Posted on 12/19/2014 6:27:23 AM PST by Alex Murphy
Average Catholics asked today how often they read the Bible likely would say that they do not read the Bible regularly. However, if asked how often they read Scripture, the answer would be different. Practicing Catholics know they read and hear Scripture at every Mass. Many also recognize that basic prayers Catholics say, such as the Our Father and the Hail Mary, are scriptural. But for most Catholics, the Scripture they hear and read is not from the Bible. It is from a worship aid in the pew.
Scripture always has played an important role in the prayer life of the Catholic Church and its members. For the ordinary Catholic in earlier centuries, exposure to Scripture was passive. They heard it read aloud or prayed aloud but did not read it themselves. One simple reason: Centuries ago the average person could not read or afford a book. Popular reading and ownership of books began to flourish only after the invention of the printing press.
Once the printing press was invented, the most commonly printed book was the Bible, but this still did not make Bible-reading a Catholic’s common practice. Up until the mid-twentieth Century, the custom of reading the Bible and interpreting it for oneself was a hallmark of the Protestant churches springing up in Europe after the Reformation. Protestants rejected the authority of the Pope and of the Church and showed it by saying people could read and interpret the Bible for themselves. Catholics meanwhile were discouraged from reading Scripture.
Identifying the reading and interpreting of the Bible as “Protestant” even affected the study of Scripture. Until the twentieth Century, it was only Protestants who actively embraced Scripture study. That changed after 1943 when Pope Pius XII issued the encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu. This not only allowed Catholics to study Scripture, it encouraged them to do so. And with Catholics studying Scripture and teaching other Catholics about what they were studying, familiarity with Scripture grew.
Scripture awareness grew after the Second Vatican Council. Mass was celebrated in the vernacular and so the Scripture readings at Mass were read entirely in English. Adult faith formation programs began to develop, and the most common program run at a parish focused on Scripture study. The Charismatic movement and the rise of prayer groups exposed Catholics to Scripture even more. All of this contributed to Catholics becoming more familiar with the Bible and more interested in reading the Scriptures and praying with them.
In a round-about way, aspects of U.S. culture also have encouraged Catholics to become more familiar with the Scriptures. References to John 3:16 appear in the stands at sporting events. Catholics who hear of and see other Christians quote or cite Scripture verses wonder why they cannot. Such experiences lead Catholics to seek familiarity with the Bible.
Such attitudinal changes bode well for Catholics, especially when reading and praying with the Word of God leads to lessons learned, hearts inspired and lives profoundly moved for good.
It’s a fair question.
I don’t think Salvation was judging all baptist churches. I think Salvation was just explaining the background behind the remark. In like manner, I can’t say how much scripture a Catholic hears during mass since I haven’t been to one. I also can’t speak for all baptist churches since there are probably 75K plus in the USA alone. I can only share what I’ve seen.
Either way, I’d hope we all read God’s Word outside of church. It is God’s written revelation of who He is to mankind. If we don’t want to know God in this life, why would we want to go to heaven in the next? If we don’t love Him now, why would we want to be with Him in the next?
I’m so sorry you did not find a positive experience! Keep Earvin for the Truth: there are many paths to God; I pray you find yours, whatever it may be. Faith is a journey! May God bless and guide you through yours!
I specifically said I wasn’t judging a Baptist Church since I had not attended one. Sorry that it was misinterpreted.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace to men of good will! Jesus is coming!
Apology accepted. Sorry if I was a bit short.
There you go bringing logic and facts against unarmed opponents!
You may as well try it...You don't have anything biblical...
What are the doctrinal differences between Baptists, Mennonites, Methodists and the others you mentioned???
These are just a few of the heresies the Catholic Church put down to protect the faithful from error over the course of the last two millenia. Let me know when the protestant contingent has a record that can match it.
Yep...Your religion slaughtered most of them and for not bowing down to your popes...If your religion still had an army large enough, it would try to wipe out all Protestants...
The first protestant was the apostle Paul...He was protesting catholic corrupters of the church from the time the church opened it doors to the Gentiles...And Christians have been protesting your religion since it started...
Is that the Catholic end of prayer as compared to what most Protestants say, 'In Jesus' name I pray, amen???
I've been hearing that a lot lately...
Don’t worry. If you have a smart phone in your pocket it too can be a Bible. So you can carry around your Bible everyday. Like a sword!
>>There is TOO much in the Bible to SOMETIMES confuse me. So, I let those who LIFE’S WORK revolves around, among other things, sacred Scripture, explain meanings. They DO know the confusing, seemingly unfair and unclear meanings and are always ready, willing and able to explain.<<
This is not a poke in the eye statement.
But you are missing a very critical richness in spiritual growth not examining the scriptures. The apostle Paul commended the Bereans for studying the scriptures to see if what he taught was true/sound (Acts 17).
Just hearing the scriptures at church once a week is a very old model. The Bible is available in so many paper bound numbers and on line in App form you can even read it from a mobile device. So today we don’t really have obstacles to our examination of scriptures daily. We can be like good Bereans every day.
Plus I’ve found the comments such as “the Bible is too difficult to understand” as also a passe notion. Most copies are in the English language and easily read and understood.
You mean as in Creation was not really 6 literal days and Moses and Israel did not cross a parted Red Sea but a muddy marsh reed sea estuary and pharaohs army got stuck in the mud?
Yes that was taught in my 10th grade class in a Catholic school.
Yet when I was led to repentance and accepted God’s gift of Grace, I knew immediately God truly means what He says.
Bottom line if someone has problems believing the miracles of TaNaKh they probably have issues with the Miracles of Yeshua. So don’t know how they reconcile such. To me it is most illogical.
Thanks for bringing up this point.
I think the religion forum wars here have a few Catholics gun shy of admitting reading a bound Bible or on line Bible as too “Protestant.”
Yes they get scriptural extracts from mass readings, weddings and funerals. Yet that lacks depth as the extracts limit full context and stifle expository examination of comparable passages throughout the OT and NT.
For example, how can one get the fullness of Christ’s teaching of abiding in Him as He used the example of the vine and branches? To understand His teaching we need to know what the original audience knew. Which means the OT vine/branches passages. Then harmonize that with the apostles use of vines and branches. You can’t do such examination using a missilette extract. Sure it’s great devotion material but falls short of Paul’s exhorting of Timothy in 2 Tim 3.
Thanks for asking!
Who does the Holy Spirit indwell in the Church Age?
Each and every believer.
Who interprets the Bible as we read it into our mind?
God the Holy Spirit, in our spirit, who uses that bread to sanctify our mind so that it then through testing is sanctified in our heart and manifest in our fruits.
Faith is the work of God in us. He is a Living God.
That's a great point! I acknowledge my Church's wisdom over my own.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.