You asked: You think this is a good thing?
There is plenty of proof in our day and age that having access to the Bible is does not make one a good Christian. Jesus left one commandment. To love, not to read the Scriptures.
My point was to say that a person can be a good Christian and be illiterate. There are countless examples of that. Reading the Bible is NOWHERE mentioned as a requirement for entrance into heaven. Now, with all things considered, of course, the Bible is a good thing and not having the Bible can be a bad thing. But it doesn't follow that one MUST have a Bible and be able to read it to join Christ in heaven. St. Irenaeus gives us an example of people who WERE LIVING THE FAITH - while, the Gnostics, WHO HAD THE BIBLE, were not!!!
Regards
Here is where I disagree: Jesus left one commandment. To love, not to read the Scriptures.
Matthew 21:42 Jesus saith unto them, "Did ye never read in the scriptures......
22:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, "Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
Luke 24:32...while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the scriptures.
John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Matthew 12:3 But He said unto them, "Have ye not read what David did.....
12:5.Or have ye not read in the law.....
19:4 And He answered and said unto them, "Have ye not read, that He Which made them at the beginning made them male and female
21:16 ...And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise'?"
One of the major problems with not reading the Bible and getting your Biblical education from "man" is that then you don't know if it is false doctrine or not. Jesus warns us about that. It was His first warning when the disciples asked Him to tell them of what to expect in end times.
Mark 13:5 And Jesus answering them began to say "Take heed lest any man deceive you.
Matthew 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, "take heed that no man deceive you.
Luke 21:8 And He said, "Take heed that ye be not deceived<.b>; for many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near; go ye not therefore after them.
I appreciate the point you were trying to make but I think it is very dangerous to take man's word on God's Word. After all, that man won't be with us when we stand before God. If I have misunderstood St. Irenaeus and he was only giving an example of "people who WERE LIVING THE FAITH - while, the Gnostics, WHO HAD THE BIBLE, were not"!!!, then please accept my apology. It's just that the sentence of "he defends those Christians who NEVER READ THE BIBLE - AND HE PRAISES THEM!" didn't sound right to me.
........Ping