How Do Catholics Read the Bible? - (Come & See) by Sj (Paperback)

About the Book

Accessibly written, How Do Catholics Read the Bible? blends biblical scholarship with compelling personal anecdotes to equip readers with the tools they need to more fully engage Scripture and the Catholic tradition. Leading Scripture scholar Daniel Harringon, S.J. offers chapters on how the Catholic canon came to be, what the Church teaches about the Bible, appropriate methods for analyzing Scripture passages, and how to incorporate the Bible into everyday life. This book is ideal for individual or group use in parishes and classrooms. Each chapter concludes with questions for reflection and recommendations for further reading.

Book Synopsis

Do Catholics really read the Bible? If so, how do they read it and is there anything unique about their approach? What role does the Bible play in Catholic life, teaching, and culture? As a leading Scripture scholar who also teaches students and preaches to everyday people, Fr. Daniel Harrington, S.J., has made it his life's mission to answer these and many related questions about the Bible and its relationship to Catholic life. Accessibly written, How Do Catholics Read the Bible? blends biblical scholarship with compelling personal anecdotes to equip readers with the tools they need to more fully engage Scripture and the Catholic tradition. With chapters on how the Catholic canon came to be, what the Church teaches about the Bible, appropriate methods for analyzing Scripture passages, and how to incorporate the Bible into everyday life, this book is ideal for individual or group use in parishes and classrooms. Each chapter concludes with questions for reflection and recommendations for further reading.

Review Quotes

"A splendid companion to the Bible. A sure guide through issues that need to be understood if the reader is to appreciate how the Bible is 'the Word of God in human language.'" --Emil A. Wcela, Auxiliary Bishop, Diocese of Rockville Centre and past President, Catholic Biblical Association

"Dan Harrington has the uncanny ability to make the complex, understandable and the profound, accessible to ordinary readers. In this volume, he brings together wise reflections on methods of interpreting Scripture today with examples from his own experience of interpreting Scripture for parish communities. How do Catholics Read the Bible is a reliable guide for every Catholic who has waited for a straightforward and clearly written introduction to reading the Bible in the Church today." --Barbara E. Bowe, R.S.C.J., Professor of Biblical Studies, Catholic Theological Union

"A superb synthesis of Catholic views on biblical interpretation, written by one of the church's best practitioners." --The Bible Today

"This volume, both concise and informative, constitutes a significant contribution to that pedogogical effort and is a splendid gift to general readers....In sum, both church and academy can welcome this book as a valuable vade mecum in biblical studies, as much for the informed access it provides to the thought of others as for Harrington's own exegesis." --Mark Kiley, April 2008, H-Net: Humanities and Social Science Reviews Online

"This little volume is both interesting and enlightening....This book gives good insight to Roman Catholic interpretation." --James R. Walker Ph.D, Director of Web-Based Education and Associate Professor, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

"Harrington's book is a wonderfully clear, balanced, and accessible presentation of how the Catholic Church at its best understands and uses the Bible. This book should prove very helpful for a wide audience of Catholics and others who are interested in understanding the Bible in its historical contexts and, even more importantly, in their daily lives and in the life of the Church today. The book's style is always user-friendly. Harrington explains unfamiliar terms clearly and gives helpful examples of what he means. The book obviously reflects Harrington's thirty years of teaching, preaching, and praying over the biblical text." --Thomas H. Tobin, S.J., Professor of Theology, Loyola University Chicago

About the Author

Daniel J. Harrington, SJ (1940-2014), was a well-known expert on the Bible, a Jesuit priest, and professor of New Testament at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. His other books with Sheed & Ward include Who is Jesus? Why is He Important?, Jesus and Virtue Ethics, and The Church According to the New Testament.