Do Catholics Read the Bible Much? (Jesus Christ, soul, translation, attending)

[Pariah]

In my humanities class, someone made a joke about how Catholics never read the Bible. Being completely unfamiliar with Christianity, let alone the nuances of Catholicism, I really didn't get it.

Is it true that Catholics place less emphasis on the Bible than other texts and the treatises of the saints?

[Victor]

Well, I can tell you what the Catholic Church says (CCC 131-133):

Hence "access to Sacred Scripture ought to be open wide to the Christian faithful."...Therefore, the study of the sacred page should be the very soul of sacred theology...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.

If you want a fuller understanding of how we view Holy Scripture go here:
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p1s1c2a3.htm#V

Now, this is what the Catholic Church teaches, whether this is what occurs in the everyday lives of Catholics is another story. I know as a Protestant I had several verses memorized and I still do but I will admit that the amount of resources available to Catholics can (and often does) make for lazy Catholics. Cause it’s not just about reading scripture and memorizing for Catholics, but about truly understanding and forming yourself to Christ……and to us it isn’t just about reading the Bible but also the sacraments, Catechism, etc. So you might bump into a Catholic who understands what the Church teaches and hardly ever pick up the Bible or Catechism.

Also, be mindful that our weekly Masses are completely Bible centered. Each Mass we read 3-4 sections from the Bible and this layout has been like this for well over a thousand years. In fact, that is more Bible reading then most Protestant churches I’ve attended! But really, it’s not about quantity, but what you get from the reading.

Hope that answers your question.

[logician]

I've known a number of Catholics over the years. As far as I know, very few of them ever read the Bible outside of mass.

[madhatter85]

I've noticed alot of them don't read the bible, they read the "selections" that they put into thier hymn/bible sections/other messages book.

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.

that sounds creepily like the Inquisition without the mass murders and ect... I mean of course tell me if i'm wrong but it sounds liek that... "Forcefully...." that doesn't sound very christ-like... could someone who is catholic tell me what they think this means?

[MaddLlama]

Originally Posted by madhatter85

I've noticed alot of them don't read the bible, they read the "selections" that they put into thier hymn/bible sections/other messages book.

that sounds creepily like the Inquisition without the mass murders and ect... I mean of course tell me if i'm wrong but it sounds liek that... "Forcefully...." that doesn't sound very christ-like... could someone who is catholic tell me what they think this means?

Forcefully is a synonym for "strongly". My translation of the statement is "You're not a good Catholic unless you read the Bible".

My observation is that the majority of Christians in the western world are simply pew-warmers who identify as Christian because they're family does,and they happen to celebrate Christian holidays. In this way, I believe that most Christians don't read the Bible.

[madhatter85]

I go with my wife's family to thier catholic mass and from what i have noticed though, the catholic church goes alot out of thier way to alter things to thier liking. They read only certain passages, with alot...of elipses...in thier passages... and they ignore certain parts of the bible as if it's not even there.

[Comprehend]

Originally Posted by Victor

Well, I can tell you what the Catholic Church says (CCC 131-133):

Hence "access to Sacred Scripture ought to be open wide to the Christian faithful."...Therefore, the study of the sacred page should be the very soul of sacred theology...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.

If you want a fuller understanding of how we view Holy Scripture go here:
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p1s1c2a3.htm#V

Now, this is what the Catholic Church teaches, whether this is what occurs in the everyday lives of Catholics is another story. I know as a Protestant I had several verses memorized and I still do but I will admit that the amount of resources available to Catholics can (and often does) make for lazy Catholics. Cause it’s not just about reading scripture and memorizing for Catholics, but about truly understanding and forming yourself to Christ……and to us it isn’t just about reading the Bible but also the sacraments, Catechism, etc. So you might bump into a Catholic who understands what the Church teaches and hardly ever pick up the Bible or Catechism.

Also, be mindful that our weekly Masses are completely Bible centered. Each Mass we read 3-4 sections from the Bible and this layout has been like this for well over a thousand years. In fact, that is more Bible reading then most Protestant churches I’ve attended! But really, it’s not about quantity, but what you get from the reading.

Hope that answers your question.

I had the pleasure of attending mass last month in St. Louis and enjoyed it very much. We did indeed read a number of passages from the bible. I had always wanted to go to mass but don't usually have the opportunity and thought I would just mention that I had a great time and felt very welcome there.

[Comprehend]

Originally Posted by madhatter85

I've noticed alot of them don't read the bible, they read the "selections" that they put into thier hymn/bible sections/other messages book.



that sounds creepily like the Inquisition without the mass murders and ect... I mean of course tell me if i'm wrong but it sounds liek that... "Forcefully...." that doesn't sound very christ-like... could someone who is catholic tell me what they think this means?

uh, it says forcefully exhorts... that means they "strongly encourage" scripture reading. Sort of like the church you belong to. If you think our church doesn't forcefully exort people to read the scriptures then we don't belong to the same church.

What could possibly possess you to go out of your way to say that wanting someone to read the scriptures is un-christ-like? You think Jesus doesn't want us to read scriptures?

There is nothing "creepy" or "inquisition-like" about encouraging people to read their scriptures. The only thing creepy around here is your demonization of the Catholic church for no reason.

[Comprehend]

Originally Posted by madhatter85