Bible Study

This happens to be National Bible Week so I thought I’d share some thoughts on my experience in studying the bible. I go to a Bible Study at the Falmouth Hospital every Thursday during lunch for an hour. I enjoy going to it but it often lasts too long and I don’t like taking time away from visiting the patients. The group has grown to have an average of twelve people attending. They consist of doctors, nurses, chaplains, and others from outside the hospital who have been invited to attend. It was started and run by one of the surgeons who happens to be a very traditional Protestant (whatever that means). Since one normally thinks that Catholics don’t read the bible you would think most of the people would be Protestant, but actually at over half of them are Catholic which I think is interesting.

I just read an article on Crux called “Why don’t Catholics read the Bible?” In it, he claims that is a fallacy but Protestants and Catholics do use the bible in different ways. Evangelicals use the bible for doctrine, moral teaching and inspiration. Catholics use it more as a book to worship with. He says “You can think of it this way: Evangelicals use the bible as a rule book and Catholics use it as a prayer book.” No matter how you use the bible it is important to study it.  St. Jerome said “Ignorance if the Scriptures is indeed ignorance of Christ.”



When I was young, like in grade school, I used to enjoy looking at the pictures we had in our bible although I didn’t really read any scripture. It wasn’t until I went to college that I started to be more interested in reading the bible. After all, I was in pre-divinity wanting to become a priest, although I still didn’t read it very much. I did, however buy the most recently translated bible called the Jerusalem Bible. I also got the Jerome Biblical Commentary which is still one of the best biblical reference sources available (one available in the Christ the King library). It wasn’t until we went on a Marriage Encounter in 1976 that I really started getting into the bible. I especially enjoyed reading the Gospel of John and meditating on individual verses and what they meant to me. I especially like Chapter 15 where it talks about the vine and the branches. Verse 15:16 says “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit.” That verse had a large affect on my life.



In 1983 we went on a Cursillo and that reinforced my interest in studying the bible. I subscribe to a monthly periodical called God’s Word Today. Each month it had daily readings from a book of the bible with commentary explaining the passages. I read that every morning for over six years. During that time I estimate I read the Gospels six times, the other New Testament reading three times each, and each book of the Old Testament 2 times. It was an excellent guided approach to getting to know scripture.

During my formation for the diaconate and since, I have used a couple of other sources that are very useful. One is a program called “Quick Verse” that includes 16 different translations of the bible and many commentaries and concordances. It is easy to search and cross reference verses and source words although it does cost money. Another resource which is free is called BibleGateway which has several hundred translations, 53 of which are in English. My favorites are The New International Version (NIV), The Message (MSG) by Peterson (a fun translation) and The Living Bible (TLB) (an easy reading version). BibleGateway also has several reference materials and commentaries. There are many other resources available also like the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) (for daily readings) and “The Text This Week” which has aids for the Sunday readings.

As you can see, most of my study over the years was done on my own without a bible study group. Everyone has their own preference for how they read/study the bible. It may be on your own or with a group of people. A Bible Study group can be very helpful if one does not have the discipline to have a regiment of their own. Whatever the case, it might be a good time to immerse yourself more into the bible during this National Bible Week.

Deacon Greg Beckel