The Bible is a Catholic Book by Jimmy Akin
I do read the Bible, and in my own language. Further, at Catholic Masses, the Bible is read in the local language. Nothing is hidden.
However, simply reading the Bible does not ensure proper understanding of it, as St. Peter says of Paul’s letters. Scripture certainly does not support a Protestant interpretation of Christianity.
In your comment, you seem to be assuming the Protestant doctrine of “Scripture Alone”, which was unheard of before the Reformers 500 years ago. Indeed, while the Bible does say that it is inspired by God and useful, and I revere it as the inerrant Word of God, nowhere does it claim to be the sole authority in matters of religion. Indeed, 2 Thessalonians 2:15 says otherwise, as God through Paul treats his word of mouth preaching of the faith as equal to Scripture. Now, Scripture, as the direct Word of God, does have a special honor and priority, but the Traditions handed down are not by Scripture alone.
After all, the New Testament was not written when the apostles were preaching the Christian faith in those early decades. They handed down Christ’s teaching by word of mouth. That remains the case today, as the Bishops of the Catholic Church are the direct successors to the Apostles - they have apostolic succession in an unbroken line.
Further, even if Scripture did claim to be the sole authority, it would not solve the question of which books belong in the Bible. Some books circulating originally were decided to not be Scripture early on. The Bible doesn’t tell us which books belong. That requires an outside objective authority - like the Catholic Church, relying on Sacred Tradition, such as that which Paul preached. Indeed, Martin Luther and later Protestants removed seven books from the Old Testament on their own authority, which had been treated as Scripture since the Bible was compiled.
Finally, even if it did tell us which books belonged, the Bible gives us no way to tell apart dogma, which Christians must agree on, from opinion. Is the Eucharist Jesus Christ Himself, or merely a symbol? Protestant reformer John Calvin thought that it was required for salvation to agree on this matter. A modern Baptist may think it to be non-essential. Who is right? The Bible doesn’t say.
In short, the Bible was written in the Catholic Church with that sacred Tradition - the oral passing on of Christ’s teachings - in mind, and that Sacred Tradition is the key to interpreting Scripture correctly. Further, the Bible was compiled by the Catholic Church in the 300’s, deciding, by the Holy Spirit, which books were Scripture, and which were not. The Bible is a Catholic book.
>Why don’t Catholics use KJV?
We can use it. There is no prohibition to use that translation.
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>Is it recognized as corrupt?
No, perhaps not the best translation, though, but not the worst either.
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>What is the right bible and why?
There isn't. All translations lose something in translations and some more than others.
Most (Catholic) scholars use NSRV, which is a pretty decent translation.
In general, unless they are reading the original texts in greek and hebrew, is to read different translations and even better to read bible commentaries.
That is why the Church recommends against reading the bible carelessly. There is a lot to be aware of what goes on in some passages that is not entirely obvious to us in the XXI century.
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>I’m asking this cause a protestant friend of mine keeps asking why the KJV is the only bible that hasn’t been changed
Then ask him why is that good?
What does it even mean "changed". The KJV is not the original text. It's a TRANSLATION.
Scholars always study the bible to improve the translation to convey the meaning of the human authors of the bible as they meant it (and thus understand also God's message).
That's why many catholic scholars use the NEW standard REVISED version... because it is an improvement over the old version.
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>because “God is not the author of confusion” and that since the KJV is the only unchanged bible, it is the one preserved by God
Where is the proof that "it is the one preserved by God"
You can tell him it makes more sense that Catholic bibles are the best, because God entrusted his word to the Church and the bible emerged from the Catholic Church.
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For more detail read the excellent book by Jimmy Akin: The Bible is a Catholic Book.
Again, the issue you seem to have is by this arbitrary distinction between Jesus, and his Church. He revealed himself to the apostles who then headed his church so that be may be continually revealed by the faithful by the practice of the sacraments.
And Jesus didn't create the Bible. He created the Church. The Church created the Bible.
Also, the Church offers Jesus's body to the faithful as he commanded. Jesus is litterally present in every Church in the world. You enter the Church, and you stand in his litteral presence.
Salvation is ongoing. That's why Paul talks about how there are those who were in the Church and fell away. Great discussion between someone of your point of view and a Catholic is here:
And here are some great reasons to understand what the Church really is, and which faith must be the true faith:
https://www.amazon.com/Bible-Catholic-Book-Jimmy-Akin/dp/168357141X
That book helped me quite a bit a while back. Anyways, God bless.
Experience of evil convinced me of God's reality emotionally speaking. The presence of the cross, the reality of prayer, and the experience of mass solidified in me the truth of the Church from there.
As for the intellectual side, the Contemporary Thomistic arguments for God's existence, as formulated by thinkers like Ed Feser, Fr. Norris Clarke, or Pat Flynn, made God's existence logically unavoidable for me. A free resource is linked below:
(Pat's formulation of contingency)
Let me know if you have any questions on that front.
Further, Christianity can be understood historically. A great resource on that is below, by Jimmy Akin:
But men like William Lane Craig have done excellent work defending the arguments for Christianity based on historical evidence.
And as for Catholicism as the true Church that God established to last with us until the end of the age, I would suggest this book (which is also an audio book):
https://www.amazon.com/Bible-Catholic-Book-Jimmy-Akin/dp/168357141X
If you take Christianity seriously in a historical sense, then Catholicism makes the most sense in view of many practical realities. (They assembled the Bible. They created the creeds. Relying on scripture alone makes little sense when all of humanity was illiterate for the most part until about 400 years ago, and books were about as rare as castles.)
Anyways, I'm happy to answer any questions you might have on that front.
Much love, and good luck on your discovery of God and your own life by that light.
That’s actually the title of a great book on how the Bible canon was decided on.
https://www.amazon.com/Bible-Catholic-Book-Jimmy-Akin/dp/168357141X
You may be interested in reading this book, entitled The Bible is a Catholic Book by Jimmy Akin.