Reading the Bible...

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There continues to be a myth held by many non-Catholic Christians(Fundamentalists etc), that the Catholic Church either still is or at one time generally banned Bible reading by the Laity. While it is true that that Church restricted certain versions of the Bible, that was primarily due to bad or heretical translations.

catholic-forum.com/saints/ncd01264.htm

Another myth still propagated by Fundamentalists is about the chaining of Bibles in Catholic churches and monasteries, to purposely withold the Word of God from the people. Though Bibles were chained to lecterns or locked away in chests, that was simply to prevent their loss or theft.

catholic-forum.com/saints/ncd01835.htm

Before the advent of the printing press in the 15th centery, lending out a Bible or any book would be like for us today loaning a high-end notebook computer. Because each had to be painstakenly copied(written!!!) by hand, and were thus quite valuable. So anyone just couldn’t run down to a local Christian bookstore and pick up a copy of an RSV NIV or KJV for $9.99.😉
 
[Sorry, aren’t the epistles, psalms and Gospel from the Bible? All three synoptic Gospels plus John are covered every three years. So, If you had your ears on, you could memorize the Gospels. The Scripture was provided for you and handed to you at a minimum of 52 times a year (every day if you were sent to Catholic school). My point is, you can prepare the banquet, you can server the banquet, but you can’t eat it for them.
[/QUOTE]
Of course they are the Bible. My point was that we get even more scripture now than we did before Vatican II. We didn’t have the three year cycle back then. And yes, no matter what you do, there will still be pew potatoes who come to the banquet but don’t eat.
 
I certainly do not dispute that the Liturgy is rich with scripture (particularly the Old Mass) - quote from Joegrabowski
*

The “New Mass” is even richer in scripture. for the scripture sources of the common, see Fr. Stravinskas The Catholic Church and the Bible (one of many good sources).
The revised lectionary with the 3-year Sunday and 2-year weekday cycle covers all 4 Gospels, 90% of the epistles, and most of the Old Testament. The “Old Mass” used the same readings year after year, leaving treasures of the scripture unexplored and unproclaimed.

I went to Catholic school for 12 years in the 50s and 60s, we had bible study 3 days a week, church history twice a week. Illustrated children’s bibles were regular textbooks in primary grades, and Confraternity Version from 4th grade through high school. They were in all the classrooms but we were expected to buy our own (or receive it as a Confirmation gift) and to read it at home regularly. I was confirmed in 5th grade.

My dad had an enormous German bible dating from the 17th C, a family heirloom my oldest brother now owns. It was the centerpiece of our living room. They had a large white leatherbound Catholic bible with many color illustrations that was a wedding gift from my Methodist grandparents. My dad also had a Knox translation he was partial to (and a complete set of Chesterton, and most of the Image books, high quality paperback series on theology & church topics).

My dad read aloud nearly every night, often from the bible, sometimes poetry, my mom read to us from children’s classics (we had a complete set).

I think reading the bible is like any other reading, a habit formed at home, taught to kids by parents who love reading.

My dad’s family was Catholic (northern England) from way back when, with a German great-grandma, and he always said bible reading was always part of their family life, and of their education.

My mom’s dad was from a large German Catholic family and although he was an official agnostic, he could and did quote the bible frequently.

In my family, extended family and network of Catholic friends I have never run across anyone who was discouraged from reading the bible.

I do remember quite clearly being told that randomly dipping into the bible for “guidance” was not a sound spiritual practice, and that we were not free to interpret isolated passages on our own. We were thoroughly grounded on the Church as the interpreter of Scripture as appointed by Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit.*
 
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pippin:
… And yes, no matter what you do, there will still be pew potatoes who come to the banquet but don’t eat.
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More like those who come to the banquet, eat, but never bother to get to know the guest of honor nor appreciate the meal.

Sorry, just had to throw in my :twocents:

CARose
 
The problem with Bible reading today is that Catholics have become so protestantized in some parts of the country that they make this their central spiritual exercize. This is often problematic. They will get caught up in reading the Bible almost randomly and not being effective in their spiritual exercizes. From what I know of the pre-Vatican II Church (I am only 17 but attend an FSSP parish, and my parents were teenagers during Vatican II), Scripture reading was properly ordered. Catholics read the Bible during Mass not only from the Epistle and Gospel but also from the other Propers of the Mass (Introit, Collect, Gradual, Alleluia, Offertory, Secret, Communion, and Postcommunion). Scripture was also a part of some popular devotions but was not randomly and improperly read. The Seven Penitential Psalms were prayed often by pious Catholics, especially during Lent. In modern Bible reading (what I was taught at my old parish), the sense of humility and penance is lost and a sense of what is known as “Bible-roulette” is adopted. A friend of mine who is converting to Catholicism was encouraged to begin reading the New Testament, starting with Saint Matthew’s Gospel, reading straight through. I cannot think of something which could be less beneficial for a spiritual exercize. The Bible is used as a means of meditation and prayer, not to acquire a deeper understanding of truth. The Church interprets the Bible and expresses this truth for us in Her teaching; laymen should not be seeking truth by reading the Bible. It is true that using Scripture as a means of supporting the Church’s doctrine can be beneficial, but this is not the role of laymen. If we are attempting to convert others to the Church, we will likely be discussing Scripture and attempting to illustrate why the Church is correct and the protestants are in error, but this is most successful when it is another person’s explanation of the particular verse rather than our own (preferably from a statement from the Church; if not, then from a Saint or at least a Catholic theologian). It is a good thing, at least, that my family in Connecticut is not into the new “Bible movement” which is going on in the Church to encourage a sort of protestant approach to understanding and using Scripture, so I think that this kind of problem is occuring in the areas of the country which are more influenced by protestants (in Georgia, where I live, for example). In any event, the use of Scripture is for our spiritual growth and benefit. There is much of Scripture to be found in the Mass, so if one attends daily Mass, he is reading from the Bible daily in an ordered, logical manner (not in the ambiguous and random manner of the “Bible movement”). Catholics who seek to use the Bible as the sole (or chief) means of spiritual exercizes are looking in the wrong place and are deeming the venerable traditions in the form of popular devotions. It is certainly more beneficial to pray the Rosary than to randomly read two or three chapters of the Bible. If we look at what Catholics have always done regarding Scripture, we will see the proper way of incorporating the Bible into our lives. The fact that the Bible was not even available for the vast majority of Church history is an illustration of the fact that it should not be the sole or chief means of our holy reading. Catholics from the beginning of the Church heard Scripture at Mass and from the Psalms in various devotions, hymns, etc, but this is the proper use of the Bible in our lives. I was once in Life Teen, and if you want to see the misusing of Scripture in order to somehow incorporate the Bible into every event or talk, you can look here for the classic example of improperly using the Bible (pretty much all protestant groups are another good example of this).
 
Asquared, the Old Mass is actually more replete with Scripture. Psalm 42 is recited at the beginning of Mass, and Psalm 25 is recited by the priest at the washing of his hands. Further, during the incensing of the altar, the priest recites Psalm 140. Also, the prayers, especially from the Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Offertory, and Communion, are often from Scripture. This is much more than the simple antiphons of the New Mass and the one verse from Psalm 50: “Lord, wash away my iniquity, cleanse me from my sin.” Read my response above to see my opinion of laymen reading Scripture.
 
Go for it! We Catholics should read and meditate upon God’s written word as often as possible!
… what else could i say?
 
amarkich,

You said:
The Bible is used as a means of meditation and prayer, not to acquire a deeper understanding of truth
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I disagree. I believe you’ve manufactured a false dichotomy that need not be asserted.
The Church interprets the Bible and expresses this truth for us in Her teaching; laymen should not be seeking truth by reading the Bible.
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I disagree. This is an either/or attitude that is not a part of Catholic teaching. Instead, the Church teaches that growth in understanding by believers occurs “through contemplation and study made by believers,” by experiencing the “sprititual realities,” AND “through the preaching” of the Church.

St. Jerome’s “Bible movement” demands of all the faithful, both clergy and laity, “an assiduous reading of the text.” He makes no distinction between the kind of “assidous reading” in his demand of clergy and laity, except that there is a greater responsibility for the clergy.

Consequently, all of Christ’s faithful should prayerfully read, study, and meditate daily upon Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.

I suggest a book from Frank Sheed (a layman), called Theology for Beginners where he addresses this attitude that studying theology is for clergy only.

"The person who thirsts for God eagerly studies and meditates on the inspired Word"
– St. Bernard of Clairvaux

"St. Jerome begs for assiduous reading of the Bible by the faithful in general, he insists on it for those who are called to “bear the yoke of Christ” and preach His word."
– *Spiritus Paraclitus, *45

“let the laity devotedly strive to acquire a more profound grasp of revealed truth”
– Lumen Gentium, 35

“This tradition which comes from the Apostles develop in the Church with the help of the Holy Spirit. For there is a growth in the understanding of the realities and the words which have been handed down. This happens through the contemplation and study made by believers, who treasure these things in their hearts (see Luke, 2:19, 51) through a penetrating understanding of the spiritual realities which they experience, and through the preaching of those who have received through episcopal succession the sure gift of truth.”
– Dei Verbum, 8

“the Church by no means prevents or restrains the pursuit of Biblical science, but rather protects it from error, and largely assists its real progress. A wide field is still left open to the private student, in which his hermeneutical skill may display itself with signal effect and to the advantage of the Church. On the one hand, in those passages of Holy Scripture which have not as yet received a certain and definitive interpretation, such labours may, in the benignant providence of God, prepare for and bring to maturity the judgment of the Church”
– Providentissumus Deus, 14
 
I am 36 so I am post- Vatican II. I was never discouraged from reading the Bible. It is very important to have questions answered either by clergy, or by reading Catholic Commentary. The footnotes are also very hepful. We must not let our own misunderstandings, or our Protestant friends to cloud our vision of the truth. 🙂
 
I’d be very curious to ask Catholics that had gone to Catholic schools for 8 or more years versus those who had only attended CCD classes. (Obviously some Catholics fall in the middle.) My guess is that Catholic School children were generally much more familiar with the Bible than other children simply because the teachers had the time to incorporate it into the curriculum.

When I was in grammar school, CCD met once a week for an hour and fifteen minutes. I can’t begin to imagine how CCD teachers managed to teach as much as they did during that time period. I think that one year (sixth grade?) was supposed to be the year for learning the Bible but not all students attended.

On a side note, when my sister was in high school she and a friend somehow got on the topic of Jewish holidays. (The friend was Jewish.) The friend was astonished to find out that my sister knew more about the history of the holidays than she did.
 
My expereince talking to differnt catholics is that their expereience varies some say they were discouraged, others encouraged some indiffernt in reading the Bible this is the result of individual parish priests and cathechist opinions not the teaching of the church considering Pope Leo the VIII so much encouraged reading the Bible to give an indulgence (1893) for reading the Bible. Reading the Bible was encouraged by the church explicitly over the past 120 years.
This teaching wasn’t always transferred to from every parish priest to every parishoner due to a lot of laziness of misinformation but the church herself encouraged the reading of the Bible.
Since Vatican 2 this teaching has been even more explcit to everybody and yes the current lectionary is even more loaded in scipture in fact it contains more scripture than your average fundamentlaist or evangelcial gets in their sunday reading (they fill up thier hour with the pastors’s commentary on scripture more than scripture pay attention to this when you visit their churches - we get far more scripture than they do ironically) The Anglican and Lutheran churches were so much impressed with the amount of scipture we have in our current lectionary post vatican 2 cycle that for the most part they have the same reading and along with us have the most scripture reading on a given Sunday.
I also get that the old Baltimore cathchism classes were far better structured than the mess we have right now. Catholics knew more of what the church taught then but not necessarily why from a Biblical point of view. Obviously we need to combine the new with the old. With great Cathechis of what the church teaches from the cathechism and why from a scriptural foundation.
 
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amarkich:
I was once in Life Teen, and if you want to see the misusing of Scripture in order to somehow incorporate the Bible into every event or talk, you can look here for the classic example of improperly using the Bible (pretty much all protestant groups are another good example of this).
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Must people turn everything into lifeteen’s fault…for crying out loud bad leadership is not LifeTeen’s fault.
My parents raised me with the knowledge of Bible=bad for Catholics, as were many of my friends. In my LifeTeen quotes of the bible are carefully done to show the fullness of the Catholic Faith and not the agenda of the speaker.
 
I have just been told that reading the Bible is great, but we should compare our understandings with the catechism and so forth. We wouldn’t to end up saying “once saved, always saved” no would we?
 
When I was going to catholic elementary and high school reading the bible was discouraged because we did not have the training to interpret it properly. Now I know this was wrong. I try to read the bible for 15 minutes every day. 🙂
 
lectio divina is the ancient practice of scripture reading, praying, meditation and contemplation practiced from the earliest monastic times to the present. True in some orders, and some times and places, the practice fell into disuse, but like chant, has been revived. It is the cornerstone of Benedictine spirituality as taught to the oblates, for instance, along with the Liturgy of the Hours.

Lectio - readiing, “eating” the Word of God (interesting how this interpretation became engrained in Evangelical Protestant pratice)

meditatio - meditation, “chewing” or “ruminating” in the sense that cows and similar animal ruminate their food, bringing up from the stomach, the meditation can continue after the reading is over

oratio - praying - praying with scripture, making the reading part of prayer over the next hours or days, “digesting” the word, making it part of oneself

contemplatio - contemplation - the Word of God is now part of oneself, a window to contemplate the face of God Himself, the wordless communion with Christ through His Word

It is this last dimension that often becomes lost in modern approaches to bible study, including that presented by many protestant or evangelical bible studies, focused much more on academic study and explication.
 
I don’t ever remember being discouraged from reading from the Bible. Why should we be discouraged from it, when it is also being read to us every Sunday in mass?

This does remind me of a little family history though. My grandmother was placed in a mental hospital, by her father, for reading and commenting on the Bible. I guess this was considered inappropriate behavior for a woman around 1930.
 
I am 56 years old and was a young boy in the fifties. My parents had a beautiful copy of the Douay Rheims bible in our home, and my mother still has that bible today. When I was about 8 years old I asked my mother if it was Okay if I read our bible. I asked permission only because this was a beautiful and very large bible which was considered to be something of great value. As kids we didn’t handle things of value without asking. My mother gave me the green light and I went for it.

In the front of that family bible there is an official encouragement by the Church to read scripture. What I was always taught by my parents and teachers was that we should never read the bible without the guidance of the church. In other words, scriptural interpretation was never up for grabs.
 
I like to read the bible by the light of the Rule of Faith. I.e. with an infallible interpreter the Church to guide me through tricky topics.
 
I was given a New Testament In 5th grade ( 1941) at a Catholic school and encourage to read it.
 
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