How many Catholics read their Bibles?

Question

Seriously!
Because there have been several comments by Catholics stating that only the Pope can understand the scriptures. That's not my opinion...that's what some Catholics actually say!
I think this may be part to blame as to why people assume that Catholics aren't Christians. (I know they are.)
What are your study habits? The Bible or something else?

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Answer 1

You are Catholic and you've read the whole Bible? Good for you! :) But I've always wondered. How can a Catholic read the whole bible and remain Catholic? So many things about the Catholic faith is not in the Bible. If the Bible is the actual word of God, then how can a Catholic be a Catholic once he accepts what he/she reads? Just wondering.

Answer 2

I belong to a group with about a hundred of us or more who do all the time.

I have not seen the people here who say only the Pope understands scripture, but I think you will find that anyone that ignorant has not seen the inside of a Catholic Church in a long time. Many Catholics out there are what are known as "Cultural Catholics" they may not attend mass or practice their Christian faith but they have a strong identity with the church of their family of origin.

{In answer to the smarty below me}-Actually, I have large portions of it memorized and know that if it were not for my church you all would not have a bible at all. In fact, the blood of our martyrs brings you the Bible you have today.

I find all the origins of my church and it's practices in the Bible. Our scholars have been studying it for 2000 years and it makes up all of who we are, we also, have the original documents supporting scripture and the earliest teachings and interpretations of scripture.

As a church body(1.1 billion people worldwide) we read 3 parts of scripture every day. There is an old testament reading, or a reading from a NT letter, A psalm and a gospel reading, On Sundays there is both an Old Testament and a New Testament reading from a letter, and a Gospel. Also, the homily(sermon if you will) is usually based on one or all of the readings.

Answer 3

Most Catholics read their Bible, and even if they didn't, they would still hear almost the whole Bible read aloud if they attend Mass weekly. There are several Scripture readings at every Mass. Why would it be otherwise, since the Bible was compiled by the Catholic Church, solely for its own use?

No knowledgeable Catholic would claim that "only the Pope" can understand the Bible, because scriptural interpretation is not primarily the responsibility of the Pope. It is the responsibilty of the Magisterium of the Church, the Church's divinely ordained teaching authority, which of course includes the Pope, but many others as well, working in concert under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Magisterium (if you can believe Christ) cannot teach in error, since "whatsoever they bind upon earth is bound in heaven", and "the Holy Spirit guides them into all truth".

This is why the Catholic Church remains united in belief, united in teaching, united in worship and united in administration after 2,000 years, while manmade denominational religion continues to self-destruct, with more and more conflicting denominations forming every year. Unity is the first requirement for truth. Disunity of belief means false beliefs.

Answer 4

+ Catholics read the Bible +

Catholics are encouraged to read the Bible.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says: 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.'

All Catholics listen to the Word being proclaimed and explained in every Mass.

In every Sunday Mass there are at least four Bible readings
+ First Reading - usually from the Old Testament
+ A Psalm is prayed by all
+ Second Reading - usually from a New Testament Epistle
+ Gospel Reading
+ then the priest bring them all together and helps us apply them to our lives in the homily

+ Interpretation +

For we write you nothing but what you can read and understand, and I hope that you will understand completely, as you have come to understand us partially, that we are your boast as you also are ours, on the day of (our) Lord Jesus. (2 Corinthians 13-14)

Paul's second letter to the Corinthians was written about 57 A.D. All of the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and Revelation were written after Paul's letter and may or may not apply to this statement.

The verse from 2 Corinthians would only be applicable to the documents that Paul and the other Apostles had written up to that time.

The Jews had centuries of Holy Scripture interpretation by the priests and rabbis.

In Acts 8:27-39: Philip asks the Ethiopian reading the prophet Isaiah, "Do you understand what you are reading?" The Ethiopian replied, "How can I, unless someone instructs me?"

The original readers of the Epistles also knew Greek and all the slang and idioms used in their time. They knew (and lived) the culture, politics, and habits of everyday life of the first century A.D.

If I knew the original languages in which the Bible were written, namely Hebrew, Greek, and a little Aramaic, archeology, and theology as well as you do then maybe I would not need the Church to help me.

The Catholic Church can also delve into the riches of 2,000 years of constant Bible study by the most intelligent and spiritual people of each generation. Why would I want to ignore throw this treasure away?

Something is always lost in translation no matter how good, how new, or how beautiful the translation is.

On a practical note, being able to keep an eye on the big picture has kept the Catholic Church together for almost 2,000 years with currently over 1.1 billion living believers.

Christian Churches that interpret the Bible any way they wish keep splintering off each other to the point that there are now well over 10,000 non-Catholic Christian denominations.

+ With love in Christ.

Answer 5

I'm not Catholic, but some friends of mine were raised Catholic and we are in a weekly Bible study together. Without exception, each of them say that they were never encouraged to read or study the Bible when they were practicing Catholics. In fact, they say that FAR more emphasis and importance was placed upon reading and memorizing the book of Catholicism, which tends to be very "rule-based".

It is extremely encouraging to see how my Catholic brothers are devouring the Word of God in our studies and to see how the power of the Holy Spirit gives us an understanding of Scripture. The response of the "recovering Catholics" in our study has simply been this: "How come no one ever told us about this in our church?" Experiencing God's Grace, through His Word, and realizing that there is nothing we can do to earn His favor has been a tremendous relief (to all of us). To say that Catholics are not Christians because they don't read the Bible is dangerous and ignorant. However, I believe it is very difficult, if not impossible, to be a follower of Christ without knowing what He has taught us through His Word. The Holy Spirit, as promised, will give us an understanding of Scripture if we ask and believe. See the passage from Acts below and also read the story of Philip in Acts 8. Neither John nor Philip were popes.

There are many great commentaries out there that give practical help in studying the Bible. For non-intellectuals, like myself, I highly recommend the "Be" series by Warren Wiersbe. Amazon has them all.

Finally, if anyone is wondering how to read the Bible or where to start, read the Gospel of John. I know, everyone says that, but there's a reason for it.

Answer 6

there are over 1 billion catholics in the world, that some make certain comments doesn't stand for the entire faith. regarding the pope he is the successor of st peter and is infallible in teaching the faithful, he can sin like everyone else, even the pope must go to confession to another bishop. i will provide sources for you regarding the papacy etc should you be interested. as for my study habits i do the following
prayerfully read scripture, read the writings of the early church fathers,the catechism and use resources from the sites i said i would provide. ontop of this i am doing a correspondance course that pertains to all aspects of catholicism involving several books dealing with the catholic faith you can locate this at www.catholichomestudy.org

the sites i usually frequent are
www.scripturecatholic.com
www.catholiceducation.org
www.ewtn.com
www.newadvent.org
www.salvationhistory.com
www.fisheaters.com(i encourage you to take the test under the section listed for protestants, the quiz will be on the top left).

lastly i would like to ask, do protestants read their bibles? they ignore the eucharist related passages,are missing seven books, 27 of which are accepted from the new testament as given to them by the catholic church, if the church was infallible in giving us the new testament what negates the rest of the churchs infallibility? these are but few of the questions,others include from where in the bible are we told the bible is our only source of authority or that by faith alone we are saved/once saved always saved?

if you look at the catholic liturgical calender and readings you will see that at every mass the bible is read,the whole mass is biblical almost exclusively line for line from the bible, including the 3 readings.

Answer 7

I read the Bible every day,both New and Old a chapter from each, and I am Catholic. I read and hear a lesson from the OT and/or Nt Epistles and one from the Gospels and a bilble homily(sermon) every day at Mass. The Church,including Popes, encourage Bible reading and study. I go to 2 Bible studies a week and one is Catholic/Lutheran sponsored. The daily Divine Office does the Book of Psalms every month and most of the Bible in ayear. I was always encouraged to read the Bible throughout my 17yrs in Catholic schools.

Answer 8

The Catholic church as a whole doesn't teach the Bible. It's not the peoples fault but the church.Most of what you see going on in the church at thier Masses has nothing to do with the teahing of God's word and the Good News Of God's Kingdom brought by Jesus and his Apostles. The catholic church rose out of the fall of the Roman power and they began to take up some of the teachings of the apostals and twist and turn the scriptures to thier own desire and to control the people that were left over from the Romans and then began to hide what the real truth of the Bible was. They even went to a point to try to burn every bible around so no one could question thier theachings.


Sincerely yours,
Fred M. Hunter

Answer 9

I have answered this before and will stick with my answer. Many
protestants feel that Catholics are forbidden to read the Bible, and this is not the case. However, they are not encouraged to read it either. I attended catechism classes, religion classes in grade school and high school and CCD. I NEVER saw a Bible.
As far as the Pope being the only one to understand the Bible that is not true. However, unlike protestants, Catholics believe that the anointing of the Holy Spirit is reserved for Bishops. Before a bunch of Catholics start saying this is not true, yes Catholics lay are anointed from time to time, like at their confirmation but don't assume the strength of the anointing as that of the Bishop; and, yes, Catholics really measure these sorts of thing. They even have a distribution of grace measurement that accords certain levels of grace to those attending Mass.
Catholic by Birthright (I am Irish) educated and confirmed in the faith. NO LONGER A CATHOLIC (or protestant for that matter.)

Answer 10

I've read the Bible if not completely than to my satisfaction that I feel I have an understanding the basic principles of my faith and that I can be reasonably conversant but otherwise, I consult it occasionally and feel that I can comprehend all of the subject material within except some of the metaphorical or prophetic material which has or was designed for a 4th century audience.

However, I think it's entirely correct to defer to a priest, cardinal or Pope regarding a liturgical interpretation in the way Jews would defer to a Rabbi or Muslims to an Imam or even how we all defer to doctors or lawyers or scientists on matters with which THEY have more experience or are specialists in than we are.

Answer 11

I'm a Catholic and I read the Bible frequently. As well, Catholics who attend church hear readings from the Bible every week. I don't think that the Pope himself believes that he is the only one who can understand the Bible!