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

[boatbums]

Was every prisoner executed for being a heretic? And please tell metmom that Calvin was responsible for Servetus death. She seems to have missed that in her education.

Some of them got away - APPARENTLY.

And, NO, I will not lie to Metmom nor anyone else about Calvin and Servetus. If you had read the link I provided you would have seen that not only did Calvin NOT start the fire that burned Servetus, he counseled him to recant his false teachings about the Trinity, he plead for mercy for him and he was ignored since he had no official position in Geneva. It sounds like Servetus had only himself to blame for his end since he went to Geneva KNOWING he was a wanted man even there. Geneva only got him because the Catholic Church in France boggled his imprisonment else the Catholic Church would have been the ones to kill him like they had many before and after him.

But, I AM curious why you are hitting on this topic like this. Is your intent to smear all Calvinists by association because Calvin has been blamed (unrightly) for one man's death? All Protestants? That's a slippery slope in light of the multiple and verifiable times the Roman Catholic Church was guilty of far worse.

[boatbums]

I apologize.

Many Catholics believe what they are told to believe and until one is able to break free of delusion he/she will not be able to understand my point. The pure faith in Jesus Christ is the truth as professed in Scripture and the Roman Catholic Church has perverted that truth. Salvation is found IN Christ and not through a religion. I will take Christ at His word over the boastings of mere man made religion. Jesus said, “All who come to me I will in no wise cast out.”, I trust HIM.

[terycarl]

my fantasy world when I said the RCC believes you don’t need to know Jesus to go to heaven.

Moses,Abraham, Adam, Eve, Soloman, David, Etc Etc are not in Heaven because they didn't know Christ???

[terycarl]

Hmmmm...I don’t know...maybe one of the early Catholic church fathers knew what happened...all I know is if they can make a doctrine, tradition, or saint out of something

handy, isn't it, and infallible too....Christ is indeed amazing

[terycarl]

ROMAN Catholic Church which first arrested and imprisoned Servetus and would have been his executioner had he not escaped. Funny how that simple point is left out of the narrative.

they felt sorry for him and ley him go. Christian attitude!!

[terycarl]

So no matter what side of an issue they take, they can always be right

INFALLIBLE...read it, get used to it, realize what is truth....in matters of faith and morals the Catholic Church CANNOT err.

[boatbums]

skipped out on religion class did you??? a sin is an intentional violation of God's will....you must know that it is a sin, and you must commit the sin knowing that it is a serious sin against God....then you must never fully repent nor ask God's forgiveness (Catholic Confession fills the bill exactly)!!

Catholic religion class, if it teaches what you claimed, is wrong. Metmom as well as many others here know what the word of God says about ALL having sinned and falling short of the perfection of God (Romans 3:23). Scripture also claims that there are NONE righteous, not even one (Rom. 3:10) and that without faith in Christ to take away our sins, we would ALL be condemned (John 3:18). So sin is not just a willful disobedience of God's law but the state of being at enmity with God and inheriting our sin nature from Adam (Rom. 8:7; I Cor. 15:22). We START OUT as sinners before we even know we are doing it. We sin because we are sinners, we aren't sinners because we sin. No one had to teach us to sin - we did it all by ourselves. The wages (cost) of sin is death (eternal separation from God) but the GIFT of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. 6:23)

On the subject of the "innocents" - those who are incapable of understanding their sin and need of a savior (i.e., babies, little kids, the mentally disabled) are covered by the grace of God and He will not hold their sinful condition against them. His grace is sufficient for them. But all those who can understand WILL be held responsible and must come to Jesus Christ by faith and receive Him to be saved. That is how propitiation (full payment) for sin is made - the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin (I John 1:7). It is through faith in Christ that we can KNOW we HAVE everlasting life (I John 5:13).

[terycarl]

You can continue frothing if it helps with coping but it won't do much to convince anyone else. And just as another reminder, I don't follow Martin Luther, I don't use "Luther's" Bible (I don't speak or read German) and he is not the Pope of Protestantism

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

[boatbums]

Let's not be making the thread personal, now!

There are some things that CATHOLICS say on these threads that causes me to doubt the same thing about them!

[boatbums]

Like I said, the ones that had not heard of Christ. The ones that were given his gospel and ignored it (like the of protestants on this board that viciously attack the Catholic Church) will surely pay on Judgement Day. That is a given.

I don't ignore or reject the gospel of Jesus Christ just the false and perverted version the Roman Catholic Church gradually came to teach - the version that Paul said would be recognized as accursed because it would not be the one HE preached. At one time, I have no doubt that many who identified as "Catholics" believed in the same gospel as taught in Scripture by Jesus and the Apostles. What is called the gospel today in Catholicism doesn't qualify. It will be those who follow that false gospel who will be sadly condemned on Judgment Day. THAT is a given! It is not too late - now is the accepted time, NOW is the day of salvation. Receive the gift of eternal life given by the grace of God to all through faith and not on the basis of works. Trusting in ones own righteousness and rejecting the righteousness of Christ imputed to us through faith is a false gospel and cannot save anyone.

[boatbums]

There can't be an unbroken line of popes when the *wrong* man is elected.

there has been an unbroken line of presidents even though we have suffered through Roosevelt, Carter, Clinton and Obama.

So NOT the same thing! Nobody claims the U.S. president is infallible, was divinely-appointed and has the power to invent doctrine that is binding on earth AND heaven. I'm sure some of the presidents thought they were, but no proclamation was ever made that declared they would be in the Constitution. Do you understand the difference?

[boatbums]

Well they are so darn smug and stupid at the same time; especially the ones that it is good to be stupid for Jesus.

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

Does THIS qualify?

[boatbums]

ROMAN Catholic Church which first arrested and imprisoned Servetus and would have been his executioner had he not escaped. Funny how that simple point is left out of the narrative.

they felt sorry for him and ley him go. Christian attitude!!

You are joking right? If that was "Christian attitude", how do you explain all the others that they didn't "let go"?

[boatbums]

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

You're a riot tonight! You are aware that far more people than just Martin Luther were involved in the Reformation, aren't you? And, for further clarification, the Roman Catholic Church conducted a Counter-Reformation of her own that sought to CORRECT the many abuses and wrongs that she acknowledged she was guilty of because of the issues she was forced to face. So, the Reformation was actually a GOD thing. Kinda hard to stop God from doing His will.

That's why I KNOW that I have salvation instead of wishing and hoping I will if everything goes right and I jump through all the hoops the right way, and, and,.... There is a blessed assurance in trusting in Christ to do ALL that He has promised to do and my faith is in HIM not a religion. The only way I could be closer to heaven is if the Rapture happened or I died. I pray for the same assurance for all those who read these words. Trust in Jesus Christ, believe he died on the cross for your sins and receive the gift of eternal life given to you by the grace of God.

[metmom]

“Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation.”

Where in Scripture is that quote from?

[metmom]

No kidding Jesus said that to the Pharisees.

And that has what to do with your disparaging remark to smvoice?

[metmom]

It’s interesting how Catholics throw out the Calvin card whenever the history of Roman Catholicism is discusses, as if the untrue accusation that Calvin burned Servetus at the stake negates the entire bloodbath initiated and perpetuated by the Catholic church in the name of God.

Calvin did not burn Servetus at the stake. On the contrary, it has been shown numerous times that he opposed it even though he did not oppose the death penalty.

And for those who take the moral high ground and condemn him for that, I would sure hope they’re not hypocrite enough to support the current death penalty themselves.

[metmom]

John 6:63 It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

[metmom]

I'm in no position to condemn anyone to hell, even Hitler, however, those who, through their own volition, rejected the true church of Christ, that He founded< have more than a lot of explaining to do.....remember, the Catholic Church is infallible in matters of faith and morals whether you admit it or not.....2,000 years of Christian history is not wrong.

The Inquisition was not wrong? Really?

Peter himself says this....

Acts 4:11-12 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Salvation is not through a church, or a religious system, or works or deeds, or Christ died for nothing. We don't get to heaven because we earn our way there on a merit system.

Salvation is through a person, who FORGIVES sins.

True Christianity is a relationship not a religion.

[metmom]

It’s no wonder the guy never pursued his project after 17 years.

He probably started and found it to be as big a fail as you just demonstrated.

What you posted certainly is enough to debunk what he said and prove that there is no point continuing on with the comparisons.