A question about the New Catholic Bible

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Renoir911

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Hello. I’m new here and came here searching for an answer.
I’m Catholic and have read my Bible plus New International version and other Christian Bibles.
I have two copies of the new revised standard version of the Catholic Youth Bible that I was going to give to my daughters. However I came across something that I need an answer to before I pass on a book or books that may contain serious errors.

If you have this book, I am referring to page 84 where the publisher added a large print page of “his version” of the 10 commandments…I think. I don’t know.
What I do know is that it does not make mention of the commandment given by God Not to worship idols and not to make graven images of anything in heaven. This commandment is omitted from that list and as a Bible student, I need to know why ? Also, the editor or publisher combines commandment 9&10 together.

My question is why did they do this given the fact that the commandments are clearly found in the pages (in small print) in Exodus and elsewhere in this book ? Why add a large print page that catches the eye and fails to mention the 10 commandments as given by God ? Why did they feel the need to create their own version of the 10 commandments in this book ? I have not seen the newly revised version of the Catholic Youth Bible so not sure if that page still appears there or not.

I’m a serious believer and accept what God has said and since He said not to add or remove any word, I need to know why this Catholic Youth Bible has had a commandment removed. Anyone know ? Haven’t seen this in any other Bible. My wife completed a Catholic seminary program and even learne Greek to get to the bottom of things and is amazed to see this page ( page 84 ) in the Catholic Youth Bible because it is not right.

Anyway, I look forward to an educated and serious response to this study.
Thank you and may the Peace only the Lord can provide be with you all now and always.

RM
 
This is a very common question. The short answer is that if you actually read the Ten Commandments, there’s some flexibility in how they can be grouped together. Catholics and Lutherans divide the list differently from other Protestants and the Orthodox, who in turn, divide it differently than the Jews. In the end though, it’s the EXACT SAME TEXT. The pronunciation against the worship of idols is there in the Catholic version of the list, make no mistake. This question is so common, in fact, that there are several very detailed FAQ’s about it. Here are the links:

cin.org/users/james/files/numberng.htm
 
If you are a Bible student, then you know that the Ten Commandments are not explicitly differentiated in the Bible text. Different Christian traditions divide the Bible text differently into Ten Commandments.

This is how Catholic’s divide the Bible text to get Ten Commandments:
313. Q. Which are the Commandments of God?
A. The Commandments of God are these ten.
  1. I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt not have strange gods before Me. Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them.
  2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
  3. Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day.
  4. Honor thy father and thy mother.
  5. Thou shalt not kill.
  6. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
  7. Thou shalt not steal.
  8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
  9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.
  10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods. (Baltimore Catechism)
    The rather long First Commandment is often summarized for catechetical purposes, for ease of memorization, to simply: ‘I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have no strange gods before me’ or something similar. I suspect that the publisher of your new Bible has done this very thing.
 
Thank you for your response. I followed the link you included and read through the reasoning for “memorizing the commandments easier”. I still have a problem with the last paragraph of the link. I’m pasting it below:

“In short, there is simply no basis whatsoever to the charge that the Church is trying to “hide” or “remove” any of the Ten Commandments. Rather, the Church is trying to make them easier to memorize and thus help people learn and internalize them better. One may well ask in which communion an average, catechized person is more likely to know the Ten Commandments by heart. Is a catechized Catholic more likely to be able to name the commandments in order, or is a average, catechized Protestant more likely to be able to name them in order? Which communion really stresses the Ten Commandments more in its catechesis? The group that says it is a mortal sin to violate them or the group that is more prone to say, “That is just Old Testament. Today we have grace”?”

God gave these commandments to all of us and they are not difficult to learn. I still have a problem with bundling up commandments into one smaller package for ease of learning. Why? It removes reasons not to create idols or create graven images… True the new version states “you shall have no other Gods beside me”! BUT, without the full image of what God is telling us in front of us, it gives the seeker reason to believe that graven images and idols are alright. When that happens, eventually we give these idols and graven images more time then we give to God! We start praying to these images and idols perhaps hoping they can help us when in fact the only way to God is through the resurrected Lord, our one and only mediator to God. Eventually these images and statues ( idols ) become more impressive for us then God Himself and this I am sure is why God specifically said: No graven images, No idols, No other Gods period. All the explanations given to make things simpler for learning are to me - ways if hiding the truth for ulterior motives as in the distant past where many good people were murdered for rejecting falsehoods. Regretfully, even today we have many who would want to see these days return. This is a new age, but we are told that God never changes and neither do His words, so what are we doing changing His words ? What message are we sending to young Catholics telling them that God never changes, He does not want any words added or removed, and we do exactly that! Causes confusion, miss-interpretation and it gives other Christians reason to attack our church.
I’m thinking out loud as the spirit leads me to ask questions, to test the faith and those teachers of the faith to make sure we do not stray from the truth but return to it.

Having said that, thinking out loud is more like it, fact remains that the truth makes us free. I’ve attended several other churches and always found something missing there and I defended the Catholic faith for providing me with a deeper love and affection for God then what I found elsewhere even though the Catholic religion has problems. Thirty some years ago my best friend tried in vain to get me to change to another Christian faith. Eventually he found the way to our way of worship which is deeper. But fact remains, to understand where “others” come from when they challenge our religious beliefs, we must be knowledgeable and honest about the facts and our own problems. I cannot regurgitate loads of “man made reasoning” as to why we must change God’s words to "simplify’, to “make memorization easier”, because I do not believe it myself. I only believe what God tells us as the only way to Him. Just think what would happen if we changed the checklist a airliner crew must go through prior to every take offs. If we took away certain lines and combined others to make it easier for the crew to go through it all. What would eventually happen ? The commandments are just that, a checklist where God identifies each command to follow. He knows best and no man on earth has the right to change anything God said as difficult as it may be to accept. So when we use this Catholic Youth Bible to teach God’s words, we find it inappropriate and perhaps even disrespectful to our God because we know better.

I’m a Fire Fighter and also an Emergency Paramedic and I’ve seen God’s miracles at work with simple prayers at the right time. I have several critical checklists to follow for many things to make sure nothing ever goes wrong for me or my partners. Those who created these checklists did so for a reason and if we start freelancing, we get in trouble quickly. I take my spiritual future even more seriously and cannot allow freelancing over God’s well chosen words. This is why I asked my original question.

I’m going to copy the link you sent to me and put it in this Bible as a reference.
Thank you for taking the time to respond.

God’s blessings to you.

RM
 
As an aside, when I was growing up and going through CCD, we of course used the Catholic version of the Ten Commandments. Even when I was just a first grader, I was made quite aware that “I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods…” included the prohibition against graven images. It seemed like common sense, actually. This was also an issue that the Catholic Church dealt with in the distant past. You might want to read up on the Iconoclastic Controversy of the 700s AD. Eastern Christians wanted to eliminate images (partly due to pressure from the new Islamic religion in the region), but Western Christians did not. Given that the literacy rate in Western Europe was below 1%, the only way ordinary people could learn the Bible was for priests to read it aloud and use statues, paintings, and stained glass to point to as illustrations of the stories. Eventually, it was recognized that there was nothing inherently wrong with religious images with proper catechesis, although the Eastern Churches decided to opt for the use of religious Icons, which were highly stylized and unrealistic portrayals of religious figures and events that include a high degree of symbolism for the purposes of teaching. They were viewed as “windows into heaven”, rather than as items of worship. Today, the issues is resolved among Catholics and the Orthodox.
 
The key here is that it is not a sin to make graven images, it is a sin to worship them. On the Ark of the Covenant, there were graven images of seraphim. So you see, the commandment is in the worshipping, not the making, which is covered in the “Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.” The reason for the prohibition of graven images is the prevalence of idols in pagan religions. I hope that makes sense.
 
Thank you for your replies.
I was just wondering why the full ten commandments in the pull up page of the Catholic Youth Bible was omitted. The editor chose not to include the command not to worship idols and create graven images. Today, thank goodness, we have the Holy Scriptures available to us and it is a good thing. Why some editors still chose to take out some of God’s words or commands raises questions not easily answered. I wrote to the editor and received a controversial response as to why they included a pull out page listing an incomplete list of the ten commandments. I do not agree nor do I accept his reasoning because it questions God’s wording. Not going to get into this here and I did offer some suggestions for future editions.

I also purchased the NIV Quest study bible and that’s probably the best study bible I have ever come across.

“The mighty oak tree was once a little nut that held its ground”

Blessings to all.

RM
 
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