Again, I am a Protestant who has been married to a Catholic almost 25 years. I also have attended mass at a Catholic Church 80% of Sundays the past 25 years.
To me , it is absolutely stunning the lack of knowledge that Catholics have of the Bible. Where as a kid, we Protestants were absolutely drilled on scripture, Catholics (even with catechism)only learn Dogma and tradition of RC Church.
Just ask any group of Catholics a general question about the Bible or Bible history. You'll be surprised of all the blank "deer in the headlight" stares you will get.
sadly, you are correct on this issue. It is the very reason that I do not bash the protestant faith, of which I was a member (Baptist) for several years. I developed a deep love of scripture and much study. I was a cradle catholic, but left the church because of that. I now know that it was my fault and mine alone that it happened. The church encourages scripture reading, hosts bible studies, and reads the entire bible through every couple of years at Mass. It is the parishoners themselves that do not pick it up at home, not lack of exhortation to.
>>To me , it is absolutely stunning the lack of knowledge that Catholics have of the Bible. Where as a kid, we Protestants were absolutely drilled on scripture, Catholics (even with catechism)only learn Dogma and tradition of RC Church.<<
I agree. I have been married 20 years to a Catholic and he knows no scripture and chooses not to read or discuss it. He only attends church at Easter and Christmas.
This is because those who were supposed to teach us didn't. In many ways, the state of the Church can be laid at the door of the hierarchy. We just weren't taught and in that a great disservice was done because we can't defend the Faith. I learned on my own due to a desire to know. Not everyone has that. They know the surface and nothing else. There are those who believe that this was done deliberately to bring down the Church. I think a part of it is the 50 years of chaos that follows every council. We're at year 43. Things are starting to get back to normal, and that should include more rigorous teaching.
As to knowing anything beyond the Catechism, Dogma and Sacred Tradition (which includes scripture) - we really don't need to know anything else. This is the bulwark against heresy. I don't mean that in any way other than a statement of fact. If you aren't going to lead the flock into temptation, why teach error of any sort? Since before any line of the New Testament was written, the flock has been led astray in places where they don't know any better. That's the way life is. As so man of us were not taught hard facts and true teaching, recognizing error is very difficult, let alone defending the teachings.
It gets to be rather stunning after a while that we've been having the same arguments for 2,000 years. In those 2,000 years, not everything has been honky dory all the time. The end of the 12th century into the 13th featured an ignorant flock. As various people became more prosperous, they began to resent being made to feel guilty by the church and went along with a revolt in the 15th. It goes on and on.
As for worship, you get out of it what you put in, just like anything else. And, no, fighting amongst ourselves gets us nowhere, but neither does closing off hearts. That's what I see on these threads. If people truly love the Triune God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - praying for an open heart should not be an issue.