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

[Elsie]

And please tell metmom that Calvin was responsible for Servetus death.

And Mary is, still, definitely DEAD.

[Elsie]

She makes quite a few statements that make me doubt that she ever set foot in a Catholic church less was raised one as she has claimed.

Some catholics make quite a few statements that make me doubt that they never open up a bible and read it and ask the Holy Spirit to explain cryptic passages.

[metmom]

If Priests where married and had GOBS of children; there'd be even MORE RCC's to 'spread the word'.

Instead the Roman Catholic church demands its priests be celibate in disobedience to God's command to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

And in violation of the requirements in 1 Timothy that church leaders be the husband of one wife because if they don't know how to manage their own families, how can they manage the church.

[metmom]

1,000

[metmom]

777

[Elsie]

And this is just ONE of the statements:

Christ would have NEVER allowed that teaching to occour if it were not true....NEVER.

It appears that some tares got in with the wheat that was ground into the flour that made narses' cereal...

[Elsie]

...not protected from electing an idiot.

Those that do NOT get elected end up posting on FR it seems...

[Elsie]

Beat me to it.

[Elsie]

Dang!

Beat me to it AGAIN!

At this rate we can start the 30,001^st denomination!!

[Elsie]

Your comments are out of touch with RCC reality.

And they smell of elderberries, too!

[Elsie]

And now, for penance, the tune from La Cucarachas will play over and over in your head...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-TTyhBqdJ0

[smvoice]

Oh, DROOLING...I thought it was maybe DRILLING..but then I thought "no, it must be DRIVING".. I never thought of DROOLING. Thanks, Elsie. We can ALWAYS count on you!

;)

[BlueDragon]

DROOling; you BOOBS!!!

Aw, why'd you have to go and correct that?

Droll(s) were making me smile.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

terycarl,

you wrote “I cannot prove...just take my word for it.”

Not gonna happen.

when someone posts a truth claim, it rests on them to post evidence that a reasonable and objective person will recognize as supporting the truth claim.

You failed to do that when asked 3 times.

The only conclusion a reasonable person can make is that you simply posted your opinion. There is no evidence and your claims are likely false.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

“so all the people alive in the world, who were not in the area of Jerusalem, who knew nothing of Christ, and all those who came after, before the disciples spread the word throughout the world, and all those who know of Christ’s true church, but reject her teachings are condemned????? “

It has nothing to do with a Church. Nothing to do with rejection. Everything to do with the grace of God.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

“good grief, during apolostic times there are numerous statements concerning the body and blood of Christ as the eucharist........but, just for aarguements sake, lets say that there were none......when the Catholic church taught, from the beginning, that the Eucharist was, indeed, the true Body and Blood of Jesus.....she had declared something on Earth which would also be declared in Heaven......see how infallibility works....Christ would have NEVER allowed that teaching to occour if it were not true....NEVER. “

First, you fail to distinguish metaphor from physical.

Second, you cannot demonstrate “from the beginning”.

Third, your doctrine of infallibility is wrong and you provide no actual evidence to support your claims (as is your habit in your posts here).

Fourth, please do not blame Christ for the silliness of those who claim His name. He is infallible. People and popes are not.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

“Oh great, the Catholics are wrong, the Protestants are wrong.....but you are right....O.K., I get it now “

Try, Christ is right. His Holy Word is right. If Romans or Protestants differ from His Word, they are wrong.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

“in matters of faith and morals the Catholic Church CANNOT err. “

Evidence? Facts? Just try to support that claim in history.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

“sure he is...if it weren’t for Luther, you’d all still be catholic and MUCH closer to salvation “

The Luther Derangement Syndrome is alive and well!

[CynicalBear]

Yeah, I can see how the Catholic mind works. There is a group of people who have never heard of Jesus but they are really good people and do the right things so they are going to heaven. But the Catholics because the RCC says to tell everyone about Jesus go out there and tell them all about who Jesus is. They tell them He was born of a women who never sinned and never had sex and then He was crucified on a cross but came back to life again. Those people think the Catholics have lost their minds with some made up story like that and tell them to take a hike. Now those people who were going to heaven are going to hell instead just because the Catholics told them about Jesus.