“Cite one apostle or early NT Christian who owned a Bible. There is no requirement in the Bible to even own a Bible. That is a modern luxury and tradition of man. Early Christian communities owned a set of scripture communally, which was read aloud for all to hear.”

Ignorance is bliss as the saying goes.

The Apostles had most of the OT memorized. Paul a Pharisee trained under the greatest Jewish teacher of the times knew OT scripture forward and back.

Each Synagogue had their copy of the Law and the Prophets. The Galilean tradition was for boys through the ages of 13 to have memorized the Torah.

They early Christians saved, copied and distributed the prized letters from Paul, Peter, and such. They are the very reason we have the scriptures today.

Men died preserving the scriptures for the common man to read.

But you are correct salvation is simple, “believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”

“But how will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?”

So let’s go backwards and have only one bible in each church, then we can all take turns reading from it 45 minutes a week, if we go to church instead of Starbucks.

We need the very words of God on our lips!

“When the truth destroys a cherished myth, print the myth.”
[An old newspaper adage from the 19th Century.]

>”sadly, the Roman Catholic church, among others, tried to limit the people’s access to the Scriptures”

No, the Church at Rome tried to limit the people’s access to faulty or unauthorized translations of the Scriptures. There’s a difference.

>”I have some good Roman Catholic friends who don’t even OWN a bible…much less read one!”

Cite one apostle or early NT Christian who owned a Bible. There is no requirement in the Bible to even own a Bible. That is a modern luxury and tradition of man. Early Christian communities owned a set of scripture communally, which was read aloud for all to hear.

Also, what good is a Bible to illiterate people? The U.S. has a literacy rate of 95.5%. That means that there are at least 15-16 million Americans who are incapable of reading the Bible. That’s about the size of the entire Southern Baptist Convention, the largest non-Catholic denomination in the U.S.. Missionaries learn this hard lesson first hand when they discover after handing someone a Bible in Spanish, or another langage, that their new flock can’t read. They then do what Catholics have done for centuries and use pictures.

>”…they can always go to “Father So-And-So” and he’ll tell them whatever they want to hear.”

Much like the Reformation Christian tradition of “church shopping”. There’s always a minister who’ll tell them whatever they want to hear. Trinity, no trinity, Immerse, pour. Real presence, symbol.

Should you not be concerned with your own “mote” and not the Catholic “mote”?

>” As Andy Crouch said at Catalyst last week–quit complaining about Culture and change it.”

If all the so called Christians in the U.S. would focus more on living thir faith the culture would be far different. Thank the Lord for the faithful disciples that keep our culture from being even worse.

God bless…

+Timothy

Timothy’s last blog post..Why Men Flock To Islam

Hogwash. This is the same church that claims their own magesterium as equal with God and His Holy Word.

No wonder people won’t read the Bible…because they can always go to “Father So-And-So” and he’ll tell them whatever they want to hear.

NOW, to be fair, I do have some wonderful, godly Catholic friends who read the Scriptures and believe them FERVENTLY….they warm my heart…

Phil Hoover’s last blog post..Last night at dinner….

However, before being too hard on Roman Catholics, how many Baptists, Methodists, or Pentecostals have 3, 4, even a dozen Bibles in their home and never crack open the pages. Nowadays we have complete access to the Word, yet most of us chose never to read it. That is even more sad.

We can’t change culture for God without knowing what God has said. Shame on us for having such a low view of Scripture.

M. Steve Heartsill’s last blog post..Monday’s A+ Award of the Day

The reluctance to accept people as they are (in transformation) despite saying God does is a big obstacle. We can only show a different way by being different within the culture…. unfortunately, just like the Pope, it is easier to revert back to type where rules and regulations are easier to follow and discipline…. which dictates Roman Catholicism? Tradition or Theology? I know what my answer is….

Kenneth’s last blog post..To slip a bill through congress you have to grease it with pork.

At least we go that part right; we hammer away at, about, and with scriptures all the time.

Bob Cleveland’s last blog post..SBC: Stay Out Of The Vinyl Siding Business!!

It is ironic that the church which tried to keep the Bible from its people is now lamenting the lack of its influence in modern times.

Bill(cycleguy)’s last blog post..A Celebration