Why doesn’t the Catholic Church emphasize reading the Bible?
This is a very common misconception. Many non-Catholics believe that the Catholic Church does not value the scriptures but the opposite is the case. Catholics draw every daily readings and meditation from the Scriptures. Responsorial Psalms are also directly from the Bible. Even the prayers and rubrics are from the bible too.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
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. (CCC 133)
The Church values the study of the scriptures so much she even grants indulgences for it. The Handbook of Indulgences explains,
“A partial indulgence is granted the Christian faithful who read Sacred Scripture with the veneration due God’s word and as a form of spiritual reading. The indulgence will be a plenary one when such reading is for at least one-half hour” (p. 80).
Even throughout the Church’s official documents.
There are bible passages in virtually every line. This is particularly true of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Every line of these documents draws directly from the Bible. Reading this practically means reading the Bible.
The misunderstanding is probably from popular beliefs that the Church prefers Tradition to Scripture. This isn’t really the case. The Church believes that Tradition and Scripture bear equal witness in her life. So, she places equal value on both. Tradition is the spoke teachings of the Apostles passed down from generation to generation. Whilst the Scriptures contain the written form of the same revelation of God. Those who spoke and those who wrote were inspired by the same Spirit. So it would be silly to assume that what is written has more power than what they said verbally.
Why doesn’t the Catholic Church emphasize reading the Bible? Drop a comment below.