Bible Preference

[CMatt25]

Your pastor is right about the NRSV, if by liberal he means inclusive and trendy. Having said that, apparently the new NAB-RE is a close second.

Granted many mainline to liberal churches use NRSV, though I don’t find it as readable as some others. But I think the poster you are referring to said "My pastor believes that any of the RSV, RSV-CE, NRSV-- that these are the most literal translations of Scripture. You substituted a “b” for the “t”.

 

[Anna_Scott]

I don’t own one but from previewing it, for a Protestant version I’d say the NIV is rather readable too. A nice mix. Not too contemporary but not KJ either. The GNT I have with Deuterocanonicals and bearing the Imprimatur of the USCCB is very readable as well. Perhaps though too contemporary in some cases. The NKJ I have not as much. And the Douay-Rheims I previously had was not either. My advice when it comes to which version to read, is the one you are going to actually pick up and read.

Hey CMatt25,
Your last statement is actually what a CAF article says. Though it recommends the RSV-CE; the end of the article states the following:

Bible Translations Guide
. . . . . .“In the end, there may not be a need to select only one translation of the Bible to use. There is no reason why a Catholic cannot collect several versions of the Bible, aware of the strengths and weaknesses of each. It is often possible to get a better sense of what is being said in a passage by comparing several different translations. So, which Bible is the best? Perhaps the best answer is this: The one you’ll read.”
Link: catholic.com/library/Bible_Translations_Guide.asp

As I said before, I collect translations.

Peace to you CMatt,
Anna

 

[Zooey]

Granted many mainline to liberal churches use NRSV, though I don’t find it as readable as some others. But I think the poster you are referring to said "My pastor believes that any of the RSV, RSV-CE, NRSV-- that these are the most literal translations of Scripture. You substituted a “b” for the “t”.

Yup.

 

[JRed95]

I personally prefer the Knox translation. It read’s good, and it includes detailed translation notes, and it’s authorized by the hierarchy of England and Wales and the hierarchy of Scotland. The only thing it’s sort of hard to track down a copy.

 

[Anna_Scott]

I personally prefer the Knox translation. It read’s good, and it includes detailed translation notes, and it’s authorized by the hierarchy of England and Wales and the hierarchy of Scotland. The only thing it’s sort of hard to track down a copy.

JRed95,

Welcome to CAF!!! These are great forums.

I haven’t come across the Knox translation. Since I collect translations, I’ll check into this. Surely someone online is selling this translation. Where did you get yours?

Peace,
Anna

 

[ethan_catholic]

I personally prefer the Knox translation. It read’s good, and it includes detailed translation notes, and it’s authorized by the hierarchy of England and Wales and the hierarchy of Scotland. The only thing it’s sort of hard to track down a copy.

Looking for a Knox Bible too and found an online version.

cormacburke.or.ke/book/knox_bible

Although it is the Revised Knox Version… So, I am not sure.

 

[JRed95]

JRed95,

I haven’t come across the Knox translation. Since I collect translations, I’ll check into this. Surely someone online is selling this translation. Where did you get yours?

Peace,
Anna

I came across my copy when I was looking through the books a library was getting rid of. I was pleasantly surprised at how good of a translation it was.

God bless

 

[Anna_Scott]

I came across my copy when I was looking through the books a library was getting rid of. I was pleasantly surprised at how good of a translation it was.

God bless

JRed95,

How fortunate a find. It’s really great when those things come along. I’m really quite envious, in a good way, of course. :curtsey:

Anna

 

[Anna_Scott]

I came across my copy when I was looking through the books a library was getting rid of. I was pleasantly surprised at how good of a translation it was.

God bless

Looking for a Knox Bible too and found an online version.

cormacburke.or.ke/book/knox_bible

Although it is the Revised Knox Version… So, I am not sure.

ethan_catholic,

Thanks for the link.

I book marked it and will have one more translation for comparison.

Peace,
Anna

 

[Izdaari]

There are no perfect translations, but there are some very good ones.

For a more literal, “formal equivalence” translation, I prefer the ESV. You can get more literal than that, but only at the expense of awkward and sometimes unclear English, and I don’t like that trade-off.

For a meaning-based, “dynamic equivalent” translation, I like the NLT, 2nd ed. (or NLT2). It reads very easily and comfortably, and is very well done. I’m also fond of the British NEB and REB, which unfortunately are not well known in the USA. I hear nothing but good about the NJB, which is a Catholic translation, but I don’t yet own one. It;s next on my acquisition list.

For a middle-of-the-road approach, the old familiar NIV (1984) will do, but the TNIV is IMO better. The scholarship is updated, some errors are corrected, and it reads a little better. Against that, some say the language is too “gender-inclusive” but I don’t find that to be a problem; to me, it just seems more “gender-accurate”. I have hope that the new 2011 NIV will prove a worthy successor to both, but I haven’t yet had a chance to really check it out.

And while it’s true that paraphrases such as The Message necessarily include some of the writer’s interpretations, they do have their uses if you bear in mind their limitations. Read them, but read them in addition to a regular Bible, not as a substitute for one. Of this type, I favor *The Message *and the Phillips NT.

 

[Oldtimer_7]

I am not so sold on the NIV. One of my reference sources is the New Interpreter’s Bible and it has the NRSV and the NIV side by side. After reading extensively in the New Testament, I find the NRSV to be more literal, though the inclusive language distorts it too. I understand that there is now a Catholic ESV available. Does anyone have any information on it?

My wife really likes the NLT for teaching teens, since the language is so accessible. I have a love-hate relationship the the CEV and it has taken years to grow on me. One that I find intriguing is the Bible in Basic English, which has to versions, a very basic with a vocabulary of approximately 1,000 words, and the expanded version using 1,700 words.

 

[Zooey]

I find that the NIV is unduly skewed toward Presbyterian theology. In fact, a few years ago, there was an edition of it published with Methodist notes added to counteract this.
I know folks who love it. (Witth or without notes).