Incorrect. Check the charts below, taken from the article itself. By doing "nothing to practice his faith except attending Sunday weekly Mass (and the few Holy Days), in two years' time (after which the reading cycle ends), a Mass-attending Catholic will hear 3.7% of the Old Testament (932 verses), and in three years' time (after which the reading cycle ends) a Mass-attending Catholic will hear 40.8% of the New Testament (3247 verses). That all adds up to a total of 4179 out of 33001 verses mentioned in the chart, i.e. only 12.7% of the entire Bible (excluding Psalms) is heard by a weekly-Mass-attending Catholic.
That's a far cry from "Catholics don't read the Bible."
Incorrect. By your own description, your offered Catholic example has not bothered to read any of it for himself. Your example is precisely that of a "Catholic who doesn't read the Bible." He's only hearing it, and only 12% of it at that.
The Church is apparently formally requiring Catholics to hear at least half the Bible during their required weekly obligation to attend Mass. Correct?
Incorrect. Again, check the charts below.
Now a really good Catholic may attend Mass during the week. Daily Communicants hear two thirds of the Bible. It's just part of the Mass.
Incorrect. Check the charts below. By doing "nothing to practice his faith except attending Sunday and Daily Mass (and the few Holy Days), in two years' time (after which the reading cycle ends), a Mass-attending Catholic will hear 13.5% of the Old Testament (3378 verses), and in three years' time (after which the reading cycle ends) a Mass-attending Catholic will hear 71.5% of the New Testament (5689 verses). That all adds up to a total of 9067 out of 33001 verses mentioned in the chart, i.e. only 27.5% of the entire Bible (excluding Psalms) is heard by a daily-Mass-attending Catholic.
Now let's be fair about Bible consumption: How many Christians read this much of the Bible? And to be even more fair, what percentage of the Bible would we all throw out because it is just about Jewish battles, lineage, or the intricacies of Jewish tradition and ritual? Is anybody really studying those chapters? If we throw those out, the percentage of the relevant portion of the Bible that Catholics read goes up.
Let me emphasis this for the lurkers: you, as a Catholic, are advocating throwing out whole chunks of inspired text. Catholic apologists take Martin Luther to task for having considered removing James and Revelation from the NT, something which he never actually went through with. Meanwhile, your own liturgy has been throwing out a majority of the inspired text from the Mass for nearly two millennia! How else can we explain you mistaking the Bible for being 75% shorter than it actually is?
I think we can see that Catholics have nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to consumption of the Bible. It's an integral part of the Mass, which is the most important aspect of our faith.
I'd consider 12.7% to be something to be ashamed of, myself. I'd be even more embarrassed if to admit that the amount that I thought was "almost half of the Bible" was really less than one-eighth. That would betray a severe ignorance of how much content is actually in the Bible!
That old "Catholics don't read the Bible" just won't hunt. In fact, it's a lie.
"Almost half", huh?
"Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ!"
OT Summary:
OT Section | NAB | Pre-Vatican II Missal: Vigils & Feasts |
Current Lectionary: Sundays & Major Feasts |
Current Lectionary: Sundays & Weekdays |
||||
# Chap. | # Vv. Total | Vv. Used | % Used | Vv. Used | % Used | Vv. Used | % Used | |
Torah/Law | 187 | 5853 | 137 | 2.3 % | 322 | 5.5 % | 865 | 14.8 % |
Historical Books | 316 | 9186 | 0 | 0 % | 134 | 1.5 % | 862 | 9.4 % |
Wisdom Books (w/o Psalms) | 163 | 4130 | 0 | 0 % | 129 | 3.1 % | 485 | 11.7 % |
Four Major Prophets | 191 | 4825 | 92 | 1.9 % | 284 | 5.9 % | 894 | 18.5 % |
Twelve Minor Prophets | 67 | 1050 | 26 | 2.5 % | 63 | 6.0 % | 272 | 25.9 % |
OT Total (w/o Psalms) | 924 | 25044 | 255 | 1.0 % | 932 | 3.7 % | 3378 | 13.5 % |
NT Summary:
NT Section | NAB | Pre-Vatican II Missal: Sundays & Major Feasts |
Current Lectionary: Sundays & Major Feasts |
Current Lectionary: |
||||
# Chap. | # Vv. Total | Vv. Used | % Used | Vv. Used | % Used | Vv. Used | % Used | |
Gospels (4) | 89 | 3779 | 848 | 22.4 % | 2184 | 57.8 % | 3393 | 89.8 % |
Acts | 28 | 1007 | 35 | 3.5 % | 165 | 16.4 % | 492 | 48.9 % |
Pauline Letters (7) | 61 | 1493 | 270 | 18.1 % | 468 | 31.3 % | 846 | 56.7 % |
Deutero-Paulines (6) | 26 | 539 | 82 | 15.2 % | 201 | 37.3 % | 349 | 64.7 % |
Hebrews | 13 | 303 | 17 | 5.6 % | 84 | 27.6 % | 188 | 62.0 % |
Catholic Epistles (7) | 21 | 432 | 57 | 13.2 % | 107 | 24.7 % | 292 | 67.6 % |
Book of Revelation | 22 | 404 | 0 | 0 % | 38 | 9.4 % | 129 | 31.9 % |
NT w/o Gospels | 171 | 4178 | 461 | 11.0 % | 1063 | 25.4 % | 2296 | 54.9 % |
NT Grand Total | 260 | 7957 | 1309 | 16.5 % | 3247 | 40.8 % | 5689 | 71.5 % |
We still get a lot of Scripture at Mass. And how much we read at home isn't indicated. I still think the statement is holds true.
12.7% biblical literacy translates to 87.3% biblical illiteracy.
Excellent analysis, Alex. So per year then, the faithful Catholic attender will hear less than 2% of the scriptures that Christ taught from. Amazing.
That is, without a doubt, one of the best posts I have ever read on FR.
(Can I put it on my homepage?)
Kind of makes one wonder what "free will" is all about. ;O)
And I guarantee that whatever Scripture Catholics hear is more than the congregants of most Baptist or similar churches hear at church. There are Baptist preachers (I've heard them) who preach from Romans, then Galatians, then Romans again. Wow, that's really something to be proud of.
And don't forget, "the Gospels don't apply to us in the church age". Ever heard that? I have.
Now, does listening at Mass replacing personal Bible study? No, and Rome says it doesn't, and has said so repeatedly.
I am using the table. It says that Catholics who attend on Sundays and Holy Days hear 40.8% of the New Testament and 3.7% of the Old Testament.
I am not saying throw the other parts of the Bible out. I’m saying that the numbers would obviously change if we computed them without the chapters/books in the Old Testament about Jewish lineage, battles, and intricate Jewish ritual.
My point is that a nominal Catholic, who does nothing but attend Mass weekly, is hearing almost half of the New Testament. We read along in the missals. We study what was said in the homily at Mass. We are encouraged to read the Bible on our own. And, if we attend daily Mass and do nothing else, we hear two thirds. This is part of our mandatory participation in the Mass, which is critical to our faith.
I stand by my statement that the old saw “Catholics don’t read the Bible” is untrue and anyone who has told you that is pushing their own, questionable agenda.
Good post, Alex.