books bearing an imprimatur and nihil obstat – which are supposed to indicate their acceptability for Catholics – can be very misleading, as they plainly contradict long-standing Catholic doctrine. It was for that very reason that Pope John Paul II and the bishops of the world, under the supervision of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, compiled the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a modern summary of authentic Catholic teaching.

After the Second Vatican Council, even Pope John Paul II said there was a springtime in the Church with respect to a flourishing of evangelization. Sadly, many Catholic scholars are not speaking with the voice of the Church. The CCC is being suppressed even in my former parish. I think that springtime metaphor is not totally accurate.

I refer you to other threads about Bible Study, for further information. See the threads about Dr.Scott Hahn, for example.

 

[DaveBj]

Dittos to what Rick said.

As far as a Bible reading plan is concerned, keep it simple. Get yourself a Catholic Bible (D-R or RSV-CE; I’d stay away from the NAB until you’re ready to deal with the faith-diluting footnotes). Then start getting One Bread, One Body (www.presentationministries.com) and follow their daily reading program, which is based on the daily Mass readings. I’ve been getting and using OBOB for a year now, and I highly recommend it for being well centered on the Scriptures and on our Catholic faith.

DaveBj

 

[CatQuilt]

This is slightly different than what you asked about, i.e. it’s a parish-based Bible Study program…

Catholic Scripture Study International offers easy-to-follow, in-depth, and faithfully Catholic study guides and materials specifically formatted for group study.

Written by leading Catholic authors, scholars, and apologists, the CSS program provides a simple solution to the challenges of continuing adult religious education. Click here for a preview of one of our lessons.

link to their website

 

[moedom]

Thanks for all your (name removed by moderator)ut. Now just to throw a little bit more fire on this topic. My wife and I are doing a study program with a book called Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer, there is a lot of scripture in it and I feel that she is right about a lot of what is going on in the mind and how to deal with it. I do feel a bit apprehensive though since this person uses a lot of scripture and her own interjections. The people giving this course are very strong Catholics. We also use many different bible sources in our course so we can get the different perspectives. I do believe that this is a needed course in our area since Satan has a definite stronghold in this area. (I’m sure we are not alone). My question is, can this book still be safe to use even if it doesn’t come from a Catholic perspective?

Moe