Why are Protestants more familiar with the Bible?

[ALLFORHIM]

I agree with what you have said. By the way, the verse is from Psalm 119, which verse I forgot too. Psalm 119 is a long one.

I looked it up Psalm 119 :11

That whole Psalm is great and over and over again talks how we should seek and obey His Word.

 

[jmcrae]

I actually know the Bible a lot better now that I am Catholic.

It’s interesting to me that I actually use the Bible a lot more when I’m teaching RCIA and Catechism classes in the Catholic Church than I did when I was an Elder and teaching Sunday School, etc. in a Protestant church.

I also would not expect someone in high school to know their Bible very well, unless they have been attending a religious school full-time, and the school is religious more than just “in name only.”

 

[Eireann]

I
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!

Anyway, see you the other side.

 

[kangnamdragon]

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!!

If they are so familiar with the Bible, why aren’t they Catholic? Being able to quote verses does not show understanding.

 

[kangnamdragon]

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.

:bible1:

 

[Mannyfit75]

:bible1:

 

[Michael_Francis]

This thread has been pruned of posts that were non-contributing and their responses.

This is a discussion/debate forum. Posting nothing but a passage of scripture contributes nothing to that end unless it is directly related to a question concerning where some supporting scripture is located or what is says.

Please keep all posts and comments on topic and topic specific.
MF

 

[Priscilla_Ann]

This thread has been pruned of posts that were non-contributing and their responses.

This is a discussion/debate forum. Posting nothing but a passage of scripture contributes nothing to that end unless it is directly related to a question concerning where some supporting scripture is located or what is says.

Please keep all posts and comments on topic and topic specific.
MF

How ironic it is that you would “prune” scripture quotes from a thread about the Bible.

 

[ni8_shadow]

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?

Ahh I can just feel the love It’s been a while since I was omniscient actually so this post does not intend to show that I still am . I believe everyone else knew what I meant when I said “most Catholics” and “most Protestants.” But I will explain it just for you.

Whenever I go to a Protestant service with friends and share the Catholic faith with them, they have all given a good account for what their denomination believes and where it is in the Bible. The many Catholics I know so far could not come close. My Catholic friends know the beliefs but do not know where to find it in Scripture or even why the Church teaches it.

Some people on this forum who were Protestant have explained some of the reasons why Protestants are more familiar with the Bible and why some Catholics do not know their faith. For one in mass we don’t just read read and read like they do in their services. Mass is a time of worship and prayer, not Bible 400. It is up to us as individuals to actually get to know are faith more and most teens and kids these days do not take that seriously and THAT is just sad.

I meant in no way to disrespect my faith or my Church. I simply wanted to know why is it that Protestants teach the Bible more than we do, and thanks to the many posters I have an understanding as to why.

As for the very kind “omniscient narrotor” comment. Is it true that you would agree that no one should make statements like “Catholics believe in transubstantiation” or “Protestants believe in this or that” unless that person knew ALL the Protestants and ALL the Catholics in the world?

 

[Cat]

People on this thread have asked why Protestants who read the Bible all the time aren’t Catholic.

Give 'em time.

Consider this. Many Protestants do the “church hop,” i.e., they move from church to church. The most frequent explanation is that “I’m not being fed.” The next most frequent explanation is “the church was not teaching the Bible.”

IOW, Christians who move from church to church are searching. They KNOW (from their personal study of the Bible) that something is not right. Something is “missing.” They search and search for the “missing element.” They settle into a church, think they’ve found it, and a few years later, the search begins again.

A lot of Protestants feel terribly guilty over this. To Protestants, Jesus is EVERYTHING. They believe that all churches have their flaws, but if they have Jesus, they have everything. So they feel guilty that they keep searching through the “establishments of men” (churches) when they already have everything.

What they don’t realize is that Jesus intended for us to be in His Church. And Protestant churches are not His church.

Many Protestants stay extremely busy in their churches. See my post above about Bible studies. And that’s just BIble studies! I didn’t mention all the OTHER things Protestants get involved with: missions endeavors, women’s and men’s organizations, various ministries, parachurch organizations (Jews for Jesus, Bread for the World, etc.), charitable outreaches, church sports teams, social activities (many evangelical Protestants have few friends outside of the church).

And if they’re homeschooling, as many Protestants are, they are even busier.

And of course, there’s work. Most evangelical Protestants are not rich enough to avoid work!

So most Protestants simply don’t have time to reflect upon their souls and their church. They’re so busy.

My suggestion is that Catholics be there for them. One of the major reasons I became Catholic was the testimony and example of GOOD Catholics who really lived their faith and knew the Word of God and the Catechism.

Another suggestion is to invite your Protestant friends to mass. I believe that they’ll recognize Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, just as I did. After all, Protestants know Jesus. They may not want to admit that Jesus is truly present in the Bread and Wine, but eventually, IF they really do know their Bibles, they’ll recognize the Lord. The Holy Spirit will bring all those Bible verses to their minds, and they will be overwhelmed with the Truth in the Catholic Church. That’s the way it happened with me and my husband, and that’s the way it seems to be happening with our daughters.

 

[jack_hawkins]

I find it odd that Catholics would deny that some Protestant denominations know the Bible better than Catholics - I can quote scripture better than our Curate despite not picking up a Bible at all for several years until last year.
It’s not a good witness that people have to actually savage a whole group for having Bible knowledge. Perhaps a bit of charity and introflection might be beneficial?

 

[homewardbound]

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!!

Because the Bible is all they have to know. I can find a verse in the Bible quickly, as my Catholic raised boyfriend has no clue which end the book is in. But he has much more knowledge about Tradition and prayer than I ever knew existed. Catholics have much more. More time on learning the Bible is always good, but even if someone knows the entire Bible by heart; that doesn’t mean they have the entire truth. Only Catholics have that.

 

[brotherhrolf]

My friend Michael couldn’t have said it any better. Can I quote chapter and verse? No. Can I recite in sequence the books of the Bible? No. Do I know what the Bible says and means? Yes.

We get these “myths” that Catholics aren’t taught the Bible. I started Catholic high school before Vatican II and finished after Vatican II. We spent one full year of religion classes going through the plan of salvation - Bible in hand. The other three years were spent on Catholic theology and no, Scripture was never mentioned - right.

And as Michael clearly points out, if you pay attention at Mass over a three year cycle you will hear all of Scripture proclaimed. What is more important? Being able to cite chapter and verse or incorporating the words of Scripture into your heart and life?

 

[DB_AND_ALI]

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.

This may be true in some cases…but over here we have THE PAULINES , an order dedicated to evangelisation via books , dvd , cd…ect. The Pauline bookshops have a great selection of all sorts of books…most , but not all , are written by catholics. One issue that may explain a protestants indoctrination can be found in the hundreds of ‘inter-denomintional’ , franchise book stores we have over here. The books sold here are almost exclusively written by non-catholics…and a number are blatantly anti the catholic church. If you ask them for a book by Scott Hahn , for example , you receive a blank stare…like say again !!! Hence our separated breathren often spend an entire lifetime having preconceived , and sometimes erroneous beliefs/thoughts on catholicism. This is why methodists/anglicans who have attended our ALPHA course are astounded to find out what we are all about…and many friends are made in the process.

 

[Jennifer_G]

It’s because we recite Bible verses in Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and have songs relating to the Bible verse we just read, including memorizing (even to song) “all” 66 books (note the quotes) by 3rd grade. I’m not sure about other Protestants, but Lutherans (atleast in ELCA), like to focus on the New Testament, especially the Gospels, and famous Old Testament stories about Job, Joshua, David and Goliath, etc… Even I still have dreams about Sunday School. As for specific quotes, we memorize some (famous ones like the 23rd Psalm), but not all.

 

[Socrates4Jesus]

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.

Cool! I like that site and use it often to be careful i’m understanding a verse in context so as to not use it out of context.

I have several different versions of the Bible that i’ve picked up in used book stores and elsewhere. One version i have is called the New American Bible and is put out by the Catholic Book Publishing Company. Do you know if this is a Bible sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Church?

 

[Socrates4Jesus]

Yes, this is exactly how I feel.

I will add that most(except the people in my church) of my protestant friends dont read or study their bibles. I think the only people who do read and study their bibles do so because they want to learn what God has to say. I dont think it has anything to do with whether or not your protestant or catholic.

 

[lak611]

I have several different versions of the Bible that i’ve picked up in used book stores and elsewhere. One version i have is called the New American Bible and is put out by the Catholic Book Publishing Company. Do you know if this is a Bible sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Church?

The NAB is sanctioned by the Catholic Church. The way you can tell is when you look at the pages near the beginning and see *Nihil Obstat *and Imprimatur and the names of priests and/or bishops. That means that a book contains nothing contrary to Catholic teaching.

 

[Socrates4Jesus]

…As far as memorizing scripture, well, God does tell us to tuck away His Word in our heart so we do not sin against Him.(paraphrasing of course–because I dont have the verse memorized ) The Holy Spirit will lead you to whatever it is you need to learn in the bible at whatever time you need to learn it. We all have different Spiritual walks with Christ.

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

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!!

At the risk of tautology - because they are (or many of them are)​

If Catholics depreciate the value of knowing precise references, they are not likely to learn any, so they can hardly complain if their knowledge of the Bible is (shall we say) limited. There is also a tendency in Catholicism to emphasise Tradition so strongly that the Bible becomes almost invisible: it’s much less of a slog to say, of an issue one is not equipped to vindicate, that “The Church has the answer”, than to take the trouble to see what if anything the Bible has to say on the matter. Suspicion of the Bible, which is still found, seems not to be earlier than the Reformation; though the Bible was beginning to lose its traditional position in theology somewhat earlier, when there was a revival in knowledge of both Roman Law, & Aristotle.

Catholicism has for many centuries not felt the need for the laity to be instructed in any great depth - the brain-work has been done by the clergy instead; & this passive lack of understanding of the Faith - including lack of understanding of the Bible - has not yet passed out of the Church’s system. In Protestantism, by contrast, the Bible is essential to the Church, for doctrine, spirituality, missionary thinking, worship, morality, political thinking, & much else: it’s not a very great exaggeration to say, as was said 360 years ago, “The Bible is the religion of Protestants”. I think a Catholic equivalent would be “The Church is the religion of Catholics”. The laity have a much more active part to play in Protestantism - if they are to do so, they need to know their Bibles. IOW - the difference is derived in part from the difference in the structures of the two Christianities.

In addition, Protestant spiritual reading often does not include lives of the saints, pious legends, and the like - Catholic reading has included that kind of thing. The more time one has for material other than the Bible, the less one can give to the Bible itself. And this affects familiarity with its details. ##