I know the Catholic often says we can't learn and study the bible ourself, or get the right meaning ourself. But it's simply not true. The fact is millions of Christians read the bible for themself today, including Catholics, and get the right interpretation out of it.
There's a few reasons:
a) it's not that hard !. A lot of the bible is simple. Paul's letters for example are not that hard to understand. To say that we cant understand Paul's letters would be to say that the churches he was writing to couldnt understand them either, and needed an expert to explain them to them. Simply not the case.
b) Compared to even a hundred years ago, most people are very well education in our society.
It's a sad state of affairs that Sunday School children can know the truth from the bible better that they have read themselves, than what comes out of the mouths of some priests and pastors.
c) The average christian may not be able to explain the history, and depths of scripture like a theologican with a PhD can, but they can know the essentials and the basics that is enough to get them through life and to heaven.
Each religion is known by its most characteristic ritual. The Mass is for Catholicism the essential act of worship to God. Protestants of different hues are known by their insistence on reading the Bible, which they read and insistently recommend to others, as if by reading it one would find salvation. The assumption of those protestants is that everyone, no matter how ignorant, can fruitfully read the Scriptures because the Holy Spirit Himself would inspire people to grasp the correct sense of what they read. By this reasoning, the Bible is easier understood than a newspaper or comic book.
Moreover, anyone could give any interpretation one wished or judged to have understood from sacred text. By inference, the Holy Scripture would not have an objectively correct meaning. All the interpretations would be right, even if they were contradictory to one another. This is what is called the “free interpretation of the Bible”, principle proclaimed by Luther to destroy the Pope’s power.
The allegation that
"The assumption of those protestants is that everyone, no matter how ignorant, can fruitfully read the Scriptures because the Holy Spirit Himself would inspire people to grasp the correct sense of what they read." is simply not true. Protestants are very much involved in discipleship , teaching and learning. Protestants do not simply give someone a bible and say "go fend for yourself". But yes with an obedient heart desiring to know the truth the Holy Spirit does inspire people, we shouldn't underestimate the role of the Holy Spirit in each individual's lives.
The result of this free interpretation of the Holy Scriptures was an almost endless(infinite) multiplication of sects. Such a system produces a biblical Babel. Nowadays, there are millions of “evangelic” sects, every one of them offering a different interpretation of the sacred text, and all of them proclaiming themselves to be right. At heart, every protestant is a “church”, so there cannot be a church of Christ. Protestantism poses itself against the Pope’s infallible power, and to fight it, proclaims every “believer’s” infallibility.
Not quite true. The The different sects are not caused by different bible interpretations. There are many deeper issues that cause different denominations, usually disagreements over leadership or style, or purpose, sometimes new denominations are led by greed, power, control. Sometimes they are started when someone has a claimed revelation or vision from God. I think different interpretations is post-fact, not a main cause of the different sects. Division is simply fallen human behaviour.
Protestantism's reasoning goes that every single person should read the Bible, and each one should have a different understanding of the Holy Scriptures, denying, by doing so, the existence of one objective true meaning meant by God in those words. Thereby, it is denied that there is “only one faith”. God would have created the Bible as an “Open Book”: it would have millions of possible senses, all of them likely to be true, but none of them exclusively true and unique.
Again that's not true. Protestantism hopes that every person arrives at the same conclusions when they read the bible. What organisation in its right mind would hope that everyone gets a different conclusion? That's chaos. Yet it is remarkable that despite everyone having what you call "free interpretation", the great similarities between the different sects of protestantism. The differences are often only in trivial matters. As a Protestant I can and have freely and happily mixed with all other versions, from Seventh Day adventist, presbyterian, baptist, to lutheran and church of england.
Yet the situation in catholicism is not much better. Today catholics are encouraged to read their own bible, but for what purpose if they can't (supposedly) understand it anyway? Despite the claimed existance of uniform teaching in the Catholic church, and absense of free interpretation, Catholicism is fragmented in doctrine and there are many variants of catholic thought and belief existing. Different priests teach different messages, different church members all believe different things. Free interpretation is not restricted only to protestants, but is a common trait amongst any human who has freedom of thought and interpretation. Otherwise they would have to be brainwashed and belong to a cult. The irony I suppose is that few Protestants in their private interpretation of SCriptures have reached the conclusion that the Roman Catholic church is correct. Rather, private interpretation of the scripture has reinforced and justified the stance that salvation is by grace through faith, and not of ourselves. The individual who reads the bible themselves soon realises the lack of scripture concerning purgatory, indulgences , veneration of Mary, and many other practices which are concidered to be unbiblical.
Now, it is curious that in the Bible itself there is no text which says: “Read the Bible”. It is quite obvious, for no one can bear witness of oneself (?) (John 5: 31). Neither in the Ten Commandments, given by God to Moses, nor in the words of Christ, is the advice that Christians should read the Bible, to be found. How come does this omission happen? Where do protestants of many cults take this law or advice from, that everyone should read the Holy Scriptures?
There is no text which says pray to Mary, nor any text mentioning purgatory or indulgences, either. But from history we know that the early church distributed the various writings amongst themselves, well before the bible was put together. It is generally understood that the members of a particular religion, would read and study and know the Scriptures of that religion. In fact it is remarkable that you are suggesting that we shouldn't read the bible. We know that Timothy knew the scriptures since he was new in the faith. Having being taught by his grandmother Lois, and his mother Eunice had learned the Scriptures since childhood. The Jews at an early age taught their children the Ssriptures.
2Ti 3:15 and that from a babe you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
2Ti 3:17 that the man of God may be perfected, thoroughly furnished to every good work.
While it is true that free interpretation may result in strange and wrong doctrines, that cannot be avoided. At the same time, there is nothing to say that free interpretation cannot and will not result in the right interpretation and right doctrine. That is also a real possibility. There is really no better alternative. The alternative is to trust the authorities interpretation, whatever they may be.
If reading the Bible was mandatory to our salvation, Jesus Christ would certainly have told the apostles to read, and would have ordered everybody to read it. Christ would also have ordered people to distribute Bibles to everyone. The command would have been: ’Go print out’, instead of saying “go and preach to all people” (Matt 28: 19). He did not say: “Read the Bible”, neither “Distribute Bibles to all people”. Nor did he assert: “Advise everyone to read the Bible”. Why has he not ever said that? Obviously, books – even the holy ones – are meant to be read. Thus, God made the Holy Scriptures to be read. But read by whom? Everyone?
They are good points, but remember the apostles did already know and read the Scriptures. Yes the scriptures are to be read by everyone. They don't have to of course, and can still be saved if they don't, but they are essential to Christian living in this day and age. There are no apostles around it seems, and most of what is preached today is only half the story. So yes the bible is essential.
Of course not. If not everyone is competent enough to read common books, much less are able to read specialized and scientific books, or able to understand the books of the Holy Scriptures, that are much deeper. An unprepared reader, or someone with no convenient knowledge, will either not understand the text, or misunderstand it, and be placed in an even worse state than that one of ignorance. Because not knowing it is not as bad as misunderstanding. For this reason, God said in the Book of Proverbs: “As if a thorn should grow in the hand of a drunkard: so is a parable in the mouth of fools.” (Prov.26: 9).
Perhaps not the deep theologians discussions. But for what is essential to living anyone can understand. For example, Jesus's teachings about loving thy neighbour, and turning the other cheek. These are easily interpretated by even sunday school children. In any case, if you suggest that scripture can be misinterpreted via "free interpretation", then by logic it must also be able to be interpreted correcly by the same method.
