Common Objections

Catholic Outlook

Catholic Outlook

Catholic Outlook

Common Objections

Catholic Outlook

__________ The Bible __________

“For centuries the Catholic Church forbid its members to read the Bible, and now they allow it only reluctantly.”

Gary Hoge

It’s a stereotype that Protestants are more avid Bible readers than Catholics, and there’s probably some truth to it. But is that because the Catholic Church discourages Bible reading? Let’s see what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about it:

The Church forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful . . . to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.¹

That sounds downright enthusiastic, doesn’t it? But what about the past? Isn’t it true that Catholics in the past weren’t allowed to read the Bible? Not exactly. Catholics have always been allowed and encouraged to read the Bible, but the Council of Trent, convened in response to the Protestant Reformation, did forbid unapproved vernacular translations.

That’s because unlike modern Protestant Bible translations, which make an effort to present a fair and accurate version of Scripture, some of the early vernacular translations were little more than commentaries attacking Catholic teaching.

The Church apparently thought that only the Latin Vulgate was completely trustworthy, and its reading was encouraged. Bear in mind that this was a time when educated people could read Latin, so this was not an attempt to keep the Bible hidden away in a dead language. It was an attempt to make sure that only accurate Scripture was available to those who could read it.

The Church has always encouraged the reading of accurate Scripture. Here’s what some Catholics through the ages had to say about reading the Bible:

St. John Chrysostom (344/354-407 AD), Doctor of the Church, wrote,

This is what has ruined everything, your thinking that the reading of scripture is for monks only, when you need it more than they do. Those who are placed in the world, and who receive wounds every day have the most need of medicine. So, far worse even than not reading the scriptures is the idea that they are superfluous. Such things were invented by the devil.²

Pope St. Gregory I (died 604 AD) wrote,

The Emperor of heaven, the Lord of men and of angels, has sent you His epistles for your life’s advantage – and yet you neglect to read them eagerly. Study them, I beg you, and meditate daily on the words of your Creator. Learn the heart of God in the words of God, that you may sigh more eagerly for things eternal, that your soul may be kindled with greater longings for heavenly joys.³

St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153 AD), Father and Doctor of the Church, wrote,

The person who thirsts for God eagerly studies and meditates on the inspired Word, knowing that there, he is certain to find the One for whom he thirsts.⁴

Pope St. Pius X (1903-1914 AD) wrote,

Nothing would please us more than to see our beloved children form the habit of reading the Gospels – not merely from time to time, but every day.

Today, the Church is so eager to encourage us to read the Bible that it offers a plenary indulgence just for reading the Bible for a half hour.⁵ Also, the number one religious podcast is a Catholic priest, Fr. Mike Schmitz, reading through the Bible in a year.⁶

It would seem, then, that Catholics have no excuse for not being every bit as devoted to Scripture reading as their Protestant brethren are.