Catholics vs. The Bible

It often seems that there is a stereotype that Catholics don't study the Bible and don't know it as well as our Protestant brethren. While I will agree that often, the Bible is not adequately taught to Catholics, and we indeed don't study it enough, I think it is an overstatement to take the next idea that because Catholics aren't as fluent in quoting Sacred Scripture, the Bible must be a Protestant book.

This is clearly wrong for many reasons. Firstly, it was the Catholic Church that finished the Bible. The New Testament writers were all Catholics. It was the Catholic Church that put the finished Bible together. It was a Catholic who first printed the Bible. The only claim that the Protestants have over the Bible is that they took books out. What kind of positive thing is that? They got rid of 7 books. So obviously, the Bible can't be a Protestant book because they don't even respect it enough to leave it in one piece.

Secondly, a large reason why Catholics don't read the Bible as much as we should is because we have so many different books by saints to read. We have the correctly interpreted Word of God through the minds and pens of the men and women who have given us the best example of what it means to be a Christian. With so much of this to read, it's not a wonder why so many Catholics aren't fluent in quoting scripture. Many, if not most, priests and religious are quite adept with the Bible, but the average layman often doesn't know as much as he should about the Word of God.

Lastly, the Catholic Mass is the best way that anyone can understand the Bible. So in reality, Catholics do know the Bible much better, in some aspects, than many Protestants do. Or at least, we have a much better understanding of what actually goes on in Sacred Scripture because we get to see the Bible lived out every day in the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Think about it, the Last Supper and the Crucifixion every single day in the Mass. Plus, the Book of Revelation and everything else that is thrown in there. How much more of the Bible could you throw in their.

Besides the Mass, the Catholic Church also uses the Liturgy of the Hours, or the Divine Office, to study Sacred Scripture. This daily prayer consists mainly of the Word of God. And as Catholics, we are blessed to have it set up so that we can pray all 150 Psalms every four weeks. This is not to mention all the other scripture that is contained within all the Hours. Again, the Catholic Church is using its tradition to amplify Sacred Scripture.

Then there's the Rosary. Properly understood, we should use the Rosary as a method to understand the Scriptures. We should use it as a means to meditate on the Word of God in the events of the lives of Christ and Mary. Again, something that the Catholics have and the Protestants don't.

So it seems that while Protestants might be able to quote a few passages from the Bible, they do not have the raw understanding of certain extremely important events in the history of the Church. On top of that, you'd be surprised at how many Catholics can actually quote the Bible too. Just ask them to say the Lord's Prayer, the first half of the Hail Mary, or any part from the Mass. Talk about craftier? It's right there.