Question for Christians?

Question

I am Protestant, but at some point I began to question the ideas of Evangelicalism, especially the notion of daily Bible reading and devotional. I certainly think it is a good thing to do, but I also recognize that it has only been within the last 200 years, and especially in western countries, that it has been possible for each and every Christian to own a copy of the Bible. Not until the 16th century were Bibles published to any extent. All before that were hand written and belonged to monasteries. This means that most all Christians in history did not read a Bible as their primary method of personal spiritual growth. What do you think? Is the Evangelical focus on personal Bible reading overstated or misplaced? Thanks.

Answer 1

I dont think so at all. I am a "cradle catholic" who on occasion growing up my Mother would also take us to church with my Aunt who is a Born Again Christian. I have experienced both Catholicism and the Evangelical Christian churches and practices. I was married in the Catholic church and my children have all done their sacraments through the Catholic Church. Over the years I have gone to Church at a Catholic Church and also attended a Evangelical Church regularly as well. We have recently over the last three months began going to an Evangelical Church regularly. In regards to the personal Bible reading/devotionals, there isn't any difference. It's just as important in the practicing Catholics life as well. I just think Evangelicals have gotten a bad rap for being "extreme".

Answer 2

Go back a bit further to the first 300 years of the Church. There was no Bible at all. What did the Christians do then? They relied on oral preaching of those who were qualified and were ordained to present the Deposit of Faith (not a book). The individual believer was not and did not, preach. It just wasn't done.
Tradition is mandated in the Bible, and it is not a four letter word.

Some claim the churches made copies and circulated ONLY the books of the Bible. This is only a theory, and ignores the problems the early church had with false books, because the inspired ones were not yet made canonical and they didn't know for sure which ones were which. They didn't have the time, because they were so heavily persecuted.

Christians who were killed in the Roman colloseum were buried in the catacombs. They drew pictures and carvings on the walls and coffins that illustrated many teachings of Jesus, and can still be seen today.

Later, pictures, stained glass and statues were used to teach the illiterate. Those who scream "idolotry" are too busy with their prejudice to notice the biblical symbols that are on them. Their childrens bible has pictures in it, but when something goes from 2 dimensions to 3, suddenly it's an idol? duh, hello?

If every Bible in the world were to be destroyed, all that it teaches would be contained in Sacred Tradition, which can never be destroyed. But you can't say C- - - - - - - in here.

Answer 3

Your on to something that Catholics have been saying for years.

It's not a bad thing to read and study the Bible. But it should be done in a way which it can be truthfully interpreted. With 40,000 different denominations within Protestantism here in the United States it makes you wonder who's right? The Catholic Church has had a Biblical system of how to interpret scripture. It dates back to the time of the Apostles. People will get disorganized and confused if flowing from church to church looking for the truth. Every Christian church does have truthful interpretations, however, not many of them can agree completely on ALL doctrine. This is dangerous for the body of Christ.

My own personal theory is like the saying, "The closer to the source the clearer and more pure the water." This means simply that the closer to the time of Christ will be the more purified interpretations of scripture and the teachings of Christ. Take a look at the writings of the Early Church Fathers.

Answer 4

Not at all is it overstated. Evangelicalism not only entails daily Bible reading but in order to be an evangelicast you must take the Bible message 100%. This means you need to follow Jesus' laws of spreading the good news,reading the Bible(there is a passage saying the importance of reading the Word),carrying Jesus' cross everyday(doing his will everyday) etc. It leads to a very close relationship with God and all evangelicalist will tell you it is what God intended. Why? As an evangelicalists you are directly lead by the Holy Spirit. You also receive revelations from God. Not like revelations of the future but rather the Holy Spirit telling you what you should do for God. It leads to the highest form of happiness known to man. Surveys show the happiest people in America are Evangelicalists. I hope this helps.

Answer 5

I think it is overstated and misplaced! I grew up in 2 main-line liberal churches and married a conservative evangelical Protestant. So, this is a non-issue for me. I don't even believe in writing in my Bible because it is God's holy word. I was taught to respect the Bible at all times. In my husband's church, there are lots of Bibles that are marked in; to me, that is very disrespectful. I read my Bible almost every week and I pray almost daily. I also used the Internet to study. I think we should learn as much as possible about the Bible.

Answer 6

No, it isn't misplaced or overstated. You have to remember that back in the day, the general population was not as educated as we are today. Even if they had a Bible, they probably wouldn't have understood a lot of it. They relied on their spiritual leaders to study and understand Scripture and put it into language that they could understand.

We are much more capable of reading, studying, and interpreting the Bible. Sure, there may be passages that make no sense to us, which is why we still have pastoral staff to explain. However, we are ultimately responsible for our own soul, and for learning what God's best for our life is.

Answer 7

Why would it be overstated? The people 200 years and back would have done the same thing had the scriptures been widely available and everyone knew how to read. But the priests were the ones that were educated, and the Bibles were chained to the altar to prevent theft. The Reformation involved many variables that split the Catholic Church (it did not break away). The Reformed faith itself was officially called the Catholic Church, Reformed according to the Word of God. You still have the variety of faiths that interpret the Bible differently. Choose which one fits you and worship away.

Answer 8

The King James was written in 1614. But you are right the Church of England forbade publishing the Bible in America until around 1770. But even then, those that could afford one, owned one. But we are supposed to teach all the nations. But then again we are not all teachers. We each have abilities, Like Jonie Erickson-Tadda, a para-pelagic, who gives out wheel chairs and Bibles in third world countries. Now if I should support her mission, I would be assisting in getting out the message.
Lastly remember that literacy was not common in those days and that the easiest way for the Church to get the message out was for learned priest to read the Latin and interpret the Bible. In the first century after Christ and before anything was actually compiled into a New Testament, Believers traveled around with a copy of a letter or gospel and shared it with others.
One more thing I discovered; I bought the bible on Audio Cd's and my son and I listened to the Bible. It was very nice and we both looked forward to it because we only listened when we were in the car together going to town or traveling around. After that we gave it to a nursing home.

Answer 9

Well, I'm Catholic. I do read the Bible often, but not every day. I do think the Protestant focus on the Bible is extreme though. Maybe I should start accusing them of worshiping their Bible. You brought up a valid point. The Bible is to be revered because it is the written Word of God, but many Protestants revere it to the point where they exclude other things. Nowhere in the BIBLE does it say that the BIBLE is our sole authority. It does not say to read the Bible daily. The Bible is not a catechism.

Don't listen to anyone who says the Catholic Church "hid" the Bible because we were afraid people would find the "real" truth. We chained Bibles because they were extremely expensive and rare, and people tried to steal them from the churches they were in. They were chained so everyone could read them.

Feel free to email me with any other questions!
God Bless you in your search for the truth!

Answer 10

personally, i think it's really important. The Bible is sometimes refered to as the living word. that is because you could read a verse eight thousand times, and get eight thousand different meanings out of it. I believe God speaks through the Bible. Also, if you look at the church during the time when not every one had a Bible, you will see a lot of intimidation, and exploitation. I don't think that God will dis-own you or anything, but i've found it helpful in growing my relationship with Him. But if you fel it is a chore, then your heart isn't totally in it, and I think God would rather you find some other way to spend time with Him, you know what i mean?

Now, I will confess, that since i'm still in school i don't always get time to do my Bible study, but i do try to do it as often as possible with my packed schedule.

I hope this helps. <><