Why aren't Bibles in Catholic churches?

[jcrichton]

The main reason Protestant churches have bibles in their churches is because they believe it is the source of their faith. Unfortunately the masses have been misled as the real source of their faith is the theology of the Catholic priest Martin Luther and others of his era (Calvin, Henry VIII, etc.). Christianity was never based or founded on one’s personal guesswork on bible verses, though it may be to some extent today due to Luther’s influence.

So while the Protestants might have bibles in their church they have extreme difficulty in interpreting it as they have rejected the oral word of God which Jesus taught the Apostles and which has been handed down for 2,000 years as the Catholic faith. This oral word of God is the Gospel which the Popes have never erred in transmitting through the ages (Vat I). The Gospel we always hear and talk about is actually the Catholic faith in its entirety.

A written summary of it can be found in the Roman Catechism and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The teachings in both are true and without error as the basics come directly from Jesus, i.e., the creed, sacraments, commandments and prayer. Since it is a living word, not a dead letter, doctrine develops as new and different situations arise which require the Pope to teach the application of the Gospel in the new situation, e.g., the evil of birth control or of socialism and other forms of collectivism practiced by governments.

The bible’s canon was not decided upon by the Pope until about 390AD. So obviously the oral word of God is more important as it predates the written word of God by about 360 years. Thousands upon thousands of Catholics died and were martyred without ever having the slightest idea as to what the bible would finally look like in the 390’s. The bible is used to nourish and support the oral word of God which only the Catholic faith possesses as it is the Catholic faith. Part of that nourishment are the Mass readings which comprise most of the bible over the three year cycle.
The priest in his Sunday preaching should be explaining the Catholic faith as Jesus gave us this faith for our happiness here and now and as a final reward, for those that repent, in eternity.

This is a long-winded way of saying the oral word of God, which should come from the priest’s mouth on Sunday, is what is most important as Jesus commanded the Apostles on Assumption Thursday to do what He had been doing for three years - preaching, “… go out into all the world and preach the Gospel (the Catholic faith) to the whole creation…”. And since nowhere does the bible explain or define this Gospel, it must be found elsewhere, that elsewhere being the magisterium of the Church headed by the Pope and the few bishops in union with him. Scripture’s role is to nourish and support this oral Gospel

Hi, Joe!
Excellent post!

…yet, I do have a clarification… Apostolic Tradition, set forth by the Apostles in Scriptures, is constituted by both the Oral and Written Word of God… they are both equally held in esteem and value as the Word of God is the Word of God (God’s Word is not diminished by format: Oral or Written).

Maran atha!

Angel

 

[mackbrislawn]

The main reason Protestant churches have bibles in their churches is because they believe it is the source of their faith. Unfortunately the masses have been misled as the real source of their faith is the theology of the Catholic priest Martin Luther and others of his era (Calvin, Henry VIII, etc.). Christianity was never based or founded on one’s personal guesswork on bible verses, though it may be to some extent today due to Luther’s influence.

So while the Protestants might have bibles in their church they have extreme difficulty in interpreting it as they have rejected the oral word of God which Jesus taught the Apostles and which has been handed down for 2,000 years as the Catholic faith. This oral word of God is the Gospel which the Popes have never erred in transmitting through the ages (Vat I). The Gospel we always hear and talk about is actually the Catholic faith in its entirety.

A written summary of it can be found in the Roman Catechism and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The teachings in both are true and without error as the basics come directly from Jesus, i.e., the creed, sacraments, commandments and prayer. Since it is a living word, not a dead letter, doctrine develops as new and different situations arise which require the Pope to teach the application of the Gospel in the new situation, e.g., the evil of birth control or of socialism and other forms of collectivism practiced by governments.

The bible’s canon was not decided upon by the Pope until about 390AD. So obviously the oral word of God is more important as it predates the written word of God by about 360 years. Thousands upon thousands of Catholics died and were martyred without ever having the slightest idea as to what the bible would finally look like in the 390’s. The bible is used to nourish and support the oral word of God which only the Catholic faith possesses as it is the Catholic faith. Part of that nourishment are the Mass readings which comprise most of the bible over the three year cycle.
The priest in his Sunday preaching should be explaining the Catholic faith as Jesus gave us this faith for our happiness here and now and as a final reward, for those that repent, in eternity.

This is a long-winded way of saying the oral word of God, which should come from the priest’s mouth on Sunday, is what is most important as Jesus commanded the Apostles on Assumption Thursday to do what He had been doing for three years - preaching, “… go out into all the world and preach the Gospel (the Catholic faith) to the whole creation…”. And since nowhere does the bible explain or define this Gospel, it must be found elsewhere, that elsewhere being the magisterium of the Church headed by the Pope and the few bishops in union with him. Scripture’s role is to nourish and support this oral Gospel

Exactly so.

Here’s a thought. Suppose you attended a fundamentalist bible church, and the preacher announced, this church is going to be just like the original New Testament Christians. Probably you and the congregation would applaud this announcement. Of course we want to be just like the original Christians! But then you would be surprised and dismayed when he told everyone to pass their bibles to the front and he would collect them and keep them himself, and individuals would not be allowed to have their own scriptures.

But, that is the way the first Christians were; they did not have their own copies of scriptures. In fact, many scriptures had not yet been written. Only the elders would have had some copies of the Hebrew scriptures which they would read to the people when they gathered. The elders would also teach about what they had learned from the apostles.

That practice has continued down through the ages in the Catholic Church. We go to church to hear scripture read to us and commented upon just as it was with the first Christians.

 

[jcrichton]

Exactly so.

Here’s a thought. Suppose you attended a fundamentalist bible church, and the preacher announced, this church is going to be just like the original New Testament Christians. Probably you and the congregation would applaud this announcement. Of course we want to be just like the original Christians! But then you would be surprised and dismayed when he told everyone to pass their bibles to the front and he would collect them and keep them himself, and individuals would not be allowed to have their own scriptures.

But, that is the way the first Christians were; they did not have their own copies of scriptures. In fact, many scriptures had not yet been written. Only the elders would have had some copies of the Hebrew scriptures which they would read to the people when they gathered. The elders would also teach about what they had learned from the apostles.

That practice has continued down through the ages in the Catholic Church. We go to church to hear scripture read to us and commented upon just as it was with the first Christians.

Hi, Mack!
…it is little things that escape our imaginings when we disregard history… can you imagine the people asking Jesus: “where in the Scroll did you find that, and can you please pass me a copy so that I can read along with you?”

Here’s what Jesus stated:

20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (St. Luke 4:20-21)

…and St. Paul’s pronouncement about the Gospel:

14 How then shall they call on him, in whom they have not believed? Or how shall they believe him, of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear, without a preacher? (Romans 10:14)

…it is the hearing of the Word of God, not the reading along with the preacher that Scriptures offers as proof text!

Maran atha!

Angel

 

[Geist]

Tell them the extra books in ours make them too heavy to be held up by the pews.

 

[Peaceful_One]

We don’t bring Bibles to Mass because we use the Bible as the first Christians did: in prayer. The Mass is not a Bible study, the Scriptures are proclaimed there as Word and prayer, hence, they are organized into chunks called pericopes, and they are printed in books called Lectionaries. For the pew-sitter, these would be in hand missals or seasonal misallettes.

As prayer, the Scriptures are that par excellence, and because they are prayed according to a certain rhythm, they are also organized into prayer books called Breviaries.

Bibles as books belong in the home and in private study and prayer groups. In Church, the Bible is a living, breathing organism, which culminates in the Real Presence in the Eucharist.

Wonderful answer. Which brings up an important point - that being that most non-Catholics do not understand the difference between Mass and the protestant service.

 

[Mintaka]

Let’s be fair here. Early Christians with the money to afford them did have private copies of various books of the Bible, as many as they could afford. But the first priority was getting copies for the local church for Mass, and that wasn’t cheap, either. During persecutions, the government was eager to grab both the holy vessels and to get ahold of whatever Scriptures a church had.

OTOH, almost all devout Jews and Christians knew all the psalms by heart, or at least a good chunk of them, because they sang psalms together daily at home.

 

[jlhargus]

Another challenging situation when defending Catholicism is why the Bible isn’t available at the Church as it is in other denominations? My go-to response is that it doesn’t need to be, because as Catholic’s, we devote our entire lives understanding the bible inside and out from Baptism, that anything the Priest would reference does not require cross-referencing or fact-checking because we already know what is false and truth. How does everyone else explain this?

As a former Fundamentalist, now called Evangelical, Protestant there were no bibles in church. Some brought their own but not everyone. I have been to many Protestant churches from mainline to Pentecostal holy rollers and found no bibles present. If it is so now it is something new in the last 30 years. I would guess it is mostly Evangelicals that provide them now. Bibles are so much cheaper today.

Besides the scripture readings for daily and Sunday mass are in the pews. They cover more of the scriptures than any Evangelical service.

 

[PRmerger]

They cover more of the scriptures than any Evangelical service.

Indeed.

Anyone familiar with the Bible will know that almost EVERYTHING we say in the Mass is from the Bible.

From: The Lord be with you
and: Lord I am not worthy
to: Go in peace

etc etc etc

 

[total_Catholic]

Another challenging situation when defending Catholicism is why the Bible isn’t available at the Church as it is in other denominations? My go-to response is that it doesn’t need to be, because as Catholic’s, we devote our entire lives understanding the bible inside and out from Baptism, that anything the Priest would reference does not require cross-referencing or fact-checking because we already know what is false and truth.

How does everyone else explain this?

St Mary’s Catholic in Greenville, SC pews are stocked full of them.

 

[Church_Militant]

Indeed.

Anyone familiar with the Bible will know that almost EVERYTHING we say in the Mass is from the Bible.

From: The Lord be with you
and: Lord I am not worthy
to: Go in peace

etc etc etc

As clear teaching I can suggest A Biblical Walk Through the Mass book and Study Program