Reading the Bible...

[MariaG]

No matter how energetically devout Catholics and deacons and priests deny this, I have to say that, over the years, as I participated in one Catholic Bible study group after another, there was clerical resistance to Bible study.

Was it resistance to the Bible study or the kind of study tools you were using? Was it Bible alone or Bible in context with Tradition?

I know in our parish, Bible study is encouraged but ONLY with Catholic materials. The reason being that by studying the bible from a Protestant resource, you clearly are not “conforming your mind” to the teachings of the Catholic Church. Or some of the “Catholic” studies out there are written by dissenting and heretical Catholics.

So in our case the resistance is for the kind of bible study, not Bible study and of itself.

God Bless,
Maria

 

[frankieg]

how can we defend our faith if we dont know the word!

 

[hungry]

joegrabowski:

I’ve heard from many pre-Gen X. Catholics that they were told growing up (either by parents, teachers in Catholic school, or by priests and nuns) that Catholics were not allowed to read the Bible.
I’m just curious about how common this trend was, and also in what age-groups and demographics it was most prevalent. I’m a 21 year-old Catholic male, and while my Catholic school studies were never very Bible-intensive, I was never actively discouraged from reading God’s Word. Scott Hahn’s advice for being “Bible-Christians” as Catholics is, I think, an important part of being a good apologist, so this is kind of a disturbing concept for me.

I was wondering what the criteria were for voting in this poll since it wasn’t specified. I was raised in the 50’s and 60’s in my parent’s home and we were not allowed to read the Bible at School in Church or at home. We had only what was permitted by the church at that time which were missels and prayer books and we were encouraged to learn much from memorization. At that time, before Vatican II we had all masses in Latin, not that we could understand any of it.

So I cannot vote in your poll since it does not reflect time periods as to when the Bible has since been allowed to be read. Also extensive study to my knowledge is still discouraged unless approved by the clergy so to speak.

It is sad, I still remember parts of it.

 

[Ignatius]

hungry:

were not allowed to read the Bible at School in Church or at home. We had only what was permitted by the church at that time .

Hungry, you could not have possibly been taught the Catholic Faith. The Psalms, Proverbs, Epistles and the Gospels have been read at the Divine Liturgy every day for the last 2000 years. If you were really taught the Catholic Faith, you would know that. Also, you should be aware that, since most people in the ancient world couldn’t even read and it was only through the Catholic Church that they received the Word. It is the Catholic Church which preserved and propagated the Scriptures through the millennia.

Sometimes people come on these boards claiming they were brought up Catholic but claiming all kinds of falsehoods that clearly contradict Church teachings. If you were truly brought up Catholic, tell me; what happens at the Liturgy of the Word part of the Mass?

 

[selvaraj]

Catholics are poor in Bible knowledge. Reading the Bible is must. So please read a Chapter per day and you will be succeeded. I have read three times, still I am reading a chapter per day. Why don`t you?

 

[Ignatius]

selvaraj:

Catholics are poor in Bible knowledge. Reading the Bible is must. So please read a Chapter per day and you will be succeeded. I have read three times, still I am reading a chapter per day. Why don`t you?

I read a half hour per day, which is several chapters.

 

[Rae]

Well, I don’t know what pre-GenX is, perhaps I’m a little old…being 39, and I’m a cradle Catholic…and I was never told NOT to read the Bible. To me, it sounds unbelievable. I’m sure there’s never been a unanimous conspiracy out there, of the religious, to discourage Catholics to read the Bible. Sounds like mythology to me.

If there has been someone who has actually been told, “Do not read the Bible”, by a priest or a nun, I’d say that that priest or nun was completely unorthodox, completely wrong, and, most likely alone. That would not ‘prove’ that Catholics are not allowed to read the Bible. That is myth. The history of the Church would attest to that. Read the Catechism, and it will attest to that. And, why are these claims always ‘in the past’. Is there someone, recently (within the past week) who has been told that?

If, on the other hand, it was said that understanding the Bible requires the Church, I’d say it’s possible that THAT is what was said. After all, as Catholics we know that the Bible is our book, that we are free to read it, but that we are not free, as individuals, to interpret it any way we’d like to. That has been the problematic course of individual interpretation, which has it’s fruits in the many denominations of Protestantism.

Personally, I’ve never ever been told NOT to read the Bible by a religious or another layperson.

 

[bcuster]

I am 47 year old. That makes me slightly pre-Vatican II. My family had a DR Bible in a prominent place in the living room. I dusted it, but the language was too difficult for me to understand.
My mother was a convert and never discouraged Bible reading. She preferred the King James Version which I found also unintelligible. My parents received a New American Bible from my uncle in the early 70’s. This was my first experience at reading Scripture and understanding it. In high school I had a group of friends from all different faiths. We would debate religions. Jewish, Lutheran, Catholic. We must have been pretty “nerdy” because we actually carried our Bibles around with us at school! I thank God for that experience. I was challenged to learn my faith and Catholic interpretation of Scripture. I was lucky to have my mom who would go to her Catechism and look things up with me and patiently explain things to me.

 

[anawim]

I’m 51. I was encouraged to read Scripture. In fact we read it and discussed it in Catholic school. However, we were always cautioned to read the Bible in the light of Catholic teaching. Today, I think the expression is, “read the Bible in the heart of the Church”.