1Should anyone make a mistake in a psalm, responsory, refrain or reading, he must make satisfaction there before all...I get what Benedict is trying to do, that he is trying to inculcate a respect for the Word of God. And I'm sure, if you grew up in church, that you can identify. For the longest time, as a teenager, I couldn't highlight my bible. And I highlight the hell out of stuff. But I couldn't bring myself to mark in my bible.
And we even call it the Holy Bible.
(To be sure, the Holy Bible comes in a lot of weird shapes and sizes nowadays. From magazine bibles to metal box bibles to camouflage bibles to chunky bibles.)
The big worry in revering the bible is that it tempts one into bibliolatry, turning the bible into an object of worship or a magical artifact. To fight this temptation you have to keep coming back to the words of Jesus:
John 5.39 (NLT)
"You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!"
