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The Great Adventure Bible (and Jeff Cavins) lays out a great way to read the Bible. You read all the "narrative" books first and then go back and read the rest of the books where they will now be in context with the books you already read. I love that idea. This Bible also gives you further explanations about what was going on in that time period and how certain things connect with other things. It also comes with maps and a timeline, in relation to each book of the Bible, which really helps me understand when everything was taking place. I prefer this Bible to all others. Even though the Catholic mass liturgy uses the New American Bible (NAB) (which I also like), the Vatican prefers the Revised Standard Version (RSV), using it for all their documents issued in English. Also, the RSV is based on the Masoretic texts, which is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible. The books of the New Testament were written in Koine Greek - or maybe that was translated from Aramaic or Syriac/Hebrew. No one is 100% sure.
I agree with Jimmy Akin that "Sacred Scripture is not just the revealed written word of God, but a thoroughly Catholic work, intimately connected with the Church from the earliest centuries. The Bible cannot exist apart from the Church. In its origins and its formulation, in the truths it contains, in its careful preservation over the centuries and in the prayerful study and elucidation of its mysteries, Scripture is inseparable from Catholicism. This is fitting since both come from God for our salvation. I take pride in this gift that God gave the world through the Church. We are the original 'Bible Christians'", Bishop Thomas J. Olmstead reminds us that "the teachings of the Catholic Church have Sacred Scripture as their base and that it is the Catholic Church that has preserved this treasure for humanity down through the centuries".
Even the roots of the 1611 King James Bible are almost entirely Catholic, despite the fact that the translation was often viewed as a highpoint of Protestant European culture. If it had not been for the Catholics of the 1500s and the original Bibles that came from Catholic priests, there would be no King James Bible. The KJV writers actually mimicked and copied Catholic priests. There was a whole exhibition about that called the "Verbum Domini" (Word of the Lord). Btw, King James was not a theologian and honestly had no authority in biblical matters at all. He was prompted to produce a "better" English Bible and he made sure the one that was produced lined up with the Church of England's ideals and beliefs.
What I'm really excited about in reading the Bible again, this time not only with guidance and a laid-out plan of understanding, but reading it in a contemplative way I just learned more about, called "Lectio Divina". It is a way of immersing yourself into Scripture very personally and reflecting prayerfully on God's words. The Christian form of Lectio Divina was first introduced by St. Gregory of Nyssa (330-395 AD) and encouraged by St. Benedict of Nursia (480-547 AD), who was the founder of the Benedictine order. The four steps of Lectio Divina are:
- Read - read slowly and pay attention
- Meditate - listen to the inner message of the Scripture, delivered by the Holy Spirit
- Pray - prayer should accompany the reading of Sacred Scripture, so that God and man may talk together, for we speak to Him when we pray and we hear Him when we read.
- Contemplate - hearing the Word of God and focusing on His presence in a silent, attentive mode.
Lectio Divina helps us hear specifically and individually from God through Scripture, guided by the Holy Spirit, and deepens our relationship with Him. Also, it's satisfying, enjoyable, and relaxing.
Here are some BIBLE FACTS (taken from another page):
# The Bible is a Catholic book because the Catholic Church decided which books to include in the Bible in the Synod's of Hippo (393 AD) and confirmed it at Carthage (397 A.D).
# The Canon recognized by the Catholic Church for the past fifteen centuries (73 books) was specified in the Council of Laodicea in 367 A.D.
# The non-Catholic scholar Peter Flint, who translated the Dead Sea Scrolls, tells us that there was no Bible until the 300's when the Catholic Church infallibly decided on what books belong there. Before that, there were hundreds of letters and the Septuagint.
# Even the word Bible is not in the Bible. It came from the Greek word "biblos" ( "Βίβλος" ) which means the inner bark of the papyrus, paper-reed, from which paper was originally made, in Egypt. The Latin form "Biblia" spelled with a capital letter, came to mean "the Book of Books," "The Book" by way of pre-eminence, the inspired Book, etc. The Holy Scriptures were first called the Bible by St. Chrysostom, the Catholic Archbishop of Constantinople, in the 4th century.
# Canon of Scripture:
The Canon of Scripture simply means the authentic collection of those writings declared to have been inspired by God. They are called canonical, whereas those writings that were rejected as uncanonical were called apocryphal, which means not of Divine origin, not inspired.
# The Bible alone theory is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches us and shows us that the Church came FIRST before the Bible. After all, what books did Jesus write? None! Jesus deliberately chose NOT to write. Instead, He chose to establish a Church to teach in His name!
# The early Christians did not own a Bible since the printing press wasn't developed until the 1500s. Even after the printing press was developed, many Christian could not afford to own a Bible.
# The apostles did not read from the New Testament, which was yet to be written, instead, they taught by "word of mouth" and by tradition, as shown in the following verses:
(2 Thes. 2:15) - So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.
(2 Tim. 2:2) - and what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well.
# JESUS stated that the final authority is the church in Matthew 18:15-17.
Matt 18:15 But if thy brother shall offend against thee, go, and rebuke him between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother.
Matt 18:16 And if he will not hear thee, take with thee one or two more: that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand.
Matt 18:17 And if he will not hear them: tell the church. And if he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican.
# Nowhere in the Bible does it state that the "Bible" is the only authority for Christians?
# For more than 1,400 years the Church taught the members by Tradition because the bible was printed only around the 1440s by Johannes Gutenberg.
Bible Timeline:
-> 33AD (Catholic Church founded)
-> 397AD (Bible Canonized by the Catholic church)
-> 1440AD (First Bible printed)
1440 - 33AD = 1400 + years of oral tradition
The first mass-produced printed book was the Bible, a version based on the Latin edition from about 380 AD.. The Bible was printed at Mainz, Germany by Johannes Gutenberg from 1452 -1455.
# Bible states that we must look to the Church for the proper interpretation. After all, the Bible cannot interpret itself, can it? Let look at some verses that show us that private interpretation is frowned upon.
(2 Peter 1:20) - First of all, you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation,
(2 Peter 3:16) - speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.
(Acts 8:30-34) - 30 So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 32 Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:
# Catholics never outlawed the reading of the bible. They outlawed certain editions of the bible that were translated incorrectly by reformers.
# Catholic and Protestant Bibles both include 27 books in the New Testament.
Protestant Bibles have only 39 books in the Old Testament, however, while Catholic Bibles have 46.
The seven books included in Catholic Bibles are Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, and Baruch. Catholic Bibles also include sections in the Books of Esther and Daniel which are not found in Protestant Bibles. These books are called the deuterocanonical books. The Catholic Church considers these books to be inspired by the Holy Spirit.
# Martin Luther, on his own and without any authority, ripped seven books out of the Old Testament and claimed they were not Sacred Scripture (hence being put in an appendix).
# Martin Luther also wanted to rip out of the Bible several New Testament books too -- such as James, Hebrews, and Revelations.
# One of the reasons that Luther ripped out books of the Old Testament is because some of those books helped to explain some Catholic doctrines. The reason why he wanted to rip out of the Bible the Book of St. James is because it contradicted his personal and heretical view about justification, said justification was by faith alone. NOWHERE does the Bible say that, so Luther added the word to Romans 3:28 in his German Translation.
# In fact the ONLY place in the New Testament where the words "faith alone" appear is in the Book of St. James where James says that we are "not saved by faith alone" (James 2:24). This was the reason Luther wanted to get rid of the book of James. This man was not just arrogant but evil in his desire to conform the Bible to his personal, and heretical, opinions. James 2:24 Ye see that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith
# In addition Martin Luther added to the Bible words that do not exist in the Greek extant manuscripts. When Martin Luther was confronted about why he was messing with the Bible, he arrogantly replied, "Because my will is good enough."
# The Bible is a Catholic book because the Catholic Church decided which books to include in the Bible in the Synod's of Hippo (393 AD) and confirmed it at Carthage (397 A.D).
# The Canon recognized by the Catholic Church for the past fifteen centuries (73 books) was specified in the Council of Laodicea in 367 A.D.
# The non-Catholic scholar Peter Flint, who translated the Dead Sea Scrolls, tells us that there was no Bible until the 300's when the Catholic Church infallibly decided on what books belong there. Before that, there were hundreds of letters and the Septuagint.
# Even the word Bible is not in the Bible. It came from the Greek word "biblos" ( "Βίβλος" ) which means the inner bark of the papyrus, paper-reed, from which paper was originally made, in Egypt. The Latin form "Biblia" spelled with a capital letter, came to mean "the Book of Books," "The Book" by way of pre-eminence, the inspired Book, etc. The Holy Scriptures were first called the Bible by St. Chrysostom, the Catholic Archbishop of Constantinople, in the 4th century.
# Canon of Scripture:
The Canon of Scripture simply means the authentic collection of those writings declared to have been inspired by God. They are called canonical, whereas those writings that were rejected as uncanonical were called apocryphal, which means not of Divine origin, not inspired.
# The Bible alone theory is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches us and shows us that the Church came FIRST before the Bible. After all, what books did Jesus write? None! Jesus deliberately chose NOT to write. Instead, He chose to establish a Church to teach in His name!
# The early Christians did not own a Bible since the printing press wasn't developed until the 1500s. Even after the printing press was developed, many Christian could not afford to own a Bible.
# The apostles did not read from the New Testament, which was yet to be written, instead, they taught by "word of mouth" and by tradition, as shown in the following verses:
(2 Thes. 2:15) - So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.
(2 Tim. 2:2) - and what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well.
# JESUS stated that the final authority is the church in Matthew 18:15-17.
Matt 18:15 But if thy brother shall offend against thee, go, and rebuke him between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother.
Matt 18:16 And if he will not hear thee, take with thee one or two more: that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand.
Matt 18:17 And if he will not hear them: tell the church. And if he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican.
# Nowhere in the Bible does it state that the "Bible" is the only authority for Christians?
# For more than 1,400 years the Church taught the members by Tradition because the bible was printed only around the 1440s by Johannes Gutenberg.
Bible Timeline:
-> 33AD (Catholic Church founded)
-> 397AD (Bible Canonized by the Catholic church)
-> 1440AD (First Bible printed)
1440 - 33AD = 1400 + years of oral tradition
The first mass-produced printed book was the Bible, a version based on the Latin edition from about 380 AD.. The Bible was printed at Mainz, Germany by Johannes Gutenberg from 1452 -1455.
# Bible states that we must look to the Church for the proper interpretation. After all, the Bible cannot interpret itself, can it? Let look at some verses that show us that private interpretation is frowned upon.
(2 Peter 1:20) - First of all, you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation,
(2 Peter 3:16) - speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.
(Acts 8:30-34) - 30 So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 32 Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:
# Catholics never outlawed the reading of the bible. They outlawed certain editions of the bible that were translated incorrectly by reformers.
# Catholic and Protestant Bibles both include 27 books in the New Testament.
Protestant Bibles have only 39 books in the Old Testament, however, while Catholic Bibles have 46.
The seven books included in Catholic Bibles are Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, and Baruch. Catholic Bibles also include sections in the Books of Esther and Daniel which are not found in Protestant Bibles. These books are called the deuterocanonical books. The Catholic Church considers these books to be inspired by the Holy Spirit.
# Martin Luther, on his own and without any authority, ripped seven books out of the Old Testament and claimed they were not Sacred Scripture (hence being put in an appendix).
# Martin Luther also wanted to rip out of the Bible several New Testament books too -- such as James, Hebrews, and Revelations.
# One of the reasons that Luther ripped out books of the Old Testament is because some of those books helped to explain some Catholic doctrines. The reason why he wanted to rip out of the Bible the Book of St. James is because it contradicted his personal and heretical view about justification, said justification was by faith alone. NOWHERE does the Bible say that, so Luther added the word to Romans 3:28 in his German Translation.
# In fact the ONLY place in the New Testament where the words "faith alone" appear is in the Book of St. James where James says that we are "not saved by faith alone" (James 2:24). This was the reason Luther wanted to get rid of the book of James. This man was not just arrogant but evil in his desire to conform the Bible to his personal, and heretical, opinions. James 2:24 Ye see that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith
# In addition Martin Luther added to the Bible words that do not exist in the Greek extant manuscripts. When Martin Luther was confronted about why he was messing with the Bible, he arrogantly replied, "Because my will is good enough."
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