[NYer]

Ping!

[Alex Murphy]

It’s a running joke that if you want to find a Bible verse, you ought to ask a Protestant and not a Catholic. Protestants read the Bible. Catholics not so much. This raises the question: Why Don’t More Catholics Read the Bible? I think the answer lies in the fact that we Catholics go to Mass. The Holy Mass has at least two Bible readings every time. If you pray the Breviary or Liturgy of Hours, multiply that several times.

Joe Catholic says to himself, “Why should I study the Bible? I go to Mass. I hear it there. Check and check.”

BWA HAHAHAHAHA

[RoosterRedux]

Whatever else is said on this thread, that painting of St Jerome by El Greco is magnificent.

Love El Greco!

[Repent and Believe]

You bet! Here’s a great tool I’ve used successfully to complete the goal. (LINK & review):

http://christtheking.stores.yahoo.net/howtorebievd.html

HOW TO READ THE BIBLE EVERY DAY
A GUIDE FOR CATHOLICS

Compiled by Carmen Rojas (Foreword by Archbishop John F. Whealon); 48p, PB.

How to Read the Bible Every Day helps Catholics read through the entire Bible. It includes an easy-to-use plan for beginners as well as plans for those already reading Scripture regularly. It even includes a supplemental reading plan keyed to the Church year. The three-year plan involves only 5-7 minutes a day of reading the Bible. Two-year and one-year reading plans give the more ambitious reader the opportunity to read Scripture 10-15 or 20-30 minutes a day. The two-year plan follows the daily readings of the liturgy. Its compact size means you can easily slip it inside your study Bible. Here is an invaluable guide for Catholics who want to grow in their understanding of God’s Word.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Why Don’t More Catholics Read the Bible?

For many years, we were actively discouraged from reading it, lest it lead us to question or challenge any dogma officially coming from Church hierarchy.

Case and point...the other day in Corinthians I was reading a passage where Paul was responding to complaints about people who came to Church and filled up on the bread and wine, literally becoming drunk, and leaving nothing for the remaining worshippers. (ahhh...first century Corinth was a rough and rowdy place, eh?)

He responded by saying that the bread and wine was for the Sacrament of Communion....”Do This in Rememberance of Me”....and that anybody who was hungry should EAT before coming to Church.

This would seem to fly directly in the face of the one-hour fast before taking Communion. And yet the Church routinely likes to quote the advice of Paul when defending a celibate clergy.

Guys in red dresses who deign to get into discussions on stuff like that with us hoi palloi.....THAT’S why they discouraged us from reading the Bible (though I must say, the Church has changed markedly in this regard in recent years).

[mlizzy]

Ah ha! A convert! Great post; I like the way he writes. I've signed up to receive his blog posts. Thank you!

http://taylormarshall.com/2012/01/why-you-should-wear-miraculous-medal.html

[Greetings_Puny_Humans]

“I think the answer lies in the fact that we Catholics go to Mass. The Holy Mass has at least two Bible readings every time. If you pray the Breviary or Liturgy of Hours, multiply that several times.

Joe Catholic says to himself, “Why should I study the Bible? I go to Mass. I hear it there. Check and check.””

---

It’s because Catholics have such a shallow idea of what actual Biblical study looks like that they say these silly things. Just hearing some of the superficial ways scripture is used in a Papist mass doesn’t help you at all, and then they’re even disjointed too, taken out of context, and interpreted for you.

You have to actually read the text for yourself, in context. You have to take notes, look up commentaries, often times some disagreeing, examine the language. My degree is in English, and I don’t even do anything less when examining prose or poetry for its intended meanings. This is simply the basic way you approach any text. To understand something, you must read it for yourself, or say it to yourself, reading over the entire book to understand the author, his motivation, his meaning.

You can’t just read a section out of John chapter 5, or Romans 6, and Titus 1, and think that you know anything about any of those books.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

It would be fantastic if every Catholic read God’s Holy Word daily.

Frankly, it would be fantastic if everyone who wants to follow Christ read what God inspired every day.

[what's up]

Bible reading remains chiefly a community experience.

God's Word to the individual is what brings truth so the individual can stand before God on judgment day claiming Christ's righteousness and not his own.

No human will be standing next to you to advocate for you other than Christ.

This is not a "community experience". Sure the Bible should be studied and shared in community to strengthen fellowship. However, individual Bible reading and study is vital for individual assurance.

[huldah1776]

I use the Inductive Bible study approach by Kay Arthur.

[The Public Eye]

I bought an old used missal at a used book store. It’s got the bible divided up nicely into daily bites that I can digest. I know, I could just go to mass, but I like to read. It would be difficult to memorize which chapter and verse I was reading, but I can’t do that anyway, so I don’t care.

[Sergio]

bkmk

[CynicalBear]

Seems to me that the very fact that they don’t hunger to read God’s words is indication enough that they have no heart for God but have some other motive for belonging to the RCC organization.

Then there is this quote.

“Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”

What’s up with that? I thought that the RCC believes you don’t even need to know Christ to be saved.

[Biggirl]

Just read the readings for the mass/Sunday/daily is a good start.

[Biggirl]

Folks also forget that certain prayers, such as the rosary, is based on the Gospels.

[vladimir998]

I read through the comments. I cannot believe how ignorant Protestant anti-Catholics are. Seriously, it’s as if being Protestant anti-Catholic actually makes them stupid.

[HarleyD]

If all one wants is two to three minutes a day with God, then that is the amount of time God will give them. You can’t understand God in that short of time.

[ADSUM]

Here is a link to a Catholic Bible online New Advent:

http://www.newadvent.org/bible/gen001.htm

Easy to read.

A bishop on the radio said that there is a need to read and reread the Bible to absorb the message and let it become part of you. Let the Holy Spirit inspire you.

[Rashputin]

Joe Catholic says to himself, “Why should I study the Bible? I go to Mass. I hear it there. Check and check.”

"There is something beautiful in this. For Catholics, Bible reading is liturgical. Hence, Bible reading remains chiefly a community experience."

That’s an excellent point. Since becoming Catholic I've noticed that in a Bible Study group or just talking about something with a couple of people, the most common response to someone citing a verse isn't someone citing another verse to agree or disagree, it's someone citing the homily they heard when the portion of Scripture containing that verse was read at Mass along with relationships to other Scripture and teaching the homily pointed out.

That sort of connection to a portion of Scripture and an explanation of the Scripture is no doubt why the good Lord led Paul to write,

Romans 10:17 Faith then cometh by hearing; and hearing by the word of Christ.

Hearing of faith, that means people telling what their faith means to them, how faith changed their life, and comforted them during the trials common to man.

With tens of thousands of different groups, each one teaching a slightly different interpretation they claim is the only correct interpretation. along with probably millions of individuals who make the same claim, understanding His Word as explained by the Apostles is the only way to be sure we really understand His Word as Christ intended it to be understood.

We absolutely should read the Scriptures daily and will be blessed for doing so. But personal reading of Scripture is no substitute for hearing His Word along with the clarifications and perspective we receive at Mass along with the body and blood of Christ.

II Peter3:14 Wherefore, dearly beloved, waiting for these things, be diligent that you may be found before him unspotted and blameless in peace,
II Peter3:15 And account the longsuffering of our Lord, salvation ; as also our most dear brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, hath written to you :
II Peter3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things ;
in which are certain things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction.
II Peter3:17 You therefore, brethren, knowing these things before, take heed, lest being led aside by the error of the unwise; you fall from your own steadfastness.
II Peter3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and unto the day of eternity. Amen.

We shouldn’t ever limit ourselves to reading His Word at Mass but reading His Word and relying only on our own understanding without knowing how the Apostles interpreted and taught His Word can and often does lead people to becoming reliant on their Self and Self Alone rather than to a closer relationship with Christ.

I Corinthians 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews indeed a stumblingblock, and unto the Gentiles foolishness :
I Corinthians 1:24 But unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

[Old Yeller]

Why does the Catholic religion include the Apocryphal books in their version of the Bible?

The word "apocrypha" means "of questionable authenticity." These are called non canonical books because when the canon of Scriptures (the sixty six books of the Old and New Testaments) was accepted by the early Christians they recognized that these books contained spurious material and therefore were not inspired of God. Other names for these books are "hidden" or "deuterocanonical" books. These books are also called "pseudepigraphal", meaning "false writings" to designate them as spurious and unauthentic books of the late centuries B. C. and early centuries A. D. These books contain religious folklore and have never been considered inspired of God by biblical Christians from the earliest times of churches.

In a nutshell, the Roman Catholic church has never had any biblical support for its teachings such as purgatory, prayers for the dead, works for salvation, etc. The events of the Reformation brought the Roman Catholic heresies into question and they had not scriptural authority for teachings. However, these false teachings are found in the Apocryphal books, so the Council of Tent in 1546, canonized them proclaiming them to be "sacred" books. This ruse gave them support for there erroneous teachings. It is always the clear mark of a cult or false church to add extra biblical revelations to the Bible in order to seek to justify their false teachings. Historically, the Roman Catholic church did not accept these books for the first 1300 years of their history. Clearly, the reason they changed their position was that during the Reformation the teachings of Catholicism came under scrutiny by people who were studying God's word, they could find no mention in the Bible of a place called Purgatory, prayers for the dead, paying of indulgences and other practices of the Roman church.

The Apocryphal books themselves show they are not inspired of God and mostly fictional works. They have never been truly accepted by biblical Christians as part of God's word. The Roman Church practice of accepting of money, called "indulgences" for the payment of sins especially came under attack as being unbiblical. History shows that accepting indulgences brought a great deal of money into the coffers of the Roman Catholic Church. A Roman Catholic could actually purchase a indulgence in advance and then go out an commit his sin.

It was this unbiblical practice that was one of the reasons that Martin Luther wrote his "Ninety-five Thesis" and tacked it to the door of the Wittenburg church door. His action sparked the Reformation which began in 1517 which was the also the beginning of Protestantism. There is a statement found in 2 Maccabees 12:43-45, which says "2,000 pieces of silver were sent to Jerusalem for a sin-offering...Whereupon he made reconciliation for the dead, that they might be delivered from sin." On this brief statement the Roman Catholic church has hung its teachings of Purgatory and paying for indulgences for payment of sins.

However, nowhere in God's word is there found any mention of a prayer or a sin offering for the dead. Hebrews 9:27 says "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27. In God's word, there is no place called Purgatory or any prayers offered for dead men. When a man dies his fate is sealed. If a man is a believer, he as a child of God, goes to heaven, if he is a lost man he will go to hell. There is no second chance after death. Paul clearly states that a Christian goes immediately into the presence of God when he dies, "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." (2 Corinthians 5:8) The false doctrines, historical, cultural, and scientific error, which are contrary to the teachings of the sixty six books of the Bible, show the Apocryphal books are not inspired of God. The inclusion of the Apocrypha in the original printing of the King James Bible strictly for historical reasons. They were included like the materials in many of our modern Bibles for reference. These books were written during the Inter-testamental period between the Old and New Testaments. They contained for example the books of 1st and 2nd Maccabees which record the of rebellion of the Jews against Syria leading to Roman occupation of Israel during the time of Christ. During this 400 year period many changes occurred among the Jews such as the beginning of worship in synagogues, the rise of the sects of the Pharisees and Sadducee's, the rabbinical writings of the Talmud, etc.