Kangaroo Feathers
Yea, it is written in the Book of Cyril...
... huh?
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Why don't Catholics read the Bible?
- Thread starter Estro Felino
- Start date
Kangaroo Feathers
Yea, it is written in the Book of Cyril...
I'm sure your last post seemed bitingly witty and clever in your own mind, but it lost something in transmission to the screen.Huh what?
Ciao
- viole
I don't know what you mean. My posts are meant to be dead serious. Especially when I put smiles and LOLs.
What I found interesting is a book like the Bible having a camouflage cover.
My point is that Christians sometime say that there are no atheists in foxholes. Which is a strange claim from people who believe in the power of prayer... I mean, who prays to be spared by bombs while hiding in a stinking crap-hole? If I were not an atheist and truly believed in the power of prayer, I would pray to be immediately transferred to Tahiti and have some Champagne while bathing in a Jacuzzi , or something of the sort, and never needing to hide in a foxhole to start with. In the name of Jesus, of course.
But I am digressing.
My impression is that if the word of God is camouflaged, presumably by members of the Christianity community, then maybe it is the other way round. These very Christian people seem to be very truthful to the imperative: better safe than sorry.
What do you think?
Ciao
- viole
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GoodbyeDave
Well-Known Member
Surely the real question is why Protestants spend so much time on the Old Testament. Of course it has enabled them, chiefly in the USA, to defend slavery, racism, sexism, etc, etc. The Church never had the guts to ditch it, but at least they had the sense not to encourage people to read it.
whirlingmerc
Well-Known Member
Probably depends on the particular Catholic, but in general evangelical protestants are encouraged to read the Bible more consistently than Catholicis are. This is partly because 'sola scripture' is one of the pillars of the reformation
and in the past... say pre Vatican 2... Bible reading was even less common for Catholics, but still depended on the Catholic
It was neat thanks for the link. I think Metis has made some good points. There is some truth in saying not just anybody can pick up a Bible and in a short time come to terms with the various alien cultures inside. There are so many people claiming to teach it quickly and easily and who make a profit from this false claim. There is no shortcut to learning. There is no wave of a wand that grants insight. It takes work, but we are surrounded by venders shoutung it is easy to summarize. They claim to save us time, to clarify, to elucidate. They waste our time, create confusion and mark us for chumps. What gets called 'Bible study' is often just reading comments by some stranger who sold a book. 'Bible study' can mean anything, there being so much confusion about what there is to study.
To some degree it is excusible to think priests understand it better than lay people. I don't agree about only priests understanding it, and they may not even feel driven to mastery of the basics.
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Ibni Abbas
Member
I found the analogy to answer the question :
Al Muusa AS is to abrogate Jews and Jewish , eventhough it is look like that He AS was the one who started it .
Al Muusa AS is to abrogate Jews and Jewish , eventhough it is look like that He AS was the one who started it .
exchemist
Veteran Member
Yes, I recall that the old Tridentine Mass had only an epistle and the gospel, i.e. no reading from the OT at all. One of the significant changes to the mass at Vatican 2 was the addition of an OT reading, before these two.
There may be a clue here. I suspect the pre-Vatican 2 thinking was that the OT in particular could give people strange ideas if taken at face value. For example it contains plenty of blood-curdlng barbarism and a lot of rather primitive special pleading about land, the chosen people and the superiority of the Jewish God over other gods, which is hard to reconcile with the message of Christ in the NT. Given that Protestants made a big deal out of bible study, as part of their back-to-basics drive, it is possible that this lack of enthusiasm for the OT was seen by them as a general discouragement to read the bible at all.
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whirlingmerc
Well-Known Member
There are some historical things at work
A priest was not part of the 'teaching church' which was bishop on up. The ritual rather than the word or sermon was the focus . So in the middle ages and in reformation times priests were mainly trained in ritual not teaching truth, not so with protestant pastors
There is also an issue of basis of authority? tradition or the 5 soles - Christ alone, faith alone, scripture alone, grace alone and all for the glory of God alone
Catholics are more free today to read the Bible than before. It's up to them whether they do and protestants and Catholics share many stunning truths. Jesus did say 'man does not live by bread alone but on every word that comes from the month of God' quoting Moses
BilliardsBall
Veteran Member
It's simple. Try telling any Catholic priest you are saved by faith without works, then quote a relevant verse. It happens EVERY time.
exchemist
Veteran Member
Interesting perspective. The bishops continue to write (usually rather tedious) pastoral letters to this day which are dutifully read out by the parish priest. But many of the monastic orders also specialised in preaching, did they not?
exchemist
Veteran Member
How would this tell you whether priests discourage their flocks from reading the bible?
whirlingmerc
Well-Known Member
I agree proof texting is problematic. Its like seeing a movie trailer not the movie. Watch the whole movie. Read the whole Bible.
Wrap your head around the whole book of Romans and not live in a few verses. The Romans Road are good as an intro but a bad path to live in and never go deeper in the gospel
metis
aged ecumenical anthropologist
Better yet, let me quote the Bible itself, BB:
James 2[14]
What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him?
[15] If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food,
[16] and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit?
[17] So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
[18]But some one will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.
[19] You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe -- and shudder.
[20] Do you want to be shown, you shallow man, that faith apart from works is barren?
[21] Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?
[22] You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works,
[23] and the scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness"; and he was called the friend of God.
[24] You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.
[25] And in the same way was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
[26] For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead.
Luke 6[46]"Why do you call me `Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you?
Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Hebrews 13:16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to Go
Colossians 3:23-24 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
Romans 2:6-10 He will render to each one according to his works
2 Timothy 3:17 That the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
And there's more where these come from that are found right smack dab in your Bible, BB, so maybe go tell your pastor if he teaches you otherwise that maybe he really isn't teaching what the gospel actually says.
What you are conflating is when the gospel refers to "good works under the Law" because the early church gradually walked away from Jewish Law, which one should clearly be able to see in the gospels, in Acts, and in the epistles.
metis
aged ecumenical anthropologist
I want to return to this because what you did was to push a false paradigm, and then you had a chance to correct it but instead you just diverted attention into something that was not even being discussed.
So, with the above, were you wrong or were you just being disingenuous?
Anna Therese
Member
Your "rigid Catholic upbringing" could not have been too Catholic if you were told that only priests can understand and interpret the Bible. It's obviously not true that only priest can do that. Also, your additional comment, "besides, priests don't mind discouraging you from reading it," is revealing. The truth is that the Catholic Church has always encouraged her members to read the Holy Scriptures daily.
Milton Platt
Well-Known Member
I suspect that they might be lazy in that regard, or simply trying to avoid the cognitive dissonance that occurs.
Absolutely justifiable laziness ...the Bible is a paper brick...that is about history, essentially.
Even adults should read the Bible for children...I found on a Catholic website the one I read as a kid...
LA SACRA BIBBIA ILLUSTRATA E RACCONTATA A BAMBINI E RAGAZZI
I'm speaking of my personal experience...and I still believe you can't understand the Bible, unless you studied theology.
exchemist
Veteran Member
It seems to me that, like any work of literature, the bible can be understood at a number of levels. Theology will no doubt enable access to deeper levels than the uninstructed reader is likely to reach.