{"id":244,"date":"2026-01-07T14:41:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T19:41:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kateri.veym.ca\/emmaus01\/2023\/06\/30\/ignorance-of-scripture-is-ignorance-of-christ-st-jerome\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T14:53:06","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T18:53:06","slug":"ignorance-of-scripture-is-ignorance-of-christ-st-jerome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kateri.veym.ca\/emmaus01\/2026\/01\/07\/ignorance-of-scripture-is-ignorance-of-christ-st-jerome\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIgnorance of Scripture is Ignorance of Christ\u201d -St Jerome"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

St. Jerome’s compact phrase carries a profound claim: Christ is truly encountered through Sacred Scripture. Without a real, formative knowledge of the Bible, our understanding of Christ will be shallow or distorted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scripture as Christ’s Own Word<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Second Vatican Council teaches that Sacred Scripture is inspired and therefore “really the word of God.” Because of this, the Council describes the study of the sacred page as “the soul of sacred theology” \u2014 the wellspring from which preaching and catechesis draw their life. Scripture is not merely a book that teaches about<\/em> Christ; it is one of the primary ways God meets us with Christ’s own truth. As the Council beautifully puts it, in Scripture “the Father who is in heaven meets His children with great love and speaks with them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Unified Plan with Christ at the Center<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scripture is not a disconnected library of ancient texts. Drawing on an ancient tradition, the Catechism expresses it this way: “All divine Scripture speaks of Christ, and all divine Scripture is fulfilled in Christ.” God’s plan is one, and Christ is its center and heart. This is why John Paul II could put it so directly: Christians should return to the Bible because the whole Bible speaks of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not “Bible Alone”: Scripture and Tradition Together<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Catholic teaching is clear that Scripture is never encountered in isolation \u2014 it lives within the life of the Church. Dei Verbum<\/em> teaches that Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture together form one sacred deposit of the Word of God, and that the Church’s teaching office holds the task of authentically interpreting that Word. Jerome’s phrase, then, should never be read as “the Bible is enough by itself” or “private reading is automatically sufficient.” Scripture is indispensable \u2014 and the Church is the faithful guide to reading it well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Jerome and the Council Actually Call Us To<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dei Verbum<\/em> applies Jerome’s insight directly to the life of every believer: Christians should cultivate Scripture through frequent reading, and that reading should be accompanied by prayer, so that “God and man may talk together.” The goal is not information but encounter \u2014 meeting Christ by listening to God’s Word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What “Ignorance” Really Means<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Ignorance” here means more than never having opened a Bible. It points to a lack of meaningful, living contact with God’s Word \u2014 a condition in which faith remains superficial and Christ is never truly known. By contrast, when Scripture is read prayerfully and within the Church’s interpretation, it becomes what the Council calls the strength of faith and food of the soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short: Christ is not known apart from His Word. Sacred Scripture is one of the Church’s primary tables where we meet Christ Himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ” St. Jerome’s compact phrase carries a profound claim: Christ is truly encountered through Sacred Scripture. Without a real, formative knowledge of the Bible, our understanding of Christ will be shallow or distorted. Scripture as Christ’s Own Word The Second Vatican Council teaches that Sacred Scripture is inspired and … Read more\u201cIgnorance of Scripture is Ignorance of Christ\u201d -St Jerome<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kateri.veym.ca\/emmaus01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kateri.veym.ca\/emmaus01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kateri.veym.ca\/emmaus01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kateri.veym.ca\/emmaus01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kateri.veym.ca\/emmaus01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/kateri.veym.ca\/emmaus01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":936,"href":"https:\/\/kateri.veym.ca\/emmaus01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244\/revisions\/936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kateri.veym.ca\/emmaus01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kateri.veym.ca\/emmaus01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kateri.veym.ca\/emmaus01\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}