[Alex Murphy]

...a Catholic who does nothing to practice his faith except attend weekly Mass (and the few Holy Days) will hear almost half the Bible.

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: Sundays & Weekdays
	# 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 %

[GonzoII]

"That old "Catholics don't read the Bible" just won't hunt. "

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.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Thank you for your post, Alex. Not only was it informative, but it was pretty darn hilarious. No wonder so many RCs are so confused about God and faith and worship. They are the blind following the blind.

12.7% biblical literacy translates to 87.3% biblical illiteracy.

[Forest Keeper]

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), ...

Excellent analysis, Alex. So per year then, the faithful Catholic attender will hear less than 2% of the scriptures that Christ taught from. Amazing.

[Gamecock]

That is, without a doubt, one of the best posts I have ever read on FR.

(Can I put it on my homepage?)

[HarleyD]

I would also add that while Catholics are free to read the scriptures, they are not free to interpret the scriptures. It wouldn't make any difference if a Catholic read the Bible once a month, they are not allowed to draw any conclusion except the conclusion the Church tells them.

Kind of makes one wonder what "free will" is all about. ;O)

[Campion]

You're confused. All the readings for Sundays and Solemnities are on a three-year cycle.

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.

[Melian]

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.

[Marysecretary]

Good post, Alex.