Why are there not Bibles in the pews of Catholic churches?

[itsjustdave1988]

my parents seem to think it should be red flag. Why is that pews in Catholic churches do not have Bibles?

Hmmmm…where does it say in the Bible that we ought to have pews, let alone Bibles in the pews?

Nonetheless, Bibles are available (free) for those who don’t have their own.

What they may be implying is that Catholics are not encouraged to read their Bibles. I think there’s plenty of evidence to the contrary throughout history. Observe…

The Church has been constant in it’s teaching that “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” (St. Jerome)

St. John Chrysostom (344/354 -407 AD)

“This is what has ruined everything, your thinking that the reading of scripture is for monks only, when you need it more than they do. Those who are placed in the world, and who receive wounds every day have the most need of medicine. So, far worse even than not reading the scriptures is the idea that they are superfluous. Such things were invented by the devil.” (St. John’s Second Homily on Matthew)

Pope St. Gregory I (died 604 AD)

“The Emperor of heaven, the Lord of men and of angels, has sent you His epistles for your life’s advantage—and yet you neglect to read them eagerly. Study them, I beg you, and meditate daily on the words of your Creator. Learn the heart of God in the words of God, that you may sigh more eagerly for things eternal, that your soul may be kindled with greater longings for heavenly joys.” (Letters, 5, 46)

St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153 AD)

“The person who thirsts for God eagerly studies and meditates on the inspired Word, knowing that there, he is certain to find the One for whom he thirsts.”

St. Teresa of Avila (1515 -1582 AD)

“all the harm that comes to the world comes from its not knowing the truths of Scripture in clarity and truth… To me it seemed I had always believed this, and that all the faithful believed it.”

The publisher of the Cologne [German] Bible [1480] writes:

“All Christians should read the Bible with piety and reverence, praying the Holy Ghost, who is the inspirer of the Scriptures, to enable them to understand . . . The learned should make use of the Latin translation of St. Jerome; but the unlearned and simple folk, whether laymen or clergy . . . should read the German translations now supplied, and thus arm themselves against the enemy of our salvation.”

The publisher of the Koberger Vulgate of 1477 stated:

“The Holy Scriptures excel all the learning of the world . . . All believers should watch zealously and exert themselves unremittingly to understand the contents of these most useful and exalted writings, and to retain them in the memory. Holy Scripture is that beautiful garden of Paradise in which the leaves of the commandments grow green, the branches of evangelical counsel sprout . . .”

 

[stpurl]

And by that time literacy had expanded and we had missals. My grandfather, born in 1885, had one as a child --which was somewhat MORE than 100 years ago. And back in the real old day, even the illiterate could understand what the Latin words meant and would have been capable of understanding gospel readings which would have been repeated many times during the person’s lifetime (this would be back when Mass wasn’t just ‘every Sunday’ but when there anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 of the days of the year were feast days with Masses.)

 

[phil19034]

This is a genuine question and in no way intended to be judgmental or offensive. I had a long conversation with my parents on the phone last night about my decision to explore Catholicism and one of their number one questions was why there are no Bibles in the pews of Catholic churches. While it’s not a big stumbling block for me personally, my parents seem to think it should be red flag. Why is that pews in Catholic churches do not have Bibles?

If you went to my Catholic Church you would see Bibles in many of the pews and in all of the pews of in the Daily Mass Chapel.

Bibles will be in the pews if they are used there.

Catholics don’t do Bible Studies at mass… aka the Priest doesn’t say “open up your Bibles to John 6.” He typically performs his homily based on the readings for the day and many (if not most) Catholic Churches (at least in the United States) have missals which typically contain the readings (at least Sunday readings). So when we are at Mass, we typically have the scriptures the priest is going to preach on.

The Catholic Churches that do have Bibles in their pews typically have adoration in the pews too, and people come there to sit down and pray. But some parishes small adoration chapels and people go their to pray instead of the larger nave where Sunday Mass is. Almost ever single adoration chapel is going to have some Bibles in them

Also, Catholics have MANY different prayer books, in addition to the Bible. Supplying all of them for the pews would very very expensive. So most stick with supplying missals and letting Catholics bring their own Bibles and prayer books to devotional prayer services.

HOWEVER, all Catholic Churches have Bibles and often have Bibles that they supply during Bible Studies. The only question is whether they keep them out in their pews at all times or not.

I pray this makes sense.

God bless

 

[stpurl]

The days of 'only the priest" are based on myth, probably from Lorraine Boettner’s screeds. You’ll find people coming on who say that their parent, or uncle, or friend, was ‘told not to read the Bible’ but you won’t find any backup. Never a word about where this parish was or who the priest was. We’re supposed to just accept this happened because ‘they said so.’. I’m not saying it might not have, because priests even then sometimes got ‘the wrong idea’ and told the people things they might have truly thought were correct, but if so, SHOW me. Heck some of us are dealing even now with priests, dear wonderful souls they are too, who are convinced that the Church’s teaching of X is wrong and so they won’t teach it; they’re sure the Church will ‘come around in time’.)

IF this anecdotal ‘Father says only priests read the Bible’ EVER occurred in the U.S. it did so in a very small area and with very few priests in a very limited period of time, because there is simply so much evidence to the contrary from people who owned Bibles with indulgences, from people who were taught correctly, from priests who taught correctly etc, that ‘only priests blah’ never WAS the Church’s teaching.

 

[vsedriver]

And you must admit that Catholics have a reputation for not allowing the people in the pew, as it were, to read the Bible on their own. It may be old school rules, but it certainly was taught. And that reputation has followed you over the years. My neighbor - in her 70s - says that ‘only the priests are allowed to have a Bible.’ It doesn’t bode well for the concern of the OP’s parents.

nonsense. I’d say her memory is going. My parents had more than one Bible. Our church has bible studies. We have smaller groups that incorporate bible studies. The only prohibition was against personal interpretation. But person inspiration is very encouraged.

 

[itsjustdave1988]

…and from the really olden days, there’s
St. Bonaventure (1221-1274 AD). In his day, there where no public schools and only the wealthy could afford private tutors. Therefore, most people could not read or write. St. Bonaventure had composed a copy of “Biblia Pauperum” which means the “Bible of the poor.” It contained a collection of pictures illustrating the important events of the Old Testament. It also contained parallel scenes in the New Testament and it showed how the Old Testament prefigured and was fulfilled in the Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ in the New Testament.

The Church had always published Bibles in the common language (vernacular) so they would be read.

Even the translators of the Protestant King James Version, in their ‘Preface,’ refer to previous vernacular translations being made available by the Church, calling contrary claims a “conceit”…

“Much about that time [1360], even our King Richard the Second’s days, John Trevisa translated [Scripture] into English, and many English Bibles in written hand are yet to be seen that divers translated, as it is very probable, in that age. . . So that, to have the Scriptures in the mother tongue is not a quaint conceit lately taken up . . . but hath been . . . put in practice of old, even from the first times of the conversion of any nation.”

 

[Augustinian]

The days of 'only the priest" are based on myth, probably from Lorraine Boettner’s screeds

I think you are putting too much weight on Dr. Boettner’s influence.

Boettner was largely only reporting what he had heard from others in “Roman Catholicism”, and was the common thought of a lot of Americans during his own time.

 

[Jerusha]

IMHO, the readings were given in Latin, in the days when the “Romance” languages were evolving from that language. People could still understand the Latin because their languages were still closely related to it. So it was a moot issue. But as more nations were converted whose languages were progressively divergent from Latin, the vernacular was more and more necessary. Maybe this is the reason why the Reformation took hold more strongly in the Germanic areas-- they were less familiar with Latin, and therefore Scripture?

 

[midori]

Another vote for Catholics being focused and methodical, so the Missals are good for providing the scriptural readings that are appropriate to the time and the place.

Fr. Fred can’t decide to go off and preach on the Prodigal Son at Holy Angels, and Fr. Bob can’t go off and preach on The Beatitudes over at Sacred Heart, and Fr. Jim can’t go off and preach about The Lost Sheep over at Assumption. They congregations at Holy Angels, Sacred Heart, and Assumption are going to hear the same scripture, regardless of whether those three churches are within 5 miles of each other or within 5 different countries. And Fr. Fred, Fr. Bob, and Fr. Jim are going to probably use similar jumping-off points for their homilies, so while they may go in different directions, their original scriptural starting points are all going to be in the pew missals.

However, for many denominations, the pastor at Columbus Avenue Baptist Church can preach 10 times in a row on the Beatitudes if he wants to, or he can talk about a passage in Hebrews, or he can talk about the 23rd Psalm. And the pastor at Highland Baptist can preach about Romans, or The Ten Commandments, or The Body of Christ. They can spend 5 months working their way through 1 Peter or they can spend 1 month working their way through Job or they can totally avoid series-sermons altogether. It’s totally up to them. So a Bible would make more sense, so that the congregation can be ready to handle whatever the focus of the day is.

 

[EnglishTeacher]

Right. I was mostly trying to say that since we have books (and apps now) with the daily readings for those who like to follow along, it doesn’t make much sense to bring your whole Bible, because the readings would be over by the time you found the passage.

But of course, since the Mass was designed so that you can just listen rather than read along in a book, that works, too. Whichever one helps a person better pay attention.

 

[StarMapp]

There are usually three references made of the Bible at mass, one of which is the focus
of the Homily, and the others carrying a related message are for reflection and contemplation, and have a spiritual connection and message to this particular weeks homily. They are taken from the Old Testament and New Testament. The mass is a prayer made ritual, the greatest prayer there is, and the Christian is concentrating on that prayer. The Lord offers himself in sacrifice in that spiritual exchange with us. The Bible has it’s place in the Church proper in organized Bible studies, and by parents at home teaching their children, and in the Catholic schools.

 

[PJM]

GREAT Question;

Here my friend are three reasons

In Catholic Churches We are truly in the Real Presence of Our GOD [Jesus] so the emphasis is FIRST; on GOD CENTERED Divine Worship . Its ALL about God; NOT about how being “there” makes US feel

Secondly: The WORD is exposed to us at every Mass and TAUGHT to us by the Trained Priest or Deacon; who alone CAN give Mass Homilies. … We see a direct correlation of God’s WORD and Catholic Holy Communion [GOD [Jesus] in Person . They ARE two FORMS of the same God.

My dear friend. as a Catholic Catechist may I humbly suggest that the Mass is NOT like many Protestant services. One ought to consider Catholicism because Jesus Christ; GOD is truly in our midst; and not dare I say not “just” in "Spirit.’

Secondly are the Seven Sacraments which are direct forms of GRACE that we by our actions and worthy participation can influence ; which is AWESOME, as normally grace is initiated by our God.

THirdly: TRUTH can only be what it really is: singular per defined issue. Christ founded, is Present in and guides His One True faith and Church. Could God: defined as ALL GOOD THINGS PERFECTED, actually have waited for 1,400 years OR more to make His singular truths known to humanity? IMPOSSIBLE; yet that is the position all Protestant faiths HAVE to take.

Father John A. HArdon S.J.; one of the 20th Century’s most esteemed theologians taught this about TRUTH which explains the multiplicity of Protestant faiths and churches today after 500 years; while the RCC after 2,000 years still has JUST ONE SET of faith beliefs

"TRUTH IS THE condition OF GRACE; IT IS THE source OF GRACE, IT IS THE channel OF GRACE, IT IS THE DIVINELY ORDAINED requirement OF GRACE…

In other words, grace is reliant on TRUTH. And that my friend is why everyone OUGHT to be a Catholic

May God guide your path! I’ll be praying for you

Patrick [PJM]

 

[Zaccheus]

ComplineSanFran,
Yes, the Epistle and Gospel were read in Latin. Always. The concessions were that before the homily, the priest (or Bishop) gave a short summary or quick read to augment his text. See the writings of a number of liturgical scholars; here is Joseph Jungmann, SJ in The Mass of the Roman Rite: ITS ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT (Missarum Sollemnia)

Bolding and italics mine

'This has its parallel in our own Roman Mass, when, after the reading of the Latin Gospel, there follows a reading (of Epistle and Gospel) in the vernacular,

That does not sound like a quick summary. That sounds like they actually read the Gospel and the Epistle in the vernacular. Further you’ve not specified at what time period this was done. I repeat that vernacular translations were available before the time of Luther.

but with this difference, that the reading in the vernacular is viewed by the general law of the Church only as an introduction to (or a substitution for) the sermon and is left devoid of any liturgical framing…

So the reading in the vernacular is viewed as an introduction to the sermon. That does not mean it was less than complete. Only that the Latin reading that preceded it was (at the time) considered more important.

it is here in the matter of the lessons that we can see most plainly the great rift that exists-a rift growing wider with the centuries-between the holy text in its traditional sacred language and the natural objective of being understood by the audience.’

And? People who didn’t understand Latin had to have the holy writings translated for them. Since before Luther’s time this was already being done.
None of this supports the claim that the modern Church is somehow stopping us from reading the Scripture for ourselves.

 

[vsedriver]

Well, those of you who were Roman Catholic a hundred years ago didn’t hear the Scriptural readings during the Mass. They were in Latin.

only the formalized prayers were in Latin, the gospel, OT readings and Psalms were always in the local language.

 

[2towers]

HOWEVER, all Catholic Churches have Bibles and often have Bibles that they supply during Bible Studies. The only question is whether they keep them out in their pews at all times or not.

The RCIA at my church go over the Bible readings at each class for that day. There are also two mens Bible study groups that each meet once a week.

 

[phil19034]

Scott Hahn also has a number of awesome number of audio talks too. His talks are really powerful and

You can purchase 7 of his books and almost 40 talks here at significant discount:

https://www.lighthousecatholicmedia.org/store/speakers?speaker=dr-scott-hahn&promoCode=104867

God bless

 

[stpurl]

Boettner has been pretty soundly discredited.

 

[phil19034]

And you must admit that Catholics have a reputation for not allowing the people in the pew, as it were, to read the Bible on their own. It may be old school rules, but it certainly was taught. And that reputation has followed you over the years. My neighbor - in her 70s - says that ‘only the priests are allowed to have a Bible.’ It doesn’t bode well for the concern of the OP’s parents.

The problem here is that this was never supposed to happen.

The Church never forbid Catholics from having a Bible. But some individual Catholics priests and lay (though it was mostly a misunderstanding on the laity’s part) did think that was a “good” way to fight Protestantism. It was more of a cultural error that happened in some regions due people misunderstanding the phase “read the Bible within the Church”

But that was NEVER approved by the Church and the Church never believed that was a good idea.

In all honestly, it was a heresy that was common among some laity and a few priests - esp in the United States. Kind of like the erroneous, common belief that when you die you become an angel.

 

[phil19034]

My grandparents received a family Bible for their wedding long before my mother was born in 1953.

So again, this was a regional heresy, not a widespread one.

 

[phil19034]

Well, those of you who were Roman Catholic a hundred years ago didn’t hear the Scriptural readings during the Mass. They were in Latin.

This is not true for at least two reasons:

1. many people, esp the educated, understood Latin - esp to get by in Church. And when I say educated, I don’t mean just college.
   • Some in grade school learned Latin, and almost everyone who went to High School learned Latin.
   • And if they went to Catholic School, they studied Latin from first grade.
2. during the Sermon, many priests (if not most) re-read the readings in the vernacular as part of his sermon. And if he didn’t read it word for word, he still did a though homily regarding the reading.