Short answer: No. The Catholic Church does not officially discourage Bible reading, and since the Second Vatican Council it has openly urged Catholics to read Scripture. What it does insist on is that the Bible be read within the Church's tradition and under the teaching authority of the Magisterium, which is where Protestants and Catholics disagree.
In This Article
- Does The Catholic Church Discourage Bible Reading?
- Why Does The Church Stress Guided Interpretation?
- How Do Catholics Encounter Scripture At Mass?
- Why Is Matthew 17:21 Missing From Many Bibles?
- Why Do Catholics Not Say The Last Line Of The Lord's Prayer?
- Which Bible Do Catholics Use?
- Key Bible Verses About Reading And Understanding Scripture
The charge that Catholics are kept from the Bible is an old one, and it is not made up of nothing. In some periods, church authorities did restrict unauthorized translations into everyday languages. But what the Church teaches today is different from the picture many evangelicals grew up with, and if we are going to talk about it honestly we should describe it accurately.
I am a Protestant pastor, so I will tell you where I differ with Catholic teaching. I will also try to state what the Catholic Church actually holds, in its own terms. This article covers why the claim exists, what Catholics do with Scripture, and a few common questions that come up along the way.
Does The Catholic Church Discourage Bible Reading?
Officially, no. The Second Vatican Council's constitution on divine revelation, Dei Verbum, teaches that access to Scripture should be made easy for all the Christian faithful and encourages the reading of the Bible as part of prayer. Catholic bishops and publishers produce Bibles and study guides for ordinary readers, and many Catholic parishes run Bible studies. If you pick up a Catholic family Bible today you will find it comes with the Church's blessing, and often with notes to help the reader.
So where does the reputation come from? Partly from history. During the Middle Ages and the Reformation, church authorities were suspicious of private vernacular translations, in part because some were linked to movements the Church viewed as heretical. That fear shaped the way many people remember the issue. Partly it comes from experience too: many Catholics, especially those who were never taught to study the Bible, simply do not read it regularly. That is a problem of formation, not an official ban. Catholic leaders themselves speak of the need to address biblical illiteracy among their own members, and many parishes are working on it.
Why Does The Church Stress Guided Interpretation?
The Catholic position is that Scripture is God's word but that it was given to the Church, and the Church has authority to interpret it. The teaching office is called the Magisterium, made up of the Pope and the bishops in communion with him. Catholics cite verses like this one:
Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things.
2 Peter 1:20 (NIV)
The worry is that without a shared authority, every reader becomes his own final judge and the result is endless division. The Bible is a library of different genres, written in ancient languages and settings, and it is not always easy to read. The Ethiopian official in the book of Acts admitted as much:
"Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked. "How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?"
Acts 8:30-31 (NIV)
Here I would say two things. First, I agree that the Bible needs to be read carefully, with attention to context, and that lone-wolf interpretation can lead people badly astray. That is the reason I wrote How To Understand The Bible. We all read better with teachers and with the wider church. Second, as an evangelical I hold that Scripture itself, not a church office, is the final authority, and that ordinary believers can read it and test everything against it. The Bereans are my model:
Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
Acts 17:11 (NIV)
That is the real difference. Catholics say Scripture is interpreted authoritatively through the Church. Protestants say Scripture is the highest authority and is open to every believer. Both sides can say sincerely that they honor the Bible. We simply disagree about who has the last word. You can see how Paul described the Bible's usefulness here:
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV)
Proverbs 3:5-6 is also sometimes brought into this conversation: we are told to trust the Lord and not to lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). It is a call to humility, and it applies to every reader of every tradition.
How Do Catholics Encounter Scripture At Mass?
More than many Protestants realize. At a typical Sunday Mass, Catholics hear a reading from the Old Testament, sing or recite a Psalm, hear a reading from the Epistles, and then stand for a Gospel reading. The structure is built to center the service on Christ as revealed in the Gospels. A good part of the prayers and responses in the Mass also come straight from Scripture.
The Church uses a three-year cycle of Sunday Scripture readings (called Years A, B and C), so over time a Catholic who attends faithfully hears a large portion of the Bible read aloud, with weekday Masses adding more. For many Catholics, then, Scripture is heard and prayed more than it is studied. Their engagement often centers on meditation and worship (Psalm 119:48) rather than on gathering information. I would still encourage every Catholic friend to read the whole Bible at home, as I encourage every Protestant. See How To Read The Bible and Where To Start Reading The Bible if you want a place to begin.
Why Is Matthew 17:21 Missing From Many Bibles?
This question comes up often, and it has nothing to do with Catholic control of Scripture. Verse 21 of Matthew 17, which in older translations speaks of this kind of demon going out only by prayer and fasting, is left out of the text in the NIV and many modern Bibles. The reason is manuscript evidence: the oldest and best Greek manuscripts do not contain it, and scholars think it was added later by copyists, probably from the parallel account in Mark 9:29. It does not remove any teaching from the Bible, since the same words are in Mark. Most modern Bibles, whether Catholic or Protestant, handle it that way and note it in a footnote. If you are curious about how texts have been passed down, read How Many Times Has The Bible Been Rewritten?.
Why Do Catholics Not Say The Last Line Of The Lord's Prayer?
At Mass, the Catholic version of the Our Father stops at "deliver us from evil." The familiar ending, "For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory," is missing from Matthew 6 in the earliest manuscripts, so it is not part of the prayer as most scholars read the original text. It did circulate early in the church as a doxology. In the Catholic Mass the priest prays a short prayer after the Our Father, and then the people say the doxology together, so the words are present in the liturgy, just placed after the prayer. Protestants usually add the line directly. Neither practice is a sign that one group does not love Scripture.
One more word of fairness. Protestants sometimes point to history and conclude the Catholic Church wants its people ignorant of Scripture. I do not think that is a fair summary of the Church today. Catholic homes, schools and monasteries preserved and copied the Bible for centuries, and Catholic scholars have produced serious work on it. We can disagree sharply about authority and tradition while recognizing that Catholics hold the Bible to be the inspired word of God, as we do.
Which Bible Do Catholics Use?
Catholic Bibles include several books, often called the deuterocanonical books, that most Protestant Bibles do not contain. I explain that in What Bible Do Catholics Use?. For Protestants, this difference is one more reason to read carefully and compare, as the Bereans did.
Key Bible Verses About Reading And Understanding Scripture
- 2 Timothy 3:16: all Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching and training.
- Psalm 119:105: God's word lights the path.
- Acts 17:11: the Bereans examined the Scriptures daily.
- Acts 8:30-31: the Ethiopian needed someone to explain what he read.
- 2 Peter 1:20: Scripture is not a matter of private interpretation.
- Proverbs 3:5-6: trust the Lord and do not rely only on your own understanding.
- Psalm 119:48: meditating on God's commands.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do Catholics not say the last line of the Lord's prayer?
The ending about the kingdom, the power and the glory is not found in the earliest manuscripts of Matthew 6, so the Catholic version of the prayer stops at deliver us from evil. The words are still prayed at Mass as a separate doxology after a short priestly prayer.
Why is Matthew 17:21 removed from Bibles?
The oldest Greek manuscripts do not include it, and scholars think later copyists added it from the parallel passage in Mark 9:29. Most modern translations leave it out of the main text and mention it in a footnote.
Can Catholics read the Bible on their own?
Yes. The Catholic Church encourages private Bible reading and prayer, and teaches that Scripture should be easy to get for all the faithful. It simply asks that Scripture be understood in harmony with the Church's tradition and teaching.
What is the main difference between Catholics and Protestants on Scripture?
Catholics hold that the Bible is interpreted authoritatively by the Church's Magisterium, together with Tradition. Evangelical Protestants hold that Scripture alone is the final authority and that every believer may read and test teaching by it. See What Bible Do Catholics Use? for another difference.
Does the Bible tell us to read it for ourselves?
Yes. Scripture commends those who examine it daily, as the Bereans did in Acts 17:11, and calls God's word a lamp for our feet in Psalm 119:105. See How To Understand The Bible for practical help.
