How to Read the Bible – A Three Step Plan (written for Catholics - valid for all)

taylormarshall.com ^ | September 30, 2013 | Dr. Taylor Marshall

[NYer]

How do you read the Bible? Today is the feast day of Saint Jerome, who once quipped, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”

“Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” – Saint Jerome

It’s a running joke that if you want to find a Bible verse, you ought to ask a Protestant and not a Catholic. Protestants read the Bible. Catholics not so much.

This raises the question:

Why Don’t More Catholics Read the Bible?

I think the answer lies in the fact that we Catholics go to Mass. The Holy Mass has at least two Bible readings every time. If you pray the Breviary or Liturgy of Hours, multiply that several times.

Joe Catholic says to himself, “Why should I study the Bible? I go to Mass. I hear it there. Check and check.”

There is something beautiful in this. For Catholics, Bible reading is liturgical. Hence, Bible reading remains chiefly a community experience.

Three Step Plan to Kick It Up a Notch

It’s good to listen to the readings from the Bible at Holy Mass. However, we also need a personal (even private) encounter with God in the pages of Sacred Scripture. All of the saints breathed Sacred Scripture. Scripture served as the grammar for their souls. They couldn’t communicate without it.

Here are some basic spiritual needs that you have every single day of your life:

1. Praise – Voicing your delight in God and His provision for your life. Gratitude destroys discouragement.
2. Wisdom – You need practical advice to navigate the complexities of life.
3. Challenge – You need to be lifted higher. You need to grow in your faith. You need to be inspired. You must be an intentional Christian.

So when you wake up tomorrow, do the following:

1. Read a Psalm. Start with Psalm 1. Make it your anthem of praise for that day.
2. Read at least one Proverb. Proverbs are the wisdom morsels of your day. There are 31 chapters. Why not read one chapter every day during the month. Oct 1 is Provers 1. October 31 is Proverbs 31. You get the idea.
3. Read a chapter of the one of the Gospels. This is your challenge. Your Savior challenges you in the four Gospels. He calls you to be not merely a nominal Catholic but a disciple. You cannot seriously read the Gospels and stay lukewarm. Christ speaks in a way that cannot be ignored.

“But I’m so busy. I don’t have the time!”

What? You’re too busy. Sorry, you just got served a yellow card:

That’s a yellow card. You’ve been warned…

Doing these three readings will take you only 3-5 minutes. That’s the time of a commercial break. It will change your life for good. I promise. It takes 21 days to make a habit, so give it 21 days and see if you aren’t hooked. Put the Bible on your night stand and read it in the mornings. Start fresh.

“Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” – Saint Jerome, Doctor of the Church

[NYer]

Catholics hate the bible.

Dear friend, you don't provide a source for your statement but you need to educate whoever planted that idea in your head, with facts.

The original writings from the Apostles themselves (the autographs) no longer exist.

This is due partly to the perishable material (papyrus) used by the writers, and partly to the fact that the Roman emperors decreed the destruction of the sacred books of the Christians (Edict of Diocletian, A.D. 303).

Before translating the Bible into Latin, St. Jerome had already translated into more common languages enough books to fill a library. (Saint Jerome, Maisie Ward, Sheed & Ward; A Companion to Scripture Studies, Steinmuller.)

In the year 383, he revised the Latin New Testament text in accordance with some Greek manuscripts. Between the years 390 and 406 he translated the Old Testament directly from the Hebrew, and this completed work is known today as the "Old Latin Vulgate". The work had been requested by Pope Damasus, and Copies of St. Jerome's Latin Vulgate appeared uncorrupted as late as the 11th century, with some revisions by St. Peter Damian and Lanfranc. (Catholic Encyclopedia, "Place of the Bible in the Church", C.U.A.)

The Council of Carthage (397) was the first Council to publish a list of all the inspired books of the Bible. The Council of Florence repeated the canon of the Bible, and it was restated at the Council of Trent. (No action of the Church causes a book to be inspired. The Church exercises its infallible judgment to certify post factum that a particular book was inspired when it was written. The fact that God is its Author makes a book to be inspired. The Holy Spirit prevents the Church from erring in judging which books are inspired and included in the Bible.)

Versions of the whole or parts of the Bible in the language of the common people first appeared in Germany in the eighth century, in France and Hungary in the twelfth, and Italy, Spain, Holland, Poland and Bohemia in the thirteenth century. (Catholic Encyclopedia.)

The area known as England was invaded and settled by Germanic tribes called "Saxons" who aligned with tribes from the area of Denmark called "Angles". In the 700's, (St. Bede the Venerable), the area was speaking a Germanic dialect. In the Middle Ages, between 1066-1377, there were different dialects depending on where you went, between the different tribes. The Normans had invaded the area, There was no written vocabulary, so Latin and Greek were most commonly used by the literate.

After 1300, the English population was still much smaller than others like the Italians or Spanish, and it was still unintelligible in a written form. After the 1500's, England became more important politically.

For centuries before the invention of printing, the only way to duplicate the text of the Bible was to copy it by hand. Copyists could have made mistakes, but, they took more care with Scripture than with any other book. Errors, while they are possible and certainly have occurred in some instances, can not be too easily admitted or accepted as an excuse to disregard these copies. Moreover, God in His Providence has faithfully protected His Bible from any serious corruption.

If anything, you owe a debt of gratitude to the Catholic Church for: compiling the books that make up the Canon of the Bible; for its translation into the vernacular; for its protection of the sacred texts; and for its publication on the first printing press.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

"The rest know him by what they found out in that Catholic document known as the Holy Bible"

The prideful rooster claims his crowing makes the sun rise!

[aMorePerfectUnion]

"If anything, you owe a debt of gratitude to the Catholic Church"

Not gratitude to God for preserving the words He inspired through men he used, but gratitude to the "Catholic Church".

The prideful rooster believes his crowing makes the sun rise!

[terycarl]

We all know that this isn't true because these myths didn't show up til hundreds of years after Peter was gone

when they were issued is irrelevant...the church fathers searched ans studied scripture and tradition over the years and concluded that they were truths...and they make sense!

[terycarl]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bad_Popes

you keep repeating the list of bad Popes.....in 2,013 yewars is that the best you can do???The Catholic church, like all the protestant denominations is made up of sinners.Some people are better than others, is that a surprise????

[boatbums]

Is it my imagination or does it seem many FRoman Catholics divert the thread to talking about the "Eucharist" as a sort of trump card? Most times it doesn't work but it sure gets a thread topic sidetracked to an "us" vs. "them" argument with Catholic assertions of dominance since, according to them, THEY have the only true access to the salvific body and blood of Christ and everyone else is out of luck apart from the RCC. Thank God He doesn't agree with them!

[terycarl]

WVK said he reads the Bible THROUGH four times a year, not reads it four times a year. I begin to see why Catholics have a hard time understanding Scripture.

what's the difference...every book I read I read through.Cover to cover, that's through....don't hunt and peck, read through....and I don't do it four times a year.

Catholics have no problem at all understanding scripture....they wrote it.

[terycarl]

I ASSUME you think this is TRUE; because your chosen religious organization says it is. Does it offer any proof at ALL; or do you HAVE to take it solely on FAITH?

my religious organization was promised by Christ to be infallible...hence I believe it....does your religious denomination have proof that Jesus was God.....or do you accept that on Faith???

[aMorePerfectUnion]

"Catholics have no problem at all understanding scripture....they wrote it."

No credit to God, who chose, inspired and preserved His Word.

Stealing glory from God isn't becoming for those who purport to claim the name of Christ.

The prideful rooster believes his crowing makes the sun rise!

[boatbums]

There is not and never has been a scintilla of anti-protestant bigotry on FR.

Did you forget the /sarc tag???

[aMorePerfectUnion]

“my religious organization was promised by Christ to be infallible.”

Proof??? If you have nothing to back up the blustery post, it is just opinion.

[Revolting cat!]

Shhh, some here believe that God himself wrote it down, translated it from Hebrew to Aramaic then to Greek and Latin, and finally to the definitive version in English, printed it, and distributed it to the Hideaway Motel chain (rooms by the hour.)

[CynicalBear]

>> All protestants owe the Catholic Church a world of gratitude for bringing the Word of God to them.<<

Catholics need to keep in mind that God used Judas also.

[smvoice]

Perfect point made, CB. There is a world of truth in that one sentence. Hopefully it is applied.

[terycarl]

I go to a evangelical church, thank God, and have no personal animosity against Rome (i wish priests would talk to me rather than walking away when i try to raise issues), but with truly born again souls, unlike with RCs, the particular church one goes to is not central, but peripheral, as their fellowship is around the person of Christ, having a shared conversion experience and relationship with the Lord Jesus.

so you abandoned the 2,000 year history of christianity, the Catholic Church, for an evangalestic store frone church of what's happening now??? O.K., I guess, but what are the odds that you chose the right one out of the 30,000 or so protestant denominations???

[NKP_Vet]

Catholic scholars compiled the Bible. Deal with it and move on. Without the Catholic Church there would be no Holy Bible.
The Catholic Church came before the gospels.

[boatbums]

...And that’s just a few notable Catholic converts.

For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe. (Deut. 10:17)

[terycarl]

It's illogical and unbiblical

it is perfectly logical and certainly biblical!!!

[NKP_Vet]

You mean the one he tried to change by moving words around or inserting words to make the Bible more into his interpretation.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

“Catholic scholars compiled the Bible.”

Yea. Too bad God tells the truth of where Holy Scripture came from ...

“For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

“Deal with it and move on.”

That you post you want me to move on while you steal His glory does not mean I must do so.

“Without the Catholic Church there would be no Holy Bible.”

Sure there would. God accomplishes His will and nothing can stop it.

Thou shalt not steal. It isn’t becoming to those who claim His Name.