Bible for Third Graders

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Now that they received their First Eucharist in the spring what Bible do posters suggest for a third-grader? I am thinking the actual Bible text and not a story Bible that is not complete and paraphrased through out.

My friend’s Protestant congregation provides their third-graders with the NIV Adventure Bible each fall. I know it is not a Catholic translation and that the 7 OT books will be missing but how do its articles and notes stack up with Catholic teaching? Is it like CS Lewis and a good deal can be gleaned or is it too problematic? Any former pastors out there particularly familiar with the NIV text and notes in the Adventure edition?
 
When my daughter made her First Communion, we gave her a Bible. It is the Saint Joseph Edition, of the New American Bible, published by the Catholic Book Publishing Company. It says FIRST COMMUNION BIBLE on the cover, and has pink striping. (for girls) There is also one with blue striping (for boys).

sorry, not familiar with the one you mentioned.

Arlene
 
I am not a former Pastor, but my son used to have an adventure Bible. We had to get rid of it though because there are several key places that just are not Catholic and detrimental to a growing Catholic Christian faith.

I personally would stay away from that Bible for Catholic children although it is a great gift for a Protestant.
 
I would avoid the NIV altogether–some of the translation seems just a bit odd. I know of Protestants that stay away from it.

-ACEGC
 
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edward_george:
I would avoid the NIV altogether–some of the translation seems just a bit odd. I know of Protestants that stay away from it.
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The translation is hugely popular amongst Evangelicals, because it was conducted by Evangelicals and shows a distinct Evangelical bias. Ideological bias means poor translation, but it is very hard to avoid.
 
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genealogist:
Now that they received their First Eucharist in the spring what Bible do posters suggest for a third-grader? I am thinking the actual Bible text and not a story Bible that is not complete and paraphrased through out.

My friend’s Protestant congregation provides their third-graders with the NIV Adventure Bible each fall. I know it is not a Catholic translation and that the 7 OT books will be missing but how do its articles and notes stack up with Catholic teaching? Is it like CS Lewis and a good deal can be gleaned or is it too problematic? Any former pastors out there particularly familiar with the NIV text and notes in the Adventure edition?
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Having become a Christian first as a Protestant and having ‘grown up’ in Christ with my beloved NIV, I would strongly advise against using it. The translation is skewed by the desire to make the text conform to Evangelical preconceptions.

As an alternative, I would suggest either the Contemporary English Version, if you want a simplified text, or a New King James, if you want a good translation.

There are Catholic Study Bibles, however.
 
I got my son the “precious moments” Bible for his First Communion, it’s the New American Bible version.

It was a tie between that one and the “Revised Standard Version”? ( I think that’s the one, it has a Catholic version), but it had simpler language for a young kid to understand. It doesn’t have to be a “kid” version. You could get him a “regular” Bible and dress it up with a case, Bible highlighters, and a bookmark.
 
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Arlene:
When my daughter made her First Communion, we gave her a Bible. It is the Saint Joseph Edition, of the New American Bible, published by the Catholic Book Publishing Company. It says FIRST COMMUNION BIBLE on the cover, and has pink striping. (for girls) There is also one with blue striping (for boys).

sorry, not familiar with the one you mentioned.

Arlene
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This is the one I got my son for his first communion at the Catholic bookstore by my home.

Kat
 
I was aware of the Communion Bibles but they, unlike the NIV Adventure, are not geared with notes/drawings etc. for an 8-year-old. The cover is cute but it is an adult Bible with no apparent effort to transition the First Communicant from the story Bible of their youth to the Big Leagues.

I was trying to see if an Catholic company had addreessed the gap in publishing between cutesy story Bibles and the full text they would get at Mass version with appropriate notes etc. geared to their age. I would assume it would be pretty easy to put the notes together and attach them to the NAB or the RSV-CE like Scott Hahn is doing for Ignatius Press for adults.

I have seen there are concerns mentioned with the NIV both in general and specifically the Adneture Bible. Can I get specific verses and notes that are particularly amiss?

Thanks
 
i have a copy of the Golden Children’s bible whcih I recieved for my first holy communion, which is “approved by an editorial board consisting of leaders form the Protestant, Catholic,a nd Jewish faiths” it is not a complete Bible in the sense of dividing all the books and detailing the entire Bible, but this might be too advanced for thrid graders. it is far more complete than just a story bible, and puts the Bible into clear, children’s language. i would look into this bible, as i know i loved it when i was younger, it gave me a deep sense of who Jesus was, whereas my parents bible was far more confusing. in addition, it is catholic approved. hope that helps!
 
Just wanted to add that some third graders will be ready for “grownup” Bibles…

Growing up Protestant, I got my first “real” Bible in third grade - KJV - no pictures, leather - only thing that showed it to be a third grade girl’s was that it was “dusty pink” - I picked it out myself - looked at all kinds of Bibles in the store… I probably would have been “offended” if someone had given me a “kiddie” Bible of any sort at that point… (But then I would have prefered to stay in “big church” and I always liked “children’s church” programs that were set up like real church - I was a bit of a little grown up at the time - maybe due to being an only child)

But then I was reading at a third grade level in Kindergarden, and most have been doing quite a bit above grade level in 3rd grade as I don’t remember ever having an issue with it, and its supposedly at a 12th grade level…

I’m not saying don’t look for a Bible aimed at Children - but I just think that kids should be involved at least to some extent with choosing their own Bible - and I just wanted to remind everyone that not all kids that age would choose such a Bible for themselves even…
 
St. Mary’s Press has put forth a Catholic approach to the Adventure Bible.

The Break Through Bible is the Good News translation(with full Old Testament) which would be easier for kids to read and it has several articles, graphics etc. tying in the Catechism. It is geraed for middle schoolers but goes down to age ten. It lists the Sunday readings and the liturgical seasons as well as many other things.
 
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genealogist:
Now that they received their First Eucharist in the spring what Bible do posters suggest for a third-grader? I am thinking the actual Bible text and not a story Bible that is not complete and paraphrased through out.

My friend’s Protestant congregation provides their third-graders with the NIV Adventure Bible each fall. I know it is not a Catholic translation and that the 7 OT books will be missing but how do its articles and notes stack up with Catholic teaching? Is it like CS Lewis and a good deal can be gleaned or is it too problematic? Any former pastors out there particularly familiar with the NIV text and notes in the Adventure edition?
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The Living Bible is a 3rd grade level, however you might want to consider two that were written on a 5th grade level: The Contemporary English Bible (otherwise known as The Way), and the Good News Bible. All three of these are published in a Catholic Edition, but the LB contains the additional apocraphal books, not just the Deuterocanon.
 
My son received a copy of the NIV Adventure Bible with his name engraved on the front as a First Communion gift from my well-intentioned (Protestant) sister and brother-in-law, and he LOVES reading it. I had the same question at first about whether it was an okay resource for a Catholic child but have been so delighted to see him take such an interest in reading the Bible that I have encouraged him to continue using it. Is it really that anti-Catholic?
 
JVG66 said:
My son received a copy of the NIV Adventure Bible with his name engraved on the front as a First Communion gift from my well-intentioned (Protestant) sister and brother-in-law, and he LOVES reading it. I had the same question at first about whether it was an okay resource for a Catholic child but have been so delighted to see him take such an interest in reading the Bible that I have encouraged him to continue using it. Is it really that anti-Catholic?
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My oldest has an adventure bible - honestly I don’t think its a big deal at this age. I’m just glad he’s in God’s word. He gets enough Catholic interpretation of scripture through Mass, Religious Ed and our homeschool curriculum that I haven’t been too worried about it.

I do agree with the OP regarding NIV though - especially the newer releases…I wouldn’t touch them with 10ft pole for personal study… they are very liberal in their translations… sometimes it seems as they are re-writing the bible.
 
SaintRita said:
My oldest has an adventure bible - honestly I don’t think its a big deal at this age. I’m just glad he’s in God’s word. He gets enough Catholic interpretation of scripture through Mass, Religious Ed and our homeschool curriculum that I haven’t been too worried about it.

I do agree with the OP regarding NIV though - especially the newer releases…I wouldn’t touch them with 10ft pole for personal study… they are very liberal in their translations… sometimes it seems as they are re-writing the bible.
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NIV is a terrible translation and the NIV Jr. or whatever it’s called shares the basic bias of the NIV, but if your child is reading and enjoying the Bible he received I wouldn’t discourage it, just graduate him to an actual Catholic translation when he’s a little older.

St. Mary’s Press has a Children’s Bible and a “youth” Bible they call BreakThrough!, both of which are the Good News Translation and have graphics and sidebars appropriate for the age groups. Their teen Bible is the New RSV-CE, and also has lots of sidebars and other info, though I found the graphics distracting.

CEV (Contemporary English Version) is very easy to read, not sure if they’ve finished the OT yet.

Sally
 
anawim said:
The Living Bible is a 3rd grade level, however you might want to consider two that were written on a 5th grade level: The Contemporary English Bible (otherwise known as The Way), and the Good News Bible. All three of these are published in a Catholic Edition, but the LB contains the additional apocraphal books, not just the Deuterocanon.
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I’m not sure what you mean? The deuterocanon are the books that Protestants consider apocryphal and Catholics consider canonical. The books Catholics consider apocryphal don’t belong in a Catholic Bible. As the Catholic LB carries imprimatur I’m pretty sure it doesn’t contain apocryphal books.

The Living Bible is a paraphrase (even though the publishers claim that the newer versions are not).

Sally
 
genealogist said:
I have seen there are concerns mentioned with the NIV both in general and specifically the Adneture Bible. Can I get specific verses and notes that are particularly amiss?

Thanks
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The concerns are numerous, here are just a few of the more egregious ones:

The NIV never uses the expression “only-begotten,” to describe Jesus, apparently because “begotten” is too difficult a concept. Of course this seriously undermines the doctrine of the Incarnation. The NIV also does not translate “sarx” as “flesh,” using instead the word “human nature” or “body” when “flesh” refers to Jesus and “sinful nature” the rest of the time. This, too, undermines understanding of the Incarnation, and combined with a couple of other tweaks, almost supports a form of Docetism (Jesus only “appeared” to be human . . .).

An item frequently pointed out as being “anti-catholic” is that in the NIV the word “paradoisis” is translated as “teaching” when the context is positive and as “tradition” when the context is negative, thus creating a Bible that condemns tradition.

Other decisions are more subtle, such as changing the tenses of verbs in order to make the verse appear to support the translators’ interpretation or position - inserting “had” in Genesis 2 to obscure the fact that it is a separate creation account, inserting the word “now” in 1 Peter 4:6 so it doesn’t say that Jesus preached to the souls of the dead, changing the subjunctive “might” to “shall” in several verses to reinforce the notion of Once Saved Always Saved. Changing “the obedience of faith” to “the obedience that comes from faith” because they don’t want it to sound like faith=obedience (works!).

It goes on, it’s completely pervasive, and the NIV has now been around long enough and has such a huge share of the market that fewer and fewer Protestants know any other version, so they don’t see or notice the changes.

Sally
 
I really feel that the New American Bible Revised Edition is good for younger children. The thing is, the Bible has to be read with an adult to clarify certain things. Scripture is not easily decipherable even to adults, and a parent-child, or mentor-child, reading is highly recommended.

Also recommended is a reading through the narrative books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Judges, 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 Maccabees, Luke (best all-around Gospel if reading one), and Acts). This follows the Great Adventure Bible Timeline series. The other books are important and inspired by God, but it is important to get the whole story before going deeper.
 
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