What there is more of on Tuesday is more contrived Catholic polemics. You should make at least a 750 donation for RCs using FR as RC promotional and apologetics service, and for engaging in such specious contrivances as here. For consider the absurdity of your challenge. Not only do RCs define “Protestant” so broadly that you can drive a Unitarian/Mormon/Watchtower 747 thru its gate, but you carefully said “a” protestant service on any Sunday. Which means you simply have to find one Unitarian church or whatever in the whole world that has less Scripture than in a Catholic Mass!
Moreover, what you also leave out is that much of the Scripture you do hear in a Mass is repetition. Besides the standard readings one hears weekly as part of the liturgy, the readings for SUN TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (picked at random) were listed as : Is 56:1, 67/ Rom 11:13-15, 29-32/Mt 15:21-28. A total of 17 verses if i counted correctly, out of approx. 31,000 total verses in just the Prot. canon. And when i was a RC lector (late 70's) some of the readings were in brackets and could be omitted.
Meanwhile the stats i have state:
Only going to Mass will not give one a functional knowledge of Scripture. The average Catholic does not even get to Mass weekly, less alone daily as would be needed to get just 12.7% of the Bible over the two year reading cycle. (http://catholic-resources.org/Lectionary/Statistics.htm)<
: It has been established that historically Rome did not overall encourage Bible literacy among the laity, and can be said to have even hindered it. And until recently little of the Bible was read in Mass, and today this is still not much.
“At mid-century study of Bible texts was not an integral part of the primary or secondary school curriculum. At best, the Bible was conveyed through summaries of the texts.” (The Catholic Study Bible, Oxford University Press, 1990, p. RG16) Even by 1951 just a little of the gospels and the epistles were read on Sundays, with just 0.39% of the Old Testament (aside from the Psalms) being read at Vigils and major feast days in 1951 - http://catholic-resources.org/Lectionary/Statistics.htm)< /p>
Furthermore, evangelicals not only read the Bible more themselves, Catholics coming in about last, but they also are far more likely to attend a Bible study.
Bible Reading: the highest was 75%, by those going to a Pentecostal/Foursquare church who reported they had read the Bible during the past week (besides at church), while the lowest was among Catholics at 23% - http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/5-barna-update/54
Moreover, what also matters is not simply how much Scripture is read, but the basis for determining Truth, and how much Truth is heard that is based upon the Scriptures as the assured word of God.
One can "preach the word" without directly quoting much Scripture, though they normally should, while in cults as in Rome, the "laity" look to the org. as the assuredly faithful interpreters of Scripture, and implicit assent called for, and thus objectively searching the Scripture in order to ascertain the veracity of what is preached, after the manner and means of the noble Bereans, (Acts 17:11) is discouraged.
Now I can make a challenge. You chose someone you think you can trust to go to the local SBC church down the street from here, in which a minister usually reads about an entire chapter of Scripture before the sermon begins, and then preaches for approx. 45 min (the approx. length or an entire Mass) from another book of the Bible, plus about 10 minutes of prayer, plus a midweek Bible study, and then go to the local RC mass, and we will see who gets the most Scripture as well as preaching from it on Sunday. And Wednesday.
And since you said “a Protestant service” then that should qualify. At least FR would get 750.00 (which i certainly do not have, as part of a non-profit work, by God’s grace).
It was the “contrived Catholic polemics” that I think pushed it over the edge- didn’t bother me but I am not the boss.
We can talk post more later cause I’m on a jobsite and don’t want to get hurt or hurt someone plus posting on an iPhone is not good.
AMDG
I’m not sure why Catholics would read scripture extensively anyway. It’s secondary to what the Catholic Church teaches. I haven’t yet figured out why Catholics get upset when others say they aren’t taught as much scripture as Protestants. How many times have we been scoffed at for claiming “Sola Scriptura”? If scripture isn’t to be the sole source for doctrine why get upset that scripture isn’t first and foremost in the Catholic Church?