Because the Bible Says So

This is a very, very common rationale behind many controversial subjects Christians support. However, while the Bible is true in a moral and allegorical sense, those who use it as their sole justification are just as wrong as those who don't believe.

I'll start the body of this article with a quote from Revelation 3:16: "But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!" Those who simply quote the Bible epitomize this. While the Bible is correct, we are called as Catholics to transcend petty arguments about quoting the Bible as the whole justification for a doctrine. Rather, it is important for us to understand and analyze why the Bible says what it does. By saying "the Bible says so" as our go to backup against arguments by those who do not believe, we fail to recognize our obligation to understand the Bible. While it is true that the Bible is infallible, and moral truths expressed in it are consistent with the will of God, that doesn't make it suitable as an argument to make. I am not saying it is an insufficient argument. Rather, I am saying that those who use it as their first go to justification have insufficient knowledge of their own faith. Those who merely quote the Bible, not knowing why the Bible says what it says, and not knowing God's reasoning for his morals, are lukewarm in their faith because they refuse to invest their time into it.

So to sum this post up, don't automatically quote the Bible when confronted about the Church's controversial teachings. Rather, find a reason why it is true via reflection and personal reasoning. By reaching the objective truth of the BIble through your own efforts, you know what the Bible means and can analyze it much better than if you merely memorize a few words about it. So, to all of you that believe the Bible is sufficient as an argument for controversial teachings, you are correct in that regard. However, you are wrong to think it is okay under God to simply memorize words and not understand their meaning as a Catholic.