Why do some people think Catholics don't believe the Bible?

One thing that a Catholic is not is a bible worshipper. Catholics believe in tradition and theology practiced within the church as well. Catholics do not get hung up in literal interpretation and therefore can often find greater meaning and application of the bible’s writings. Also Catholics tend to observe for who, what, when, where the scripture was written and try not to mix apples and oranges to make a point (or get a donation).

Many would say... well there ya go! Catholics DON'T believe the bible. I would say to them... do you believe God (infinite and eternal) can be contained in a book? Open your eyes. The word is alive but your ears have died to the truth. You are the temple of the Lord. That doesn’t mean to get fit… it means the Lord is in you. God has given you everything you need. He has sent Jesus to awaken you but still you cannot see past the marked and worn pages of your demigod. Catholics read and adhere to their understanding of the bible based on theology and tradition, as well as, historical fact. But Catholics worship God and every chance they get they let Jesus into there souls through communion.

I am sorry if my rant is so negative... we just here these things over and over. It is ignorance and fear that they preach against us. The world has enough of that... God bless each of you.

Aside:

The Mary stuff is the same as the saints… we ask them to pray for us. Like you would ask a friend to pray for your Mom in the hospital. Mary is a very special Saint and one we can all find strength in character in; she is a role model. ‘Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death.’

You should realize that a lot of what you said is not agreed on by everyone. Protestants would not agree that they removed any books from the Bible. None of the deuterocanonical books were accepted by the Jews, for example. Even some Catholics did not accept them until the Counter-reformation, after Martin Luther. The books were first pronounced as dogma by the Council of Trent.

If you look at the early documents listing the accepted books (which began in the 100's, actually), you'll notice that none of the lists included the deuterocanonical books. The council of Jaminia, in A.D. 90, for example, came up with a list of canonical books, and did not include the deutero-canonical works.

Protestants would also not agree with you on your statement that the church could not have existed before the Bible was compliled. The apostles were part of the church, weren't they? Yet they didn't have a Bible. The church existed long before the final set of books, because the books come from the sayings and actions of Jesus and the Apostles.

So to sum it all up, Protestants do have good reasons for not accepting certain books. There is enough evidence on both sides for the debate to continue for many, many, more years.

Because the Catholic chuch will admit, when hard pressed, that they take the liberty of creating doctrine from one verse in...Peter? The Catholic chuch advocates, or something to the same effect, abortion, homosexuality, and anything liberal. The Bible specifically forbids homosexuality, but "the Bible teaches love!" "The Bible teaches tolerance!" "The Bible teaches listen to Pope Clinton!". The Bible fobids several things that the Catholic chuch advocates/tolarates. Hence, the Lutherin religeon was born from Catholism, minus the fobiden doctrine. And then protestents decided to heck with all the riuals. That complets our history lesson. Conclusion, some Catholics believe the Bible, others pick and choose what they believe, and some leaders don't believe it at all. The second two groups give Cathosism a bad name.

This IS a serious answer!

There is a joke that says, What is the best place to hide something from a Catholic? The answer is; in his/her bible.

The only reason I mention this, is because I grew up in one of the MOST staunchest of Catholic upbringings.

I was raised by nuns at home AND went to Catholic school.

I am sorry, but....the only times I EVER heard the bible read was IN Church. I was given a bible for my 1st Holy Communion, but never encouraged to read it.

I AM a Christian woman, but I no longer practice Catholacism.

28 years ago, I moved to an area of the country that is, well, lacking in Catholics, and I went from having *all* Catholic friends, to having only one or two. It was such a culture shock for me to realize that there are people out there that do not know what being a Catholic is other than what they see on tv, or their *preacher* tells them. There in lies the problem. People are quicker to believe what others say, than to check it out themselves.

As you can see by my screen name, I am a Girl Scout Leader. Several *mom's* have removed their daughters from my troop when they found out that I was Catholic. It's so sad at the level of ignorance in this country, or world for that matter.

The answer is education and show by example, that we (Catholics) are not monsters, and freaks and we do indead study, follow, and believe in the Bible.

I was even told that Catholics were *not* Christians. Go Figure.

I think they don't believe in some aspects of the Bible. They'd rather pick and choose so they can live the life they want. And if Catholics do follow the Bible why do they confess to a priest instead of going to Jesus like the Bible says to do. You can only get to God through Jesus.

It may be because Catholics believe that they have to go through a priest for confession instead of going straight to God, or it could be that they pray to different Saints instead of going directly to God.

Just because they compiled it, doesn't mean they wrote it or even keep it. You can SAY you believe it, but if you do not show it, it means nothing.

cuz they're messed up? the thing is, catholics believe that mary can answer their prayers, when really, only God can. so i can't answer for those who believe that, but i do know, you're not getting anywhere praying to mary.