I think the question are getting a little silly now.
The fact is where the Bible is, there is always a high literacy rate.
It is in countries that do not have Bibles to read (Catholic dominated countries, like Latin America and Mexico) that one has a high illiteracy rate.
Moreover, parents are commanded to teach children from the Bible (Deut.6:9).
American children were taught to read from the King James, that is why we had such a high literacy rate at one time.
LOL. Who's being silly now?
It is in countries that do not have Bibles to read (Catholic dominated countries, like Latin America and Mexico) that one has a high illiteracy rate.
I suppose you have something other than bigotry to back this up? What makes you think people in Latin America don't have Bibles?
SD
This isn't true, at least when looked at historically. The Scriptures have existed for millenia, but widespread literacy even in the non-Catholic world is a fairly recent innovation - within the past few centuries.
The point I want to make is that the image of the individual at home, with his family, reading the Bible and discussing it and explaining it, is a recent historical creation. It is not Scriptural. We are of course to discuss the Scripture, to meditate on it, to reflect on it, to communicate its messages to others. But the idea of doing this primarily through print is a fairly recent innovation. Its a good innovation, and of course we should all be grateful to those who pushed for it. Its been adopted by Christians of all kinds, including Roman Catholics and Orthodox. Likewise, Christian Internet forums are good. But its silly to look for them in the Scriptures either.
There are other ways of spreading and learning the faith besides reading Scripture. And some of these ways are more "Scriptural" in that they were the more common practice at the time that the Scripture was compiled.
The illiterate Orthodox believer, and probably the Catholic as well, has always heard Scripture read to him. If one attends the regular cycle of services, over the course of a year one would hear read almost the entire NT, most of the OT, and countless passages over and over - so many times that it would be hard to keep from memorizing them.
What I'm trying to do, probably poorly, is help you see that the RC and Orthodox believers of the past - and of today in places where reading is not widespread - were not denied access to the teachings of Scripture. If anything, the opposite is true. They were literally steeped in it. It formed the foundation of their cultures, and typically served as the raw material for their creative arts.
This is why the accusation that the RC's, and the Orthodox, are somehow denied access to Scripture sounds to our ears so elitist. It sounds like those who make that kind of accusation are saying that there is only one good and proper way to receive God's Word - direct reading of Holy Scripture. This despite the fact that so many of the people whose stories are told in Scripture received God's Word in no such way. I'm not saying that its a wrong way, although IMO it does have its weaknesses that need to be balanced with other methods of receiving God's Word (for example, through song and art.) But it should not be the only way.