Why don't Catholics read the Bible?

[Michie]

Knowing you need to read the Bible and actually doing it are often two very different things. We are, as Catholics, a biblical people, after all. The Bible is the Word of God. Mass is grounded in scripture. Many of our prayers have biblical roots. So what's the problem?

Why don't Catholics read the Bible?

 

[Fantine]

Lots of Catholics are in Bible Study groups today, and there are lots of wonderful tools for reading the Bible.

The Little Rock Scripture Study came out with a new study Bible last year (I have attended LRSS groups.)

I also attended (much to my chagrin) Ignatius Bible studies by Steven Ray, and I think if I had attended one more semester I never would have picked up a Bible again. I found them stultifying--Bible reading for people with OCD.

My favorite Bible is called the Catholic Serendipity Bible. It is a New American Bible with questions on the side of each page that relate faith to life. There are three levels of questions--surface, deeper, deepest. There are sections that will lead groups into specially themed studies. I just love it but because its primary purpose is relating faith to real life, some of you might not think it's worth your time.

Just as I didn't find the Ignatius study, which had people looking up obscure Old Testament references by the dozen to come to some sort of didactic conclusion about Jesus....

I read the Bible for God's wisdom that I can apply to the unique circumstances of my life. And this Bible is the best for that. If you don't already love the Bible, you will love this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Catholic-Serendiptiy-Bible-Personal-Small/dp/031093737X

 

[WarriorAngel]

I read the Bible. Since i seldom debate now and need to read it as much in that light - i take classes and do Bible Study at Church on Sundays.

But - i dont know very many [outside of this forum] who take the time to read it.

 

[Andres88]

Precisely because our rites are based in Scriptures is that we have to know the Bible. There's so much to learn from the Sacred Scriptures, and a bunch of things are already covered in them. Besides how they can help a person get closer to God, they can also help that person to deal better with everyday life. "Not having time" is not an option or an acceptable excuse. If there is time for other things, then there is also time for the Bible.

 

[Solrac22]

I was raised according to the Catholic church, even though I prefer to call myself a Christian and not a Catholic.

I have been a Christian since 2002, but like many others I never took the time to read the bible. I have always been close to God and I've always planned to read the scriptures, but I never actually got into it.

Recently, however, I found myself in a dark place and I had no option but to turn to God. It was at that time that I realised that maybe I wasn't a true Christian. I was not devoting myself to Him like I should, and I wasn't even taking 10 minutes of my 24 hours day to read a single chapter of the Bible.
Since then, I've been reading the Bible in a regular basis, and my life is quite different since I started it. I am now realising who God really is, and I am starting to know Him better. I am starting to see things differently, and I do want to worship Him and dedicate some of my time to learn from His word. I am also planning to join a Bible study group.

I guess that, even though I was a believer, I just wasn't a true Christian, or at least I didn't have the understanding of what a true Christian should be. Nothing in our lives should come before Him. Even though that tends to happen quite often.

 

[AMDG]

Why? Got me. Maybe it's due to laziness. Don't know. Know that Catholics have been encoraged to read their Bibles for ages. Inherited my mother's Douay-Rheimes and found that it was actually translated in 1609/1582 *before* the King James was and there were indulgences for reading mentioned by Pope Leo XIII in 1898 and before that in 1778 mentioned in the very first pages!

And of course we know that it was St. Jerome who said "Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ".

 

[Wolseley]

I remember my mother telling me that when she and my father were dating (1936-37), he found her Douay-Rheims Bible and aksed her what it was (Dad wasn't Catholic---his family background was Free Methodist and Church of God).

When she told him it was her Catholic Bible, Dad (half-jokingly) said, "What are you doing with this? Catholics aren't supposed to read the Bible!"

Mom looked him dead in the eye and said, "Oh, yeah? Who the hell said so?"

I now have Mom's Douay-Rheims, and I have my Dad's old King James. But Dad always read Mom's Bible at night---I guess he just liked it better.

 

[genetheking]

Seriously how can you ask that question? Why don't Catholics read the Bible?
__________________ How do you know if they do or not do you think you have authority to judge? Luke 6:42
New International Version (NIV)
42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Also we should be like the Bereans Acts 17:11
Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

 

[Niffer]

I remember being in religion class, around grade 7, so 14 years old. In a Catholic school when the teacher asked us to turn to a scripture referance.
No one in the class knew how to look up 1 Peter 2:15 (example). Including myself.
It really put into perspective how little the Bible was taught from, not enough to warrant any daily reading from.

It wasn't until I became Christian in the evanglical church that I found out the Bible was supposed to be read everyday, for every worry, issue, question or thanksgiving.

It's now a part of my daily routine, when the baby goes down for a nap I have my quiet time.

But sadly, as a child growing up in the Catholic school system, I was not taught about the importance of the Bible or encouraged to study it for myself.

Peace,
- Niffer

 

[ebia]

Why? Got me. Maybe it's due to laziness. Don't know. Know that Catholics have been encoraged to read their Bibles for ages. Inherited my mother's Douay-Rheimes and found that it was actually translated in 1609/1582 *before* the King James

You realise that's only sort of true? The D-R most people have is the Challoner D-R revision, linguistically virtually a complete rewrite of the original, and the KJ was itself no more than a revision in a series going back to Tyndales NT.

 

[Tallguy88]

When I started reading this thread, I was happy to see some of our missing members back. Then I realized it was an old thread...

 

[Colin]

So what's the problem?

Perhaps half of the Catholics+ don't like reading that " Wine and women corrupt sensible men " ( Ecclesiasticus 19:2 ) .

 

[JBMM]

Well, I never really started reading the bible until I became having symptoms of schizophrenia. At the time I thought there were hidden messages and everything - strange stuff. Now, at a properly medicated and more-so stable state I can appreciate it for what it is. I do have to say, had I not had become mentally ill I may have never read the bible save when I was 9 and I read up to Genesis 11 on our family NAB 1970.

 

[Fantine]

I think that Catholics want to be able to relate faith to life.

I'm not sure whether that many Catholic Bible Studies do that.

The worst, I thought, was the Steven Ray Ignatius Footprints of God series. It was stultifying. Mainly composed of reading one verse in the new testament and hunting around for twenty verses in the old testament to support it. It was stultifying. It was worse than stultifying.

Little Rock Scripture Study is pretty good. The Renew Program and Why Catholic were good. Lectio or group lectio is good.

This is my favorite Bible, because its primary purpose is connecting faith to life.

http://www.amazon.com/Catholic-Serendiptiy-Bible-Personal-Small/dp/031093737X

I also like the Celebrate Recovery Bible (my friend has it) even though it's an NIV, because it helps you use the Word to deal with life's issues, challenges, and struggles.

Celebrate Recovery Bible: Zondervan: 9780310938101: Amazon.com: Books

For the purists among you, you could read the passages from your NAB or RSV and look at the questions from the CR Bible.

I haven't seen the Little Rock Scripture Study Bible yet.

 

[Elysium]

the joys of catholic school for me meant i knew how to navigate my way around the bible as a kid
in religion class we focused on major stories in the bible first
like noah and abraham and moses and samson and king david
then Christs birth and john the baptist and Christs death and crucifixion and pentecost and stuff

we used the bible a lot and read the stories
then in high school religion class dealt with church teaching and ancient israelite history so we could learn more about when the stories in the bible took place

then in college i studied catholicism again
and scripture studies were intense
hermeneutics and stuff
that stuff was mind blowing

so

this catholic knows the scriptures well

when i was younger i tried to do this reading schedule that was like "read the bible in x many days"
it was hard tho
the bible is comprised of so many different books and genres and writing styles so just kind of blowing through it is pretty complicated
scripture is better read slowly for understanding and enlightenment

 

[Tigg]

Have read the Bible umpteen times - starting in my tee4ns - non-catholic and it was so hard to keep going. Since then, many times. (still hate the begats and skipped those for many yeares. ) I was told and agree with - how can you claim to be a Chistian (of any stripe) if you haven't read the Bible - the instruction book - the book and only one which narrates Jesus birth, live and death.

Who reads the Bible - Catholic or not? I have no idea but encourage all to read the Bible.

 

[Needing_Grace]

I remember my mother telling me that when she and my father were dating (1936-37), he found her Douay-Rheims Bible and aksed her what it was (Dad wasn't Catholic---his family background was Free Methodist and Church of God).

When she told him it was her Catholic Bible, Dad (half-jokingly) said, "What are you doing with this? Catholics aren't supposed to read the Bible!"

Mom looked him dead in the eye and said, "Oh, yeah? Who the hell said so?"

I now have Mom's Douay-Rheims, and I have my Dad's old King James. But Dad always read Mom's Bible at night---I guess he just liked it better.

KJV is much easier to read than DR.

 

[football5680]

Doesn't apply to me. I read a couple chapters in the bible every single day.

 

[WisdomTree]

A lot of Catholics I find are cultural Christians and as such find it a nuisance to actually read the bible. Going to Church every sunday is probably difficult enough.

 

[bach90]

I think that the resources are there for Catholics to study the Bible. I have a New American Bible that I use for the Intertestamental books and the notes are, on the whole, of a good and scholarly character (although I've heard some traditional Catholics criticize the NAB).

I don't think that the canard of Catholics not knowing the Bible is true. There are some Catholics I know who read the Bible. The flaw is, like with many, many Protestants and Orthodox, that theology is used to interpret the Bible rather than letting the Bible establish theology. Most of the laity don't know have he skills to interpret the Bible in a critical way which engages the historical context of each book. There are some Catholic authors that do it in a great way though, I've read some of Fr. Brown's works and am currently making my way through Benedict XVI's series, which answers the questions of the historical Jesus without relying on wild-eyed liberal speculation.

I think the 3 documents which show how the RCC viewed the Bible in the modern era would be Providentissimus Deus, Divino Afflante Spiritu, Dei Verbum. The RCC has not changed how often the laity should read the Bible, that's always been encouraged. What's changed is how the Bible should be read, the old ideas of the 4 senses of Scripture and Lectio Divinia are not as prevalent as they once were.