Why Don’t Catholics Read the Bible?

My latest article for CRUX examines the  different approaches to the Bible among Catholics and Protestants

The truth is simply that Catholics and Evangelicals use the Bible in different ways. Therefore they have different kinds of Bible knowledge. Evangelicals use the Bible as a source book for doctrine and right moral teaching, and that’s good. 2 Timothy 3:16 says the Scriptures are “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.” Evangelicals also use the Bible for personal devotions and inspiration. This, too, is Biblical. Psalm 119:27 says, “Let me understand the teaching of your precepts; then will I meditate on your wonders.”

Ordinary Catholics might not be so adept at quoting chapter and verse, but they do know and use Scripture regularly, albeit it in a different method. For a Catholic, Scripture is not so much a book to be studied as a book to worship with. (Psalms 119:7)

Some time ago, a friend of mine compared the amount of the Scripture used at Mass to that used in an Evangelical Protestant service. The Catholic Mass was almost 30 percent Scripture. When my friend checked the content of his local Bible-based Evangelical church, he was surprised to discover that the total amount of Scripture read took just 3 percent of the service.

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