Saint Jerome said “To be ignorant of Scripture is to be ignorant of Christ.” Consequently, Catholics must be literate in Sacred Scripture if they are to know their faith and defend their faith.

However, Catholics must be very careful when they study the Scriptures because there are two dangerous pitfalls. The first is the error of reading Sacred Scripture apart from the Fathers and Popes of the Catholic Church. As Catholics, we are not allowed to say, “What this passage means to me is…”

The second problem is that there are many terrible Bible translations out there. Just little shifts in language here and there can produce huge theological errors. For example, the some Protestant “translations” refer to “the flesh” or “concupiscence” in Romans 6-7 as our “sin nature.” (If you want to know why a proper understanding of concupiscence is fundamental to Catholic theology, read this: Original Sin and Concupiscence in Romans 6-7).

Below are a few Bible helps for Catholics. Haydock’s Bible commentary should be the standby commentary. After that, go to Cornelius a Lapide. I’ve added these to the Canterbury Tales “sidebar” on the right for your easy access in the future.

Bible Study Helps for Catholics