Bible Translation?

[Robert6512]

Since I am in the early stages of becoming Catholic, I have a question about Bible Translation. Growing up Protestant we have access to many different translations and there isn’t one particular translation that everyone follows. Since I never see Catholics bring there Bible to church I was wondering if there was a church sponsored translation and if so what is it? If not, which translations do Catholics usually use?

 

[CalCatholic]

There are also many different Catholic translations of the Bible used by different Catholics and Catholic Churches depending on which country you are in. The Catholic Church in the United States uses the New American Bible as its translation for the Mass. Canada uses the New Revised Standard Version in its Mass. The U.K. was using the Jerusalem Bible, but I heard awhile ago that they were also thinking of switching over to the New Revised Standard Version. As for individual Catholics, more traditional Catholics prefer the Douay-Rheims Version (which uses older English like the KJV), The Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition is popular with many people on this site (it is used by the Vatican at times when they are using English quotes from the Bible. The New American Bible is probably the best selling Bible in the United States (because it is used in the Mass), the New Revised Standard Version is used in many of the Universities and is popular with many scholars. The Jerusalem/ New Jerusalem Bibles are popular because the reading flow better and are easier to understand. And there others like the Christian Community Bible which has much smaller sales in the United States but is more popular in South American countries (and is popular in Spanish).

 

[dcrowmik]

CalCatholic gives a nicely detailed answer. For the easy answer, stick to the Revised Standard Edition, 2nd Catholic Edition published by Ignatius Press or, if you like the older language, use the Douay-Rheims Bible which can be purchased or found online for free.

 

[ProVobis]

For many centuries the Church was most reluctant to translate the Latin Vulgate (which was a consolidation of Greek and Hebrew and Aramaic texts) into any vernacular as Christianity was spreading in the West. In fact, St. Thomas More condemned anglicizing the Vulgate altogether. It seems the Reformation period was full of attempts to translate and probably till this day translations of the Bible are seen as more of a Protestant thing than Catholic. Though no translation is forbidden by the Church, there are some interpretations of some passages (and books thrown out) which are incompatible with the faith. (Purgatory and indulgences, for example.) Your best bet is to go with an imprimatur, though you must remember it’s only a translation of the Catholic books and no translation is perfect as meanings change all the time. (For example, the word “gay.”)

That said, if you want to compare the different versions, try this site:

unbound.biola.edu/