Why don't Catholics carry their bibles to church services?

Question

Are they ashamed of the word of God?
Surley they don't trust a man to tell them the truth,do they?

Answer 1

If you don't learn what the truth is for yourself,how do you know you are being taught the truth?

Answer 2

Traditional Catholics' Motto

We are what you once were.
We believe what you once believed.
We worship as you once worshipped.
If you were right then, we are right now.
If we are wrong now, you were wrong then




It's so sad that questions about the Catholic faith are so ignorant.


The Liturgy of the Word
On Sundays and solemnities, three Scripture readings are given. On other days there are only two. If there are three readings, the first, except during Eastertide, is from the Old Testament (a term wider than Hebrew Scriptures, since it includes the Deuterocanonical Books). The first reading is followed by a Responsorial Psalm, a complete Psalm or a sizeable portion of one. A cantor, a choir or a lector leads, and the congregation sings or recites a refrain. The second reading is from the New Testament.

The final reading and high point of the Liturgy of the Word is the proclamation of the Gospel. This is preceded by the singing or recitation of the Gospel Acclamation, typically an Alleluia with a verse of Scripture, which may be omitted if not sung. Alleluia is replaced during Lent by a different acclamation of praise. All stand while the Gospel is chanted or read by a deacon or, if none is available, by a priest. To conclude the Gospel reading, the priest or deacon proclaims: "This is the Gospel of the Lord" (in the United States, "The Gospel of the Lord") and the people respond, "Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ." The priest or deacon then kisses the book.

A bishop, priest or deacon may then give a homily, a sermon that draws upon some aspect of the readings or the liturgy of the day. The homily is obligatory on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, and is highly encouraged for other days.

On Sundays and solemnities, all then profess their Christian faith by reciting or singing the Nicene Creed or, especially from Easter to Pentecost, the Apostles' Creed, which is particularly associated with baptism.

The Liturgy of the Word concludes with the General Intercessions or "Prayers of the Faithful." The priest speaks a general introduction, then a deacon or lay person addresses the congregation, presenting some intentions for prayer, to which the congregation responds with a short response such as: "Lord hear our prayer". The priest may conclude with a supplication.





Our Lord founded a Church (Matthew 16:18-19), not a book, which was to be the pillar and ground of Truth (1 Timothy 3:15). We can know what this Church teaches by looking not only at Sacred Scripture, but into History and by reading what the earliest Christians have written, what those who've sat on the Chair of Peter have spoken consistently with Scripture and Tradition, and what they've solemnly defined. To believe that the Bible is our only source of Christian Truth is unbiblical and illogical.

Answer 3

I'm Catholic & I'm not ashamed of God's word!
I read both the Catholic New American Bible & The Protestant New King James Version. My NKJ Bible is very small so I carry it with me in my purse every where. (I have read most of my NKJ Bible) Some Catholics do carry our Bibles to church services.(Mass) But it is usually for a Bible study after Church(Mass).
The Bible readings are printed in books called Missals which are in very pew. And yes The reads in the Missals match the ones in the Bible (I checked it out to see)

As for trusting a man to tell me the truth.
All people are just Human we all make mistakes there for I like to check behind what ever the priest/pastor teaches to make sure that what they are preaching/teaching is in agreement with God's Word. (I used to do the same thing when I was a Protestant & I don't see why I would stop now)

I hope this helps to answer your question, may God bless you.

Answer 4

Wow. The wild assumptions being made here are pretty amazing.

So, for that matter, is the question. Putting aside your obvious bias for the moment, why does not carrying a Bible around equal being "ashamed of the word of God?" Please. We hear more of the actual word of God during Mass than the typical evangelical does while sitting in the pew and listening to the Sunday sermon. Where they are asked to perhaps open their Bibles and read a verse or two, and then listen to the pastor's exposition on it, we hear entire chapters as well as a sermon (homily).

Let's be honest, here. The main reason most other-than-Catholic Christians carry their Bibles to church on Sunday is not because they're checking it to ensure their preacher is sticking to the straight and narrow, but because they have Bible studies either before or after worship services ... therefore, it's appropriate to carry it with them.

Catholics also have Bible study groups, did you know that? We just don't do it in conjunction with Sunday Mass; usually on a weekday evening, depends on the parish. And we do carry our own Bibles to these, right out in the open, without shame.

Answer 5

"The Catholics have never been encouraged to read the Bible." That comment is oh so true. No matter what catholic church I have attended over the years, and no matter what country I was in, not once have I ever heard a priest encourage anyone to read the Bible. Even when I went to catholic school, the nuns didn't encourage us to do any such thing!

And in some of the Spanish speaking countries, the priest would be speaking in Latin. You walked out of the service the same way you walked in--knowing nothing.

Up date:

Isn't that funny, not one of these Americans have ever been to Poland in their entire life but they are going tell some guy that lives there whether if he's wrong or not. Benjamin Peret, thank you! I don't say this to be mean, but you American catholics have been living in your on little world for too long. And you actually believe it's all made up out of hate. For your sakes, I wish that was true.

gotta_b_kidding_me (16 above me), I hope you read this:

"Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read:" Isaiah 34:16

Answer 6

We Catholics do not need to carry our Bibles to Mass unless we choose to read out of our own copies rather than those provided in Church.

Remember that the Catholic Church has been in existence for nearly two thousand years. It's only the last 2 or 3 centuries that it has even been a possibility for an average person to own a Bible. Prior to the advent of the printing press and modern papermaking, the entire Bible had to be copied by hand on parchment or vellum. Often, there would be only one Bible in an entire town, and it would be kept at the Church to be read aloud to the congregation by a priest. People went to Mass to *hear* the Word of God, not to read it. Incidentally, this is also why our Churches are full of statues, art, and stained glass depicting Scriptural events. For over a thousand years, Catholic congregations were almost entirely illiterate. How do you communicate a Faith to people who can't read? You read to them and give them pictures (or statues, or stained glass) to remind them of the important points of Scripture.

These days, many Catholic Churches provide Bibles in the pews for people who prefer to read directly from them during the Liturgy of the Word. Whether or not Bibles are provided in the pews, Catholic Churches always provide copies of the "missal". The missal contains the text of all the prayers said during Mass, and it also contains the text of all the Scripture passages read during Mass. As other posters have indicated, we read from the Old Testament, Psalms, the New Testament (usually the Epistles), and The Gospels during Mass. Most Catholics of my acquaintance prefer to use the missals because it cuts down on the rummaging through a Bible to find particular passages. The Scriptural text printed in the missal is identical to the NAB, the Bible translation that most of us have in our homes. It's still the Word of God; just organized in such a way to make Mass flow more smoothly.

For the record, I always carry an electronic Bible in my purse. I don't use it at Mass, though, because by the time I find the passage being read aloud, I've already missed part of it. I prefer to use the missal provided in Church so that I don't miss bits and pieces of the readings while trying to find them in a Bible.

Answer 7

Simple - for many services, we don't need our bibles. Most churches have some sort of missal available which has the readings for the date organized by the calendar date. Not only that, we are encouraged to LISTEN to the PROCLAMATION of the Word of God, not simply follow along like mindless sheep. Listening, real listening takes active concentration.

Now, there's nothing to say that people can't bring their bibles to church if they want to meditate on scripture before or after the service. And Catholics most certainly do bring their bibles with them to scripture study.

Answer 8

Actually the bible readings are in the Church in the Sacramentary or the Altar Missal. Each catholic has a copy of it in the pews. There is more though, the Church's liturgical action is the living bible itself - tradition and mystery.
The early christians didn't carry bibles to church. They didn't have bibles, No printing companies. The only books were the copies at the altar.

Answer 9

I was raised Catholic & went to Catholic schools all the way through. I attended an all girl very strict Catholic high school,
when I got all of my new school books at the beginning of the 9th grade a Catholic Bible was included. 4 years later when I cleaned out my locker when I was about to graduate I opened it for the first time & the pages were still so new they crackled just like a brand new book that has never been touched & it never was in all of those 4 years. We had a religion class every single day & it was never mentioned.

Answer 10

In one year, all the scriptures are read in the services. Each day different parts are read and talked about. Buy the way, I wonder who can answer the question,who put the bible together? It was like that for many many years until others decided to take books out they though where irrelavent, thus the birth of other christian faiths. We can all find negative things to say about many faiths...I think it is best to focus on positives. Blest be

Answer 11

I do carry my Bible to my Catholic Church and I also go to weekly Catholic Bible studies.

Also, there are missallettes with the Bible readings for the day in the pews to follow along with the readings.

We don't trust mere men and their human traditions like the infallible weekly proclamations i used to get a Baptist Church i used to attend.

The Bible is to be interpreted by the Church through the Apostle's Tradition and not by the opinions of every person who decides to start his own church.