Are Catholics reading from the most complete collection of books for the Bible nowadays ?

Answer 1

Actually traditionally Catholics have not been big on bible reading, they tended to leave that to the priests and most Catholic churches do not even have bibles in their pews.

Answer 2

Yes.

The New Testament canon of the Catholic Bible and the Protestant Bible are the same with 27 Books.

The difference in the Old Testaments actually goes back to the time before and during Christ’s life. At this time, there was no official Jewish canon of scripture.

The Jews in Egypt translated their choices of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek in the second century before Christ. This translation of 46 books, called the Septuagint, had wide use in the Roman world because most Jews lived far from Palestine in Greek cities. Many of these Jews spoke only Greek.

The early Christian Church was born into this world. The Church, with its bilingual Jews and more and more Greek-speaking Gentiles, used the books of the Septuagint as its Bible. Remember the early Christians were just writing the documents what would become the New Testament.

After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, with increasing persecution from the Romans and competition from the fledgling Christian Church, the Jewish leaders came together and declared its official canon of Scripture, eliminating seven books from the Septuagint.

The books removed were Tobit, Judith, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Wisdom (of Solomon), Sirach, and Baruch. Parts of existing books were also removed including Psalm 151 (from Psalms), parts of the Book of Esther, Susanna (from Daniel as chapter 13), and Bel and the Dragon (from Daniel as chapter 14).

The Christian Church did not follow suit but kept all the books in the Septuagint. 46 + 27 = 73 Books total.

1500 years later, Protestants decided to keep the Catholic New Testament but change its Old Testament from the Catholic canon to the Jewish canon. The books they dropped are sometimes called the Apocrypha.

Here is a Catholic Bible website: http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/bible/

With love in Christ.

Answer 3

As the book the Catholics and other Christians are reading from is called the Bible - so what is included in the Bible is the most complete collection.
Other scriptures exist outside of the Bible - but they are not included.
If you make a book with additional scriptures - well then you cannot call it 'the Bible'.

Answer 4

If your not reading a Catholic Bible, then the question needs to be directed to those who don't.



Lectio Divina

Method
Lectio is typically practiced daily for one continuous hour. A selection from the Holy Scriptures is chosen ahead of time, often as a daily progression through a particular book of the Bible.


Time
Selecting a time for lectio divina is important. Typical methods are to pray for one hour in the morning, or to divide it into two half-hour periods, one in the morning and one in the evening. The key is to pre-select the time that will be devoted to the prayer, and to keep it. Using the same time every day leads to a daily habit of prayer that becomes highly effective.


Place
The place for prayer is to be free from distractions. This means it should be isolated from other people, telephones, visual distractions, etc. Some find a religious icon to be helpful. The same place should be used for lectio if possible, especially as one first begins to practice it. Familiarity with a location reduces the possibility of distraction away from the prayer. Some practitioners conduct other devotions, such as praying before the Catholic Eucharist, as a preparation for Lectio Divina.


Preparation
Prior to reading, it is important to engage in a transitional activity that takes one from the normal state of mind to a more contemplative and prayerful state. A few moments of deep, regular breathing and a short prayer inviting the Holy Spirit to guide the prayer time helps to set the tone and improve the effectiveness of the lectio.

Once the stage is set it is time to begin the prayer. There are four phases of the prayer, which do not necessarily progress in an ordered fashion. One may move between different phases of the prayer very freely as the Spirit guides.


The Four Moments

Lectio
Read the passage slowly several times.


Meditatio
Reflect on the text of the passage, thinking about how to apply to one's own life. Gravitate to any particular phrase or word that seems to be of particular import. This should not be confused with exegesis, but is a very personal reading of the Scripture and application to one's own life.

Oratio
Respond to the passage by opening the heart to God. This is not primarily an intellectual exercise, but more of the beginning of a conversation with God.


Contemplatio
Listen to God. This is a freeing oneself from one's own thoughts, both mundane and holy. It is about hearing God talk to us. Opening our mind, heart and soul to the influence of God. Any conversation must allow for both sides to communicate, and this most unfamiliar act is allowing oneself to be open to hearing God speak.

Answer 5

Catholics have had the complete collection of Biblical texts for nearly two millenium.

Answer 6

Yes! and the books that is in the Catholic bible is the same since the Apostolic time!!!

Answer 7

Probably not, since the Catholic hierarchy has hidden many codices and ancient texts in the basement of the Vatican, today, known as the catacombs.
By the way they are guarded very well!

Answer 8

Complete compared to what ?? it is not complete - it's never been revised to take into account all the learnings since it was written by nomads who thought the world was flat. So no it's not complete the only thing complete about it is the complete idiots that believe it to be true.

Answer 9

catholics.....we dont need no stinking catholics!
just kidding....dont flip out on me.its a joke!
i think historically catholics have more books than anybody.they are the first church.

Answer 10

They always have. Our bible is complete and is not missing 7 books