Are Catholics Encouraged to Read the Bible

By Andrew Willard Jones and Louis St. Hilaire

Dr. Andrew Jones holds a PhD in Medieval History from Saint Louis University and is an expert on the Church building of the High Middle Ages. He is the writer ofBefore Church building and State: A Study of Social Order in the Sacramental Kingdom of St. Louis IX and the pioneer of the Formed In Christ series of religion formation texts, every bit well every bit the writer of several books in this series.

Louis St. Hilaire is the co-author of Evidence of Things Unseen: An Introduction to Cardinal Theology and translator ofThe Literal Exposition of Isaiah: A Commentary by St. Thomas Aquinas (forthcoming from Emmaus Academic). A graduate of Franciscan Academy of Steubenville, he works as a web developer and digital editor for the St. Paul Center.

Photo Credit: Anna Pritchard

Catholics are oftentimes criticized for the way nosotros arroyo the Bible. These criticisms normally come from two directions. From one direction some Protestant Christians, who disagree with Catholic doctrine concerning tradition and with the Catholic approach to Scripture, charge the Church with neglecting Scripture. These charges come through both scholarly debate and popular polemics (the latter oftentimes containing a bully deal of false data). From some other management, the Church is sometimes criticized by people who suppose that Catholics approach the Scriptures with blind faith—unthinkingly and unquestioningly believing things that that seem to contradict both science and reason.

Catholics, therefore, find ourselves in an interesting situation. Nosotros are simultaneously charged with paying Sacred Scripture too little attention and with paying information technology too much attention. The truth, though, is that the Catholic Church pays Sacred Scripture a great deal of attention, but information technology pays attending to information technology in the proper manner.

Catholicism is soaked in Scripture, and the fundamental rite of Catholicism—the Mass—is profoundly biblical. Information technology is not but derived from the history of State of israel, but it also uses Scripture throughout —bringing the Bible to life in a way not seen anywhere else. Also, Scripture is an see with Jesus, the Give-and-take of God, and the Eucharist is taking the Word of God into our very selves! In the Mass, our encounter with God is complete.

It'southward not just in the liturgy that Catholics run into the Bible. Catholics use the Scriptures for the written report of theology, for personal devotion and prayer, and for public prayer. Moreover, many Catholic parishes offering Bible report groups and Vacation Bible School so that the true-blue non merely come across the Word of God just likewise acquire how to take their study of the Word deeper. As disciples of Christ, we are continually spurred on to a deeper knowledge of Scripture, for, as St. Jerome reminds u.s.a., "Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ."

So  where does the charge that Catholics don't read the Bible come from? This criticism originates from a sure Protestant point of view and it is based on diverse $.25 of half-truths or mistakes. Prior to the advent of the printing press (mid-1400s) and widespread literacy, information technology was true that most Catholics never read the Bible. But this was because most Catholics couldn't read annihilation; the majority of people were illiterate. Moreover, for those few who could read, Bibles were hard to come past; each one had to be painstakingly copied by hand.

Printing technology, likewise as more widespread literacy rates, adult at the aforementioned time as the Protestant Reformation. These developments aided the spread of the Protestant doctrine of sola scriptura—the belief that the Bible is the only source of divine Revelation—also as their belief in the individual interpretation of the Bible—the thought that every Christian can interpret the Bible for himself. The Church rejected this new and Protestant understanding of the Scripture. The Bible, the Church building believed, was not the merely source of revelation almost God: God also revealed himself in nature and through Sacred Tradition. Cosmic catechesis, and so, included truths not drawn directly from the Bible. To sola scriptura Protestants, this looked like the Church was prioritizing man-made traditions over biblical instruction. The Church'southward alert that the Bible was oft hard to sympathize and its subsequent mandate that the true-blue arroyo it with the guidance of the magisterium, looked every bit bad to Protestants. In their eyes, the Church building was trying to keep the Bible from the faithful or prejudice their interpretation of it.

Likewise, unlike the Protestants, the Church maintained that biblical reading was not the only form of praiseworthy devotion. The Cosmic religion also embraced (and yet does) many devotional practices, from attending Mass to making the Way of the Cross to reciting the Rosary. As we have seen, none of these devotions are at odds with the Bible; in fact, they are profoundly scriptural. Notwithstanding, they differ from the private reading and estimation of the Bible advocated by the Protestant reformers.

Aside from these doctrinal problems, the widespread belief that Catholics don't read the Bible does take some foundation in reality. For a long fourth dimension, much of the laity did not engage Sacred Scripture as much as they probably should have. Withal, what truth exists in these criticisms has been grossly overblown. The Church building, especially in the twentieth century, has never tired of encouraging the true-blue to read the Bible.

Some other truth that has contributed to the perception that Catholics don't read the Bible is the fact that the Cosmic Church is far larger than any unmarried Protestant community, and has an inclusive understanding of its membership. As the Church sees it, anyone who is baptized and has not formally repudiated the Church is Catholic. Appropriately, the Church is like a nation, total of all kinds of people of varying degrees of education, piety, and enthusiasm. Many people who do not do their faith will, when asked, identify themselves as Catholic. This is a wonderful characteristic of the Church building. Catholicism has room for people in every stage of the spiritual journey—it is the "universal" Church, after all. But one of the consequences is that people cease up encountering Catholics who know very little near their faith and who take peradventure never opened a Bible.

All these factors accept come together to create the common misconception that Catholics don't read the Bible and that the Church doesn't actually desire them to. Nevertheless, while Catholics don't approach the Bible in the same way as Protestants, the Scriptures withal are of supreme importance in the life of the Church building. All Catholics are encouraged to read and learn them.

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Source: https://stpaulcenter.com/do-catholics-read-the-bible/

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