If you are looking for a reason to read the Bible, then let me give you one from St. John Chrysostom:

“The lack of scriptural knowledge is the source of all evils in the Church.” —Homily on Colossians
Well if that is not a reason to read the bible, then today’s second reading may enhance it more.

Here we are looking at St. Paul communicate to his disciple these important words of mission. Paul has reached the end of his journey, his days are numbered and in not a long time he will be in the Kingdom of God. Paul was an Apostle and now he is commissioning the first descendant of his mission, a Bishop named Timothy. Here he tells him of the importance of scripture. It is interesting to read these words from St. Paul and then come twenty centuries later and hear Catholics say that their faith does not require reading this same scripture.
Paul warns in the words the continue from this reading that knowing the scriptures is a way that we become immune to the affects of false doctrine. Indeed, going back to St. John Chrysostom, without a good knowledge of the Bible we can easily fall pray to his warning.

Reading scripture is an essential part of Catholic life.

St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica begins this huge theological treatise explaining that the scriptures as Divine Revelation teach us truths that the reason itself cannot. If we understand those truths then we understand that they begin with us relying on God, awaiting his intervention in the most difficult of times and hearing His guidance in our journey through life. This is the point of the scriptures.
“Hence it was necessary for the salvation of man that certain truths which exceed human reason should be made known to him by divine revelation. . .Therefore, in order that the salvation of men might be brought about more fitly and more surely, it was necessary that they should be taught divine truths by divine revelation.”
Thomas Aquinas, S., Fathers of the English Dominican Province. (2009). Summa theologica Q1, a1 (Complete English ed.). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

St.Paul teaches the importance of scripture, St. Chrysostom warns against living without them and St. Thomas Aquinas explains that they are necessary for understanding our salvation. Reading and knowing the scriptures is a central part of our Catholic life.

Did the Church ever teach that we should not read the scriptures? Well No and Yes. In 1824, Pope Leo XII warned against bad translations of the scripture put forth by a bible society that he does not name. His concern was that the translations would not be accurate and would weaken the Bible message.

You have noticed a society, commonly called the Bible society, boldly spreading throughout the whole world. Rejecting the traditions of the holy Fathers and infringing the well-known decree of the Council of Trent,[16] it works by every means to have the holy Bible translated, or rather mistranslated, into the ordinary languages of every nation. There are good reasons for fear that (as has already happened in some of their commentaries and in other respects by a distorted interpretation of Christ’s gospel) they will produce a gospel of men, or what is worse, a gospel of the devil! Ubi Primum Pope Leo XII

This teaching trickled down, I believe, to a false teaching that Catholics should not read the Bible, but it was rooted in a concern that they were reading poor translations.

Reading the Bible is an essential part of our Christian life. Especially the New Testament. Here in the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles and for the advanced reader, The Book of Revelation, we learn the reality of our faith in a straightforward manner. In the Old Testament we learn the origins of our faith the history of a people struggling between God and their own desires.

It is the scripture that teaches us the way we must go, the direction that we must seek, the attitude that we must have so that we can not only be saved, but that we can save others. If we are ignorant of scripture, then we are at risk for we know not the path to eternal life.

This may explain why so many who reject the Bible seem so lost when it comes to knowing the truth that may set us free.

St. Paul calls for the community to cast out one living in unrepentant sexual immorality, the man in the bible was living with his step-mother. Paul is adamant of taking such drastic measures. The media never addressed  this issue from scripture during the crisis, because many in the media do not know scripture. Yet, had they known the scriptures well, they would have seen this as an obvious question to address. When we look at the Bible and when we read it, we can obviously know enough of the truth to discern the right path in our Catholic life. If we are ignorant of scripture, then St. Jerome teaches we are ignorant of Christ, we are subject to the winds of philosophical error and we can become easily lost and mislead others.

Reading the bible, properly, beginning with the New Testament and only going to the Old Testament when we have a solid base in our faith, will lead us to see the truth at a deeper level which we can use in our day to day life. It is the that truth will set us free.

Reading the Bible daily, one chapter at a time, is all  you need begin with the New Testament and save the Book of Revelation to be the last book of the Bible you read you will learn much and grow in wisdom and love for God. Reading scripture is an essential part of Catholic life.
Fr. Carr is an alliance member of the New Song Community (Canção Nova). He is the pastor ofHoly Trinity Parish, Quincy, MA and is the editor of this blog. You may also find his videos in English at Glory to God. He also has a regular radio program on WebRadio Canção Nova. Which he podcasts on the Canção Nova podcast website and here on Catholicismanew.
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