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mark_a
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Does God really expect us to know that whole big ol’ book inside out?
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deb1
Guest
mark a:
For many hundreds of years, the majority of mankind couldn’t read. Miedival peasants were still Christians even if the couldn’t quote any bible passages.
There is something in the bible for everyone. Adventure stories, betrayal, wars, romance, beautiful poetry, history…its all there. I am not certain why someone wouldn’t want to read the bible.
No, he doesn’t. Although knowing the bible and understanding the history behind it can help protect you from falling into false beliefs.
For many hundreds of years, the majority of mankind couldn’t read. Miedival peasants were still Christians even if the couldn’t quote any bible passages.
There is something in the bible for everyone. Adventure stories, betrayal, wars, romance, beautiful poetry, history…its all there. I am not certain why someone wouldn’t want to read the bible.
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phatcatholic
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mark a:
it would certainly be beneficial to you and i think that we have a responsibility as catholics to be as familar with the bible as we can possibly be. however, “as familiar as we can be” means different things to different people, since we all have different talents and intellectual capacities. i say try your ultimate best. thankfully, we have a Church that helps us to overcome our weaknesses and to understand the bible when we are unable.
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marty1818
Guest
If someone is seriously in love with a person, they will want to know as much as they can. Their hobbies, what they do in life, etc. This is true for our love for God. If we love God, we should want to read His book and learn all about Him through the Bible. It’s not easy, but we should at least try. I know I don’t know the Bible as well as I should.
matthew
matthew
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Church_Militant
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Hi mark a!
Hey don’t let it daunt ya. You can read the whole thing cover to cover in about a year by simply reading 3 chapters a day. Don’t try it straight through though. I alternated books in the OT and NT. I guess I’ve read it about 4 or 5 times through, not counting other times that I’ve read parts. Get a version like RSV-CE or NAB (Though my personal favorite is the Douay-Rheims version) and enjoy. It’s really a lot better reading than most people know. (Much to their loss!)
Pax tecum,
Hey don’t let it daunt ya. You can read the whole thing cover to cover in about a year by simply reading 3 chapters a day. Don’t try it straight through though. I alternated books in the OT and NT. I guess I’ve read it about 4 or 5 times through, not counting other times that I’ve read parts. Get a version like RSV-CE or NAB (Though my personal favorite is the Douay-Rheims version) and enjoy. It’s really a lot better reading than most people know. (Much to their loss!)
Pax tecum,
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puzzleannie
Guest
God expects us to know Jesus Christ inside and out, that is the goal of all religion, and through Christ to be led to the Father. Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Jesus Christ, according to St. Jerome.
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scm
Guest
Wow. I wonder where you get that.
We are expected to believe in Jesus, and to do what he says we should do to have everlasting life, like love God with all our hearts, and our neighbors as ourselves, and keep the commandments.
I don’t see where, at least in the Bible, it says God wants us to be theologens or Bible experts, which is what you imply by, “know Jesus Christ inside out”.
Also, you are mistaken if you think the goal of “all” religion is to know Jesus Christ inside out. That is pretty narrow, since there are religions such as Hinduism and Buhddism that have nothing to do with Jesus, as mistaken as they are, that is not their goal.
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MonicaC
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You know if you were to go to church every day for three years you would have heard the whole bible.
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jusher7281
Guest
I like what John Henry Cardinal Newman wrote about it:
“… if the revelations and lessons in Scripture are addressed to us personally and practically, the presence among us of a formal judge and standing expositor of its words, is imperative. It is antecedently unreasonable to suppose that a book so complex, so systematic, in parts so obscure, the outcome of so many minds, times, and places, should be given us from above without the safeguard of some authority; as if it could possibly, from the nature of the case, interpret itself.” (On the Inspiration of Scripture, from The Nineteenth Century, Vol. 15, No. 84, Feb. 1884.)
“… if the revelations and lessons in Scripture are addressed to us personally and practically, the presence among us of a formal judge and standing expositor of its words, is imperative. It is antecedently unreasonable to suppose that a book so complex, so systematic, in parts so obscure, the outcome of so many minds, times, and places, should be given us from above without the safeguard of some authority; as if it could possibly, from the nature of the case, interpret itself.” (On the Inspiration of Scripture, from The Nineteenth Century, Vol. 15, No. 84, Feb. 1884.)
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mark_a
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I love this. I think it gives me an appropriate answer to my question.
The worst mistakes of my life can be attributted to not doing what I was taught by the Church. Not because I couldn’t bark out scripture when my chain was yanked.
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puzzleannie
Guest
Hinduism and buddhism are not properly religions, in that they deny that there is a God who created all that exists and who loves His creation, and deny that there is an absolute Truth and that we can come to know Him. yes, the goal of all religion is knowledge of Jesus Christ, even that of religions that do not even acknowledge Him. The desire for God is written in men’s hearts. all the seeking for truth, morality, and perfection that men do, whether or not they have ever heard the gospel, is motivated by that desire.
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scm
Guest
Yes you have successfully redefined the term “religion” to support your previous statement.
I will ask one of my Hindu friends if he sees a goal of his religion is to seek Jesus.
According to your definition, it would be a secret goal that he is not aware of.
Of course you already ruled out Hinduism as being a religion so I guess there is no point in asking him.
Most of the rest of the world, including the Hindus would consider Hinduism a religion. Now I ask you, in light of the fact that Hindus are killing Christians today in India, because they are Christians, can you really say they are seeking Jesus?
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puzzleannie
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I am quite sure the adherent of a non-Christian religion would deny that he is seeking Jesus. The point remains, whether or not an individual knows it or believes it, Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, there is no Truth outside Jesus who came to lead us to the Father. The desire for God, that is the desire for the Good, the Truth, is inborn in every person, and all seekers, whether they know it or acknowledge it, who sincerely hunger for Truth are seeking God, and the only Way to God is Jesus Christ.
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scm
Guest
Taking the above as an assertion, it does not follow from that that all religion is seeking Jesus.
In fact, non-Christian religions are explicit rejections of Jesus. After all, we all started back in the beginning in relationship with the one true God. As the world was populated groups of people rejected God and went their own way, worhsiping their own (false) gods and forming their own religions.
They chose to reject God (thus Jesus) by an act of their own will, therefore even deep down, they are not seeking God/Jesus.
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Evan
Guest
Well, at least the part the church decides to read at mass. Unless ‘going to church’ includes going to a bible study on a 3 year rotation.
The church does not read most of proverbs, a lot of John is left out (that gospel is not in the rotation) etc
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David_Brown
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A quick glance at the cycle of readings for Sunday shows John is read in all three cycles of the rotation:
Cycle A
Readings from: John 1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 18, 20
Cycle B
Readings from: John 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20
Cycle C
Readings from: John 1, 2, 8, 10, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21
(Sorry if I missed some)
catholic-church.pcentral-online.net/sunday-readings-a.html
David
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Evan
Guest
Well, OK I stand corrected on John. But we don’t have a daily mass available on Tuesdays or Saturdays so part of the cycles are missing via the lack of masses/services.
I know we leave out part of John in the Cylces on Sundays because we are always doing scrutinies during Lent rather than the Sunday readings. I’m always surprise when I come across something in the NT that I have not heard proclaimed. The OT I expect it (it’s a lot bigger).
I know we leave out part of John in the Cylces on Sundays because we are always doing scrutinies during Lent rather than the Sunday readings. I’m always surprise when I come across something in the NT that I have not heard proclaimed. The OT I expect it (it’s a lot bigger).
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puzzleannie
Guest
I did not say that all other world religions describe themselves as seeking Jesus. I said that the impulse inborn in man to seek the truth was put there by the Creator and is the driving force which leads man to develop ways of acknowledging and worshipping a higher power. Only the Christian religion and its antecedent Judaism were revealed by God Himself, all other religions are man-made definitions of Truth and man-devised means of seeking the truth. Nonetheless, the true object of all search for the truth in individuals, or in religious systems, is Jesus, even though the adherents of that religion do not know it or would reject the idea if they read what we are discussing here.
example: everybody is going to be rushing to the beach or other holiday destination this weekend. Everybody has their own idea in mind of what constitutes the perfect beach. I happen to have a map and know the best route to the best beach, white sand, not crowded, clear water, best surfing, best attractions & food, best places to stay. I have never been there but trust the many people who have, and they have given me the map and the description of the place. My neighbors tell me I am crazy to trust these people, they are going to their own beach in another direction. I happen to know that the road they are taking goes nowhere near the beach, but they don’t listen to me. Moreover, they have never seen a beach before, do not know anything about what happens at the beach, swimming, sailing etc. They do not want to hear from me or my friends about the beach, yet they insist that is where they are going.
Both of us are seeking the perfect beach, but only one of us knows how to get there, and knows what it is we are seeking.
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viktor_aleksndr
Guest
GOD revealed to us the content of the Bible through the Church.
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