Why are Protestants more familiar with the Bible?

[lak611]

I don’t think ALL Protestants are more familiar with the Bible. I have read the Bible all the way through many times, and I own 10 different translations, Catholic and Protestant. I have a Methodist friend who did not even own a Bible until I gave him one for Christmas two years ago. I attend an adult Sunday school class at my parish which is Bible study. We study the different books of the Bible. Currently, we are studying Philippians. We will be starting a study of Ephesians in two weeks. I have been attending the Sunday school for six years now. My Methodist friend goes to Sunday school too, but his Sunday school is discussing religious influences in secular movies, not the Bible. In addition to my classes, I also read the Bible daily on my own. I like to read it all the way through every year, and I always try a different translation each year.

 

[lak611]

It seem Mr. Link has a hidden agenda for Catholics…

It’s a shame. Actually, Bible reading has declined amongst all Christians. I have a book called Back to the Bible, which was written by a Protestant minister. He tells how people are not reading the Bible like they used to. He even has a quiz in the book with questions about the Bible. I only got one wrong. He says that even students applying for Bible college don’t know much about the Bible when they take entrance exams. I know you had started another thread about why Christians don’t read the Bible; I did too. We need to pray that all Christians, Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox read their Bibles more.

 

[rtconstant]

This always bugged me. They know verses and can quote till the cows come home. But most Catholics don’t even know there are two Testaments in the book!!

That’s a might stretch. All in all I’d say they’re about even. Most Protestants just have some token verses memorized and that’s it.

Catholics may not be able to tell where in the Bible a partcular story is but in my experience Catholics have a better general knoweledge of Bible.

Protestants are more likely to know various eschatological theories, But Catholics are often more knowledgable on core Christian concepts.

 

[puzzleannie]

This always bugged me. They know verses and can quote till the cows come home. But most Catholics don’t even know there are two Testaments in the book!!

and you know most Catholics?
You, personally, know their level of bible knowledge, reading and prayer?
wow, omniscient narrator alert
you personally know all Protestants and can attest that they all can quote scripture verses right and left?
your definition of bible knowledge means the ability to quote verses at random?

 

[Church_Militant]

This always bugged me. They know verses and can quote till the cows come home. But most Catholics don’t even know there are two Testaments in the book!!

:dts: This is bunkum.

Even on my bad days I know the Bible at least as well and in most cases better than the n-Cs I encounter.

It’s just like John Martignoni says here. Apologetics for the Scripturally-Challenged, it’s more that n-Cs can quote chapter and verse on a few memorized verses and Catholics are told by them that we don’t know the Bible when in fact if we pay attention to the readings at Mass we know it far better than even we think.

I’ve gotten into lots of discussions with n-Cs and even taken some side by side very basic Bible knowledge quizzes with them and blown them away (to my surprise), and these were they guys who were always “witnessing” to be about how messed up the Catholic Church supposedly is. Chapter and verse is nice and all, because it helps you locate the passages under discussion, but it’s not all that necessary for the average person, (unless you are into apologetics debates).

The fact is that most n-Cs are sitting there with a concordance like Strong’s Exhaustive and looking stuff up , but Catholics can do the very same thing here.

Should all Catholics read the Bible? Absolutely! There’s a Plenary Indulgence attached to it to encourage it, so no one can say that the Church officially doesn’t want us to.

Is the OP’s premise true that Catholics don’t know the Bible? :bible1: Not really; but people say that and n-Cs/a-Cs want us to believe it when they “witness” to us.
Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.:shamrock2:

 

[paramedicgirl]

As some have already indicated or alluded to, Protestants are not necessarily more familiar with the Bible in any meaningful sense. Afterall, they’re Protestants. If they were truly familiar with the Bible, they would be Catholics.

 

[Socrates4Jesus]

This always bugged me. They know verses and can quote till the cows come home. But most Catholics don’t even know there are two Testaments in the book!!

Speaking as a Protestant, the answer to the question is God’s love. That’s why i read the Bible. When i found out that God really had something to say to me in the words of the Bible, i could not get enough of it.

I don’t pretend to speak for all Christians, but i really believe the words of the Bible are God’s way of speaking to each one of us, of expressing His genuine love for each of us. I get that from the Bible itself:

… Christ is speaking through me.
(1 Corinthians 13:3)

I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.
(Colossians 1:25-26)

And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.
(1 Thessalonians 2:13)

When i read John’s gospel, for example, it’s the next best thing to sitting at Jesus’ feet.

Don’t Catholics want to know what God has to say to them, too?

 

[Unfinished]

Don’t Catholics want to know what God has to say to them, too?

Yes. As as indicated on the rest of the thread, we read Scripture read all the time. We just don’t memorize chapter and verse like Protestants do.

 

[water]

Of course we know about the Bible, and that’s why we are following His Teachings. As Jesus had some teachings that are hard to hear, some decided to leave him …for something that is suiting their life style.

 

[Socrates4Jesus]

Yes. As as indicated on the rest of the thread, we read Scripture read all the time. We just don’t memorize chapter and verse like Protestants do.

Hey, unfinished (i hope i’m one of God’s works in progress, too!) i think the important thing is to know what the Bible says, even if you don’t know the chapter and verse. It helps me to at least know what book to read to find a certain verse so that i do not misquote or misunderstand what Peter and the other authors wrote.

It also helps to use a Web site that will search for the words for which i’m looking:

www.biblegateway.com

Do you have any favorite books of the Bible? Mine are the Psalms and the Gospel of John.

 

[Zooey]

Prizes.
I got loads of prizes for reading and memorizing the Bible as a child.
At 4 I knew the books of the OT and NT by heart in order.
And the stories were taught to us straight from the book. No fictionalized story about a little boy talking to Moses about what happened when the Red Sea parted…or Vegetables acting out David and Goliath…just straight Bible.
And Bible homework weekly which my mom made doggone sure I did.
And prizes. Like psalters. And KJV Bibles. And pictures of Jesus knocking at the door. Bookmarks with the 10 commandments.
Tha’s why. IMHO.

:yup:!! I once had a whole pile of pictures, & bookmarks–all that stuff. Candy, too…
Now, did we understand what we were memorizing? Sometimes, sometimes not. If the prize that week was good enough, nobody cared if we knew what it meant. We wanted that prize!!!

I was in a Catholic gift shop yesterday and saw one reason…3/4 of the store was filled with statues/idols and the other 25% was books…20% of which were Bibles.

There were no idols there. The only idols, Link, are in your heart & mind. And because you have idols in your heart & in your mind, your heart & mind find them everywhere…
The problem is, you don’t have a clue as to what you’re talking about, so you keephttp://bestsmileys.com/falling/5.gif falling over your own feet…

Well, I shop at a Christian bookstore (not Catholic, but Catholic and Protestant, majority Protestant). They have one row of Bibles. The rest of the store has non-fiction and fiction books, t-shirts, CD’s, plaques, pictures, and cards. Bibles are the minority of items they sell.

Exactly! There are a couple of Christian bookstores that are around here, & I tell you, you can do better at Borders or Barnes & Noble. Or just ordering off Amazon…
Now,the one little Catholic bookstore in my area is just a tiny little place–the people made the old (one car) attached garage into a store. But it has more Bibles than both the Protestant Christian bookstores put together.
And the other books are good ones. No:bigyikes: Joel Osteen “send me your money & I’ll make you rich”:banghead: carp piled in there…

 

[Eireann]

I was in a Catholic gift shop yesterday and saw one reason…3/4 of the store was filled with statues/idols and the other 25% was books…20% of which were Bibles.

So did you buy anything ?

Do Protestant book-stores sell only Bibles ?

 

[Cat]

I wouldn’t underestimate Protestants.

Some of you have said that they don’t REALLY know their Bibles, or that they only have 15 verses memorized out of context.

Bad strategy to underestimate your opponent!

I grew up evangelical Protestant, and I knew my Bible. I’ve read it cover to cover (Protestant Bible) at least two dozen times in my life. I’ve been to many in-depth, analytical Bible studies where we study the CONTEXT, background, and history of whole books.

We had these kinds of Bible studies starting in 7th grade. We used material from Campus Crusade For Christ, which, BTW, Pope John Paul II used when he was the Bishop of Poland.

Evangelical Protestants attend at least one Bible study per week, and also attend Sunday School and midweek prayer meeting (which often includes a Bible study). Many evangelical Protestants are involved in more in-depth Bible studies like Bible Study Fellowship (a multi-year commitment).

In addition, ALL evangelical Protestants are expected to do a daily “Quiet Time” or “Morning Watch” or “Devotions.” This is usually a pretty in-depth Bible study, where we use a book and study guide to glean as much as we can out of the Bible.

We attended Bible conferences, took extension Bible courses, and even sang Bible choruses!

And now that there’s an Internet, I’ll bet many evangelical Protestants are doing online Bible studies along with all the traditional Bible studies!

Oh, yes, Protestants, at least evangelicals, know their Bibles!

Kids do sword drills, Sunday School, Bible school, clubs like Awana, Bible camp, and often, private Bible studies. My daughter finished a three-year Bible study course from Child Evangelism Fellowship by the time she was ten. She did it on her own, and it was quite deep. My husband and I would have had trouble answering some of her study questions.

And some evangelical Protestant kids do Bible quizzing, in which they memorize entire books of the Bible. It’s fascinating to watch. If you live near a Christian and Missionary Alliance church, call them and ask if you can attend their next Bible quiz rally.

I agree with the person who mentioned CONCORDANCE. Many Protestants use a concordance to do topical studies (look up all the verses about “faith,” or “marriage,” etc.). It’s a great tool.

So DON’T underestimate Protestants, especially evangelicals! They really KNOW their Bibles.

What they DON’T know is their systematic theology, their church history, their church doctrine in depth, and most know NOTHING about Catholicism/Orthodoxy except the propaganda that they’ve read from Chick.

I think that Catholics should sit up and stop making excuses. If you truly pay attention to mass and really hear and think about the Bible readings, great. But that isn’t the kind of systematic Bible study that will allow you to go head-to-head and heart-to-heart with an evangelical Protestant.

Frankly, I think that when you meet evangelical Protestants, you should praise God! It was because I knew my Bible so well that I became Catholic. I recognized so many things in the Catholic Church that are BIBLICAL, things that I didn’t see in my evangelical Protestant Churches. It was the Bible that taught me that Catholicism is the Church of Jesus Christ.

So evangelical Protestants are your best bets to convert to Catholicism!

 

[kaycee]

This always bugged me. They know verses and can quote till the cows come home. But most Catholics don’t even know there are two Testaments in the book!!

John 10:2 The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 3 The watchman opens the gate for him, **and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice." **

 

[lak611]

John 10:2 The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 3 The watchman opens the gate for him, **and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice." **

What is your point in quoting these verses?

 

[Priscilla_Ann]

What is your point in quoting these verses?

I don’t mean to butt into the discussion, but I believe the point is that if we know God’s Word (the Bible), we will recognize God’s voice when he is speaking to us. I have certainly found that to be true in my own life.

 

[VociMike]

This always bugged me. They know verses and can quote till the cows come home. But most Catholics don’t even know there are two Testaments in the book!!

Well, you exaggerate greatly. But what I find most interesting is that the greater Protestant familiarity with the bible does not lead them to a greater understanding of the entire faith established by Christ. Except for the ones who become Catholic, of course.

 

[Unfinished]

Hey, unfinished (i hope i’m one of God’s works in progress, too!) i think the important thing is to know what the Bible says, even if you don’t know the chapter and verse. It helps me to at least know what book to read to find a certain verse so that i do not misquote or misunderstand what Peter and the other authors wrote.

It also helps to use a Web site that will search for the words for which i’m looking:

www.biblegateway.com

Do you have any favorite books of the Bible? Mine are the Psalms and the Gospel of John.

I love biblegateway.com. I use it all the time. They even have the Douay Rheims version, which I love. Although you have to go into preferences and click “Include Deuterocanicals” for it to show up.

If I had to pick a book, I would say James or Revelation. I have read the Psalms so many times (Praying the Divine Office) that it is hard for me to read them outside of that. 1 Timothy is also a good one. There is some good verses in there.

 

[ALLFORHIM]

Speaking as a Protestant, the answer to the question is God’s love. That’s why i read the Bible. When i found out that God really had something to say to me in the words of the Bible, i could not get enough of it.

I don’t pretend to speak for all Christians, but i really believe the words of the Bible are God’s way of speaking to each one of us, of expressing His genuine love for each of us. I get that from the Bible itself:

… Christ is speaking through me.
(1 Corinthians 13:3)

I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.
(Colossians 1:25-26)

And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.
(1 Thessalonians 2:13)

When i read John’s gospel, for example, it’s the next best thing to sitting at Jesus’ feet.

 

[lak611]

Yes, this is exactly how I feel.