Holy Scripture:

Praise / Benefits of Scripture

"But you, remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it, and that from infancy you have known (the) sacred scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work." (St. Paul, 2 Tm. 3:14-17)

"Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart." (St. Paul, Heb. 4:12)

"Sacred Scripture is set up as a kind of lantern for us in the night of this life." (Pope St. Gregory I the Great, Doctor of the Church, circa 590 A.D.)

"The music of the gospel leads us home." (Faber)

"The study of the inspired Scripture is the chief way of finding our duty." (St. Basil the Great, Doctor of the Church)

"The world would have peace if only the men of politics would follow the Gospels." (St. Bridget of Sweden)

"Thanks be to the Gospel, by means of which we also, who did not see Christ when He came into this world, seem to be with Him when we read His deeds." (St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church)

"[F]rom the Bible's pages we learn spiritual perfection." (Pope Benedict XV, "Spiritus Paraclitus", 1920)

"[T]he Gospel is a rudder to steer our way through life, and helps us to reach the harbor of salvation." (St. Cyprian)

"Love the science of the Scriptures and thou shalt have no love for carnal vice." (St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church)

"Learn the Heart of God in the words of God, that you may long more ardently for things eternal." (Pope St. Gregory the Great, Doctor of the Church)

"[I]t is well to recall how, from the beginning of Christianity, all who have been renowned for holiness of life and sacred learning have given their deep and constant attention to Holy Scripture." (Pope Leo XIII, "Providentissimus Deus", 1893)

"If aught could sustain and support a wise man in this life or help him to preserve his equanimity amid the conflicts of the world, it is, I reckon, meditation on and knowledge of the Bible." (St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church)

"The Bible is the most perfect of all books, the most certain of all sciences, the most august, the most effectual, the most wise, the most useful, the most solid, the most necessary, the most fundamental and elevated." (Lapide)

"[W]hat other life can there be without knowledge of the Bible wherein Christ, the life of them that believe, is set before us?" (Pope Benedict XV, "Spiritus Paraclitus", 1920)

"[T]here is naught in the Gospels which does not shine and illumine the world by its splendor, so that even things that seem trifling and unimportant shine with the majesty of the Holy Spirit." (St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church)

"To live amidst these things, to meditate these things, to know nothing else, to seek nothing else, does it not seem to you already here below a foretaste of the heavenly kingdom? (St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church.)

"When you are really instructed in the Divine Scriptures, and have realized that its laws and testimonies are the bonds of truth, then you can contend with adversaries; then you will fetter them and lead them bound into captivity; then of the foes you have made captive you will make freemen of God." (St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church)

"Love the Bible and wisdom will love you; love it and it will preserve you; honor it and it will embrace you; these are the jewels which you should wear on your breast and in your ears." (St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church)

"Just as at sea, those who are carried away from the direction of the harbor bring themselves back on course by a clear sign, so Scripture may guide those adrift on the sea of life back into the harbor of the divine will." (St. Gregory of Nyssa)

Tell me whether you know of anything more sacred than this sacred mystery, anything more delightful than the pleasure found herein? What food, what honey could be sweeter than to learn of God's Providence, to enter into His shrine and look into the mind of the Creator, to listen to the Lord's words at which the wise of this world laugh, but which really are full of spiritual teaching? Others may have their wealth, may drink out of jeweled cups, be clad in silks, enjoy popular applause, find it impossible to exhaust their wealth by dissipating it in pleasures of all kinds; but our delight is to meditate on the Law of the Lord day and night, to knock at His door when shut, to receive our food from the Trinity of Persons, and, under the guidance of the Lord, trample under foot the swelling tumults of this world. (St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church)

"To this Our most merciful Redeemer we must therefore bring all back by every means in our power; for He is the divine consoler of the afflicted; He it is Who teaches all, whether they be invested with public authority or are bound in duty to obey and submit, true honesty, absolute justice and generous charity; it is He in fine, and He alone, Who can be the firm foundation and support of peace and tranquility: 'For other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid: which is Christ Jesus.' This author of salvation, Christ, will men more fully know, more ardently love and faithfully imitate in proportion as they are more assiduously urged to know and meditate the Sacred Letters, especially the New Testament, for, as St. Jerome the Doctor of Stridon says: 'To ignore the Scripture is to ignore Christ'; and again: 'If there is anything in this life which sustains a wise man and induces him to maintain his serenity amidst the tribulations and adversities of the world, it is in the first place, I consider, the meditation and knowledge of the Scriptures.'" (Pope Pius XII, Divino Afflante Spiritu)

"The best guide you can find to the correct path is the serious study of the Bible. There we can find rules for the conduct of our life and, in the lives of great figures, living images of a life with God whose actions we are encouraged to copy. Each person can concentrate on the area where they feel themselves to be lacking and find, as in a hospital, a cure for their particular trouble." (St. Basil the Great, Doctor of the Church)

"And none can fail to see what profit and sweet tranquillity must result in well-disposed souls from such devout reading of the Bible. Whosoever comes to it in piety, faith and humility, and with determination to make progress in it, will assuredly find therein and will eat the 'Bread that cometh down from heaven' (Jn. 6:33); he will, in his own person, experience the truth of David's words: 'The hidden and uncertain things of Thy Wisdom Thou hast made manifest to me!' (Ps. 50:8), for this table of the 'Divine Word' does really 'contain holy teaching, teach the true faith, and lead us unfalteringly beyond the veil into the Holy of Holies.'" (Pope Benedict XV, "Spiritus Paraclitus", 1920)

"For the mode in which Holy Scripture is put together, is one accessible to all, but thoroughly entered into by few. The things it shows openly, it does as a familiar friend without guile speaking to the heart of the unlearned, as the learned. The things it veils in mysteries, it does not deck out in lofty speech, to which a slow and unlearned soul would not dare to approach, as a poor man would not to a rich; but in lowly phrase it invites all, whom it not only feeds with plain truth, but exercises in hidden knowledge; for it has matter of both. But that its plain things might not be despised, these very same things it again withholds, being withheld they become as new; and thus become new they are again pleasingly expressed. Thus all tempers have here what is meet for them; the bad are corrected, the weak are strengthened, the strong are gratified." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church)

"Among the reasons for which the Holy Scripture is so worthy of commendation - in addition to its own excellence and to the homage which we owe to God's Word - the chief of all is, the innumerable benefits of which it is the source; according to the infallible testimony of the Holy Ghost Himself, who says: 'All Scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, that the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work.' That such was the purpose of God in giving the Scripture of men is shown by the example of Christ our Lord and of His Apostles. For He Himself Who 'obtained authority by miracles, merited belief by authority, and by belief drew to Himself the multitude' was accustomed in the exercise of His Divine Mission, to appeal to the Scriptures. He uses them at times to prove that He is sent by God, and is God Himself. From them He cites instructions for His disciples and confirmation of His doctrine. He vindicates them from the calumnies of objectors; he quotes them against Sadducees and Pharisees, and retorts from them upon Satan himself when he dares to tempt Him. At the close of His life His utterances are from Holy Scripture, and it is the Scripture that He expounds to His disciples after His resurrection, until He ascends to the glory of His Father." (Pope Leo XIII, "Providentissimus Deus", 1893)

Also See: Encouragement to Read Scripture | Importance of Scripture | Learning From Holy Scripture | Proper Interpretation of Scripture

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