Why is there such a disconnect between Catholics and Bible -reading?

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“I would like to mention the spread of the ancient practice of* Lectio divina* or “spiritual reading” of Sacred Scripture. It consists in pouring over a biblical text for some time, reading it and rereading it, as it were, “ruminating” on it as the Fathers say and squeezing from it, so to speak, all its “juice”, so that it may nourish meditation and contemplation and, like water, succeed in irrigating life itself.

One condition for Lectio divina is that the mind and heart be illumined by the Holy Spirit, that is, by the same Spirit who inspired the Scriptures, and that they be approached with an attitude of “reverential hearing”.”

~Pope Benedict XVI Angelus Nov 6 2005
 
Frankly I am soooo tired of hearing the accusation, “You Catholics don’t even believe in the Bible!” It’s just is so arogant, and ignorant. I must confess it makes me wanna :slapfight: some sense into them. Just where do they think the Bible came from?

DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON DIVINE REVELATION says;
This Sacred synod urges all the Christian faithful, to learn by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures the “excellent knowledge of Jesus Christ.”…and prayer should accompany the reading…for ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.

Like in every church there are lazy people who are coasters. They do the least possible. I love Bible study. Starten another one in April!

Some churches all they have is the Bible, so yes, they are more focused on it. Only sometimes it seems like it’s just to back up their own view of what this verse or that verse means. Basicly it’s just to be able to argue their own point. I’m after God’s truth. That’s why I’m Catholic! The Catholic Church is the pillar and foundation of truth! 1 Tim 3:15 the Catholic Church hold** the whole deposit of truth/faith Oral Tradition, Sacred Tradition, Teaching Tradition (magisterium) and Written Tradition (Bible) God gave it all to us, and I’m keepin it!**
 
Della said:
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Another thing I want to point out is that the faith of Christ isn’t just for those who can read and understand Scripture. It’s for the little child still in his mother’s arms and the mentally impaired and the senile, and those unable to know or understand anything. This is why Christ gave us the sacraments that need no deep scholarship in order to be one of his own. It is baptism that initiates us into Christ and his Church, not Bible reading, as good as it is.
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Bookcat said:
Cannot resist “quoting the Catechism” here 🙂
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Can’t resist quoting the Bible here 🙂

At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.[Matt 11:25-26]

He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.[John 6:54-55]

He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.[John 14:15]
 
"Reading, study and meditation of the Word should then flow into a life of consistent fidelity to Christ and his teachings.”

Pope Benedict XVI Message to the Youth of World Youth Say 9 April 2006
 
There isn’t. I don’t know why you would even think that. Bible reading is what made me Catholic.
 
From my experience, when Catholics quote the Bible, they are often criticized for being “fundamentalists.” I guess you can’t win. lol
 
Reading the bible is what made me an Orthodox-Catholic as well, all of the bible.

I converted from an extreme fundamentalist denomination. So extreme they said that one had to have permission from the bible for anything you believed or did in church. So organ and piano music was forbidden, even flowers and candles were forbidden because they weren’t given permission explicitly in the bible, they called that “authorized by God”.

But they did not believe everything in the bible. First they decided on their theology and only afterward sought out proof texts to back them up. The preacher quoted the bible as “God said” and not Acts or Paul. This was going too far for me. I don’t think God wrote the bible or dictated the exact words.

I have to confess that when I converted I treated the bible with kid gloves and almost ignored it due to the extreme idolatry to the bible I was raised with.
 
Bookcat said:
Cannot resist “quoting the Catechism” here 🙂

“And such is the force and power of the Word of God that it can serve the Church as her support and vigor, and the children of the Church as strength for their faith, food for the soul, and a pure and lasting fount of spiritual life.”

“Therefore, the study of the sacred page should be the very soul of sacred theology. The ministry of the Word, too - pastoral preaching, catechetics and all forms of Christian instruction, among which the liturgical homily should hold pride of place - is healthily nourished and thrives in holiness through the Word of Scripture.”

The Church “forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful. . . to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.”
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Thank you, very relevant too.
 
latingirl said:
There isn’t. I don’t know why you would even think that. Bible reading is what made me Catholic.
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If you google : Why don’t catholics read the bible?

I was prompted to google that just from personal experiences here in the UK, it might be different around the world, depending on culture, the UK is not a catholic country. I imagine where ever you’re from, it’s more acceptable to be catholic.
 
Edmundus1581 said:
Can’t resist quoting the Bible here 🙂

At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.[Matt 11:25-26]

He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.[John 6:54-55]

He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.[John 14:15]
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Very relevant too.
 
TimothyH said:
No, it is not accurate, nor is it factual.

The Church does not desire its members to remain ignorant. Pope Benedict XVI didn’t write “Jesus of Nazereth” so that individual Christians could remain ignorant.

The Church encourages reading and study of scripture. That is fact.

-Tim-
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Yeah but look at it from this perspective: if you have the catechism, if you are Churched, then reading the Bible, educating yourself about history, etc. might lead you away from the faith. If you have an eternal soul on the line, why take risks that way?
 
Reading the bible and discovering the history behind it is what eventually led me to Catholicism.
 
123Strontium said:
I don’t know if it’s some conspiracy by Protestants to put catholics down on the internet about how Catholics don’t believe in the Bible and how they don’t consider Bible-reading to be important?

What is going on?

But I can’t help thinking it’s partially true:
Even when speaking to catholics I know, they will tell me about catechism type rules, but they don’t sound spiritual in how they explain it e.g. They don’t mention how it relates to scripture, they just expound it like a rule, and not like a personalized belief. They say something like ‘You’re not supposed to such and such’ and ‘You’re supposed to go to confession’ etc. Like I can’t imagine having a conversation with a catholic about the life of Jesus or his teachings, because I suspect they either don’t believe it or haven’t read about it for themselves.
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I grew up as a Methodist and became a Catholic when I was 19, in 1986. I think there is more emphasis on people reading the Bible for themselves now, but back then I remember attending a Catholic parish and was surprised to hear the priest tell people to read their Blbles. I thought they were already doing that.
 
My guess is that there are just as many Protestants that read the Bible as there are Catholics. The difference is fewer Catholics memorize chapter and verse. In other words, most Catholics know the story of the parable of the Prodigal Son, but that doesn’t mean they know its from Luke 15. Since our theology is not wholly constrained to the Bible its not as important to most Catholics to be able to quote chapter and verse.

As for just stating the rules I have no issue with that. Sometimes it easier than listing 4 sections of the Bible, plus 2 encyclicals, add in some Auquinas, etc. I mean most people follow civil laws even of they don’t know the legal theory or jurisprudence behind them. Each of us are at different places in our understanding. Just like with my kids; sometimes you do what I say because I say so. We can discuss why when you understand more.
 
It’s a complicated book with lots of contextual stuff and apparent contradictions…

Much more meaningful and instructional for me to let someone else, an expert (a Homilist, Priest, scholar, EWTN, apologist, etc) …splain it to me.

I do read the daily readings often and try to listen to the Gospel/Homily on the daily Mass on EWTN (here it usually runs from about 11:15 to 11:35 every night) …most informative and enjoyable.

usccb.org/bible/readings/030613.cfm
 
123Strontium said:
I don’t know if it’s some conspiracy by Protestants to put catholics down on the internet about how Catholics don’t believe in the Bible and how they don’t consider Bible-reading to be important?

What is going on?

But I can’t help thinking it’s partially true:
Even when speaking to catholics I know, they will tell me about catechism type rules, but they don’t sound spiritual in how they explain it e.g. They don’t mention how it relates to scripture, they just expound it like a rule, and not like a personalized belief. They say something like ‘You’re not supposed to such and such’ and ‘You’re supposed to go to confession’ etc. Like I can’t imagine having a conversation with a catholic about the life of Jesus or his teachings, because I suspect they either don’t believe it or haven’t read about it for themselves.
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I think we need to understand the historical and theological context of Catholicism to see why Catholics don’t approach the Bible in the same way Protestants do. All the ancient manifestations of Christianity: Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Coptic, etc. place the greatest emphasis on liturgy, the gathering act of worship, particularly for Eucharist. This has always been the ancient practice of the Church (look at what Justin Martyr says in his Apology, he doesn’t mention private Scripture reading) for obvious reasons: Christianity is a communal religion, the importance of Eucharist, the fact that most people couldn’t read, and the more important fact that the Bible wasn’t available for purchase. It has always been emphasised too that Scripture is interpreted through the teaching of the Church.

Our culture is therefore different from those of Protestant churches, who have far less emphasis on liturgy and teaching authority.

This is not to say that Catholics shun the Bible or are ignorant of it. My grandparents were illiterate but could tell you all sorts of biblical stories and events, even being able to quote a few lines. They learned these at Mass, saying the Rosary, etc. The Catholic approach to the Bible is therefore, pardon the pun, more universal than just reading it: it has in the past and still should imbue our entire life: in the architecture of our buildings, in our feasts, music, and so on.
 
Usige said:
My guess is that there are just as many Protestants that read the Bible as there are Catholics. The difference is fewer Catholics memorize chapter and verse. In other words, most Catholics know the story of the parable of the Prodigal Son, but that doesn’t mean they know its from Luke 15. Since our theology is not wholly constrained to the Bible its not as important to most Catholics to be able to quote chapter and verse.

As for just stating the rules I have no issue with that. Sometimes it easier than listing 4 sections of the Bible, plus 2 encyclicals, add in some Auquinas, etc. I mean most people follow civil laws even of they don’t know the legal theory or jurisprudence behind them. Each of us are at different places in our understanding. Just like with my kids; sometimes you do what I say because I say so. We can discuss why when you understand more.
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Just adding on to this good point: Protestants tend to be more educated than Catholics. The majority of Catholics throughout the world are either illiterate, can’t afford or don’t have the time to read the Bible. That’s probably why they are so bamboozled by Protestants who can quote Scripture like the back of their hand and are taken in.
 
jonathan_hili said:
Just adding on to this good point: Protestants tend to be more educated than Catholics. The majority of Catholics throughout the world are either illiterate, can’t afford or don’t have the time to read the Bible. That’s probably why they are so bamboozled by Protestants who can quote Scripture like the back of their hand and are taken in.
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Agreed jonathon, and I would add that a large number of Catholics have not been well educated in the faith, or didn’t want to be educated. My own children are, sadly, in the second category. I tried to teach them the faith, and sent them to Catholic Schools, but as soon as they were able to they stopped listening. I am waiting for them to be nabbed by a Protestant evangelist and then come accusing me: “The Bible says that if I believe then I’m saved, the Bible never says we can pray to saints, I get so much more out of worship at [Pentecostal Mega Church] than I ever did from Mass, etc”.

Greetings from Adelaide! 🙂
 
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