The 22nd commandment of Mosaic Law is to learn the Torah
According to Wikipedia, Jewish Tradition considers the study of the Torah as being more important than several other Mitzvot, including visiting the sick, honoring one's parents, and bringing peace between people.
Where in scripture?
Deuteronomy 6:6-7
Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today.
Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest.
New Testament Reference
2 Timothy 3:16
All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness
Matthew 22:29
Jesus said to them in reply, "You are misled because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God.
Discussion
This is an interesting Mitzvah. Good arguments can be made for both sides of the issue of whether it is binding on Christians. Because of this it took me a few days to write this since I wanted to think this through.
In analyzing the Mitzvah, the first thing that needs we need to discuss is what is meant by “learning” the Torah. Does it mean that we must read and study scripture, or must we just to be aware of the meaning of scripture?
Reading the Bible
Most Christians who stumble upon this site would probably agree that reading the Bible is a very good thing. Also, the Church strongly encourages us read the Bible.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
131 "And such is the force and power of the Word of God that it can serve the Church as her support and vigor, and the children of the Church as strength for their faith, food for the soul, and a pure and lasting fount of spiritual life." Hence "access to Sacred Scripture ought to be open wide to the Christian faithful."
132 "Therefore, the study of the sacred page should be the very soul of sacred theology. The ministry of the Word, too - pastoral preaching, catechetics and all forms of Christian instruction, among which the liturgical homily should hold pride of place - is healthily nourished and thrives in holiness through the Word of Scripture."
133 The Church "forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful . . . to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.
Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Section 25
This sacred Synod earnestly and specifically urges all the Christian faithful...
to learn by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures the excelling knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Note that the Church uses the words “ought,” “should,” “forcefully exhorts,” and “urges.”
None of this suggests that Christians “must” read the Bible.
Many Saints and saintly people were illiterate and were never able to read the Bible. Nonetheless they heard and learnt scripture. Through Tradition (which is how the first generations of Christians learned about Jesus before the writing of the books of the New Testament) and hearing scripture at mass, they learned about Jesus and his teaching.
Conclusion
Christians are not required to read the Bible
Knowing the Bible
The Mitzvah requires Jews to learn scripture. Though reading is the best way to learn scripture, we just discussed that scripture can be taught and learned orally.
In a prior post, we discussed a Mitzvah requiring us to emulate God. Clearly, it is difficult to emulate God if we don’t know or understand God. Ignorance of the Law is no excuse (sorry – I couldn’t resist that) except in the case of diminished mental capacity.
Not knowing the Bible can lead us to sin.
Early Church Fathers
Ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ
Parents have a responsibility to catechize their children (which is also consistent with a plain-reading of Deuteronomy 6:6-7). As an illustration of the importance of this, Fr. John Corapi tells a story of Padre Pio. While Padre Pio was hearing confessions and a woman whom he had never met entered the confessional. In an instant he became angry and chased her out of the confessional. Several hours later the woman returned and asked Padre Pio why he was so angry.
He said, “I was angry because I had a vision of your two children in hell. …and they are there because of your permissiveness.”
After that he heard her confession.
Mark 9:42
Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe (in me) to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.
Any person who has children is at risk of grave sin if they do not know scripture. However, until they actually act or fail to act in catechizing their children, the sin has not yet been committed. Again, not knowing the Bible us can lead to sin, but is it a sin itself? For instance, what if a person doesn’t have children?
It is clear that it is virtually inevitable for a person who does not know the Bible to fall into sin. However it seems that neither scripture nor Tradition specifically require us to know the Bible. Nowhere is it said that not knowing the Bible is a sin. Sin is what occurs as an immediate consequence of not knowing the Bible.
Conclusion
Not Binding on Christians
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