I have always wondered why Catholics don't have a bible study program like we do in Protestant Churches.
This is from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:
[quote]Scripture always has played an important role in the prayer life of the Catholic Church and its members. For the ordinary Catholic in earlier centuries, exposure to Scripture was passive. They heard it read aloud or prayed aloud but did not read it themselves. One simple reason: Centuries ago the average person could not read or afford a book. Popular reading and ownership of books began to flourish only after the invention of the printing press.
Once the printing press was invented, the most commonly printed book was the Bible, but this still did not make Bible-reading a Catholic鈥檚 common practice. Up until the mid-twentieth Century, the custom of reading the Bible and interpreting it for oneself was a hallmark of the Protestant churches springing up in Europe after the Reformation. Protestants rejected the authority of the Pope and of the Church and showed it by saying people could read and interpret the Bible for themselves. Catholics meanwhile were discouraged from reading Scripture. [/quote]
...
You would think after the Printing Press was invented, the Catholic Church would be gleaming with joy. They were not happy about the printing press. They wanted to keep the bible in Latin and in the confinement of the church, so no one but clergymen could read it.
[quote]Scripture always has played an important role in the prayer life of the Catholic Church and its members. For the ordinary Catholic in earlier centuries, exposure to Scripture was passive. They heard it read aloud or prayed aloud but did not read it themselves. One simple reason: Centuries ago the average person could not read or afford a book. Popular reading and ownership of books began to flourish only after the invention of the printing press.
Once the printing press was invented, the most commonly printed book was the Bible, but this still did not make Bible-reading a Catholic鈥檚 common practice. Up until the mid-twentieth Century, the custom of reading the Bible and interpreting it for oneself was a hallmark of the Protestant churches springing up in Europe after the Reformation. Protestants rejected the authority of the Pope and of the Church and showed it by saying people could read and interpret the Bible for themselves. Catholics meanwhile were discouraged from reading Scripture. [/quote]
...
You would think after the Printing Press was invented, the Catholic Church would be gleaming with joy. They were not happy about the printing press. They wanted to keep the bible in Latin and in the confinement of the church, so no one but clergymen could read it.
36-40, M
