Bible version questions

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jon1163

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Sorry but I posted this in the incorrect section earlier so I’ll re-ask it here:

I’m looking to buy another bible that is better to use as a study tool than the King James Version. As a new Catholic I understand that there are some extra books in the Catholic bible and am looking to find a version that includes these.

I am hoping to find a version that has introductary explanations to each section, footnotes and guides.

Any advice helps and thanks in advance…

Cheers from Seattle,
Jon
 
jon1163 said:
Sorry but I posted this in the incorrect section earlier so I’ll re-ask it here:

I’m looking to buy another bible that is better to use as a study tool than the King James Version. As a new Catholic I understand that there are some extra books in the Catholic bible and am looking to find a version that includes these.

I am hoping to find a version that has introductary explanations to each section, footnotes and guides.

Any advice helps and thanks in advance…

Cheers from Seattle,
Jon
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The Douay-Rheims with Haydock Commentary is up your alley. It is costly though. Since you are familiar with the KJV the Douay-Rheims is the closest to your style. However the Challoner text that I have at home doesn’t have much notes. The next step below the Douay-Rheims is the RSV-CE. It has more as for as notes but the text isn’t up your alley, it is a step below. I don’t recommend reading the RSV-CE though. It makes me too uncomfortable to read for me to recommend it to anyone at this time.
 
The New American Bible is approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. This is also the version that is typically found in the missal for Mass readings.

usccb.org/nab/bible/

Also you mention a “Catholic Bible” although there are various lessons that interpret the Bible from a Catholic perspective, there is only one Bible. Anything outside of the books that were approved by the Church are considerd invalid. The idea that the Catholic Church has a special Bible that is outside of what a normal Bible contains comes from the Protestants and is false. 👍 You’ll hear that the Catholics added books, but that’s not true. Protestants took some away.
 
Bible Translations Guide

At Catholic Answers we are often asked which Bible version a person should choose. This is an important question about which Catholics need to be informed. Some have been given very little help about how to pick a Bible translation, but keeping in mind a few tips will make the decision much easier…

http://www.catholic.com/library/bible_translations_guide.asp
 
tobinatorstark said:
I don’t recommend reading the RSV-CE though. It makes me too uncomfortable to read for me to recommend it to anyone at this time.
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What about it makes you uncomfortable? I don’t necessarily need a complete literal translation and, if the notes and study helps are more numerous, I would not mind moving to a bit more dynamic translation so long as it does not comprimise too much or lose too much beauty.
 
The RSV-CE is a strange breed, often just as reviled in some corners as it is loved in others. It is used in Official Vatican Documents I believe, but then again the US uses the NAB so who am I to judge!?! (I guess you’d hope the Vatican knew what it was doing when it came to choosing a good english translation!)
It has nice style, but also has its own issues which some of us struggle with, admittedly myself included:

Some Catholics, like Toby here, aren’t comfortable with its protestant origins, and its choice of wording in certain key passages.
Which is fine, because there are plenty of alternatives out there like the Douay Rheims which lean towards the more traditional side of the Church. I must also admit these reservations mean I myself struggle to appreciate the RSV from time to time! Its quite rare I use it personally.

Others side with the Douay because it is a translation of the Vulgate which itself was declared free of doctrinal error by the Council of Trent. It also has rather beautiful archaic language (handy if youre used to the King James!!!) but this can also be a hindrance when trying to get your head around certain problem passages. The notes by Bishop Challenor are doctrinally sound, but very brief, and certainly not enough to foster study on their own.

Either way you can have a read yourself at the following sites and get a taste of various versions:

Douay Rheims:
www.drbo.org

RSV-CE
ewtn.com/devotionals/biblesearch.asp

NAB
usccb.org/nab/bible/

P.S. the majority view from Catholic Answers members, as far as I have seen in my time here, is that the NAB is one of the least reliable translations available, despite its use as your lectionary in the U.S. I’ll let someone else go into the reasons why people feel this way;)

As for myself, I love the Jerusalem Bible (NOT the New Jerusalem Bible) as we use it here in the UK in our lectionary, but with the Grail Psalms replacing the original Jerusalem ones. The Catholic Truth Society prints this combination (Jerusalem with grail Psalms) under the title CTS New Catholic Bible.

It has decent notes included as well as handy tables of all the year’s sunday and weekday readings and four maps and a glossary of key terms. Their site has better information than I’m giving:

cts-online.org.uk/acatalog/Our_Products_CTS_New_Catholic_Bible_21.html

I have the .pdf brochure of this bible if you’d like more info, as I am afraid the Jerusalem isn’t available to read online as far as I know!

Hope this helps,

Matt
 
jon1163 said:
What about it makes you uncomfortable? I don’t necessarily need a complete literal translation and, if the notes and study helps are more numerous, I would not mind moving to a bit more dynamic translation so long as it does not comprimise too much or lose too much beauty.
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This particular Bible version comes from a Protestant translation and was made Catholic. How can we be absolutely that all Protestant doctrine was removed completely from this translation? I have 3 KJV in my house and I don’t specifically read any of them. I do comparative analysis between them and my Douay. My uncomfortableness with it is based off my on convictions. I refrain from recommending this translation because I don’t feel that it is 100% leading us down the right path. Again that makes me uncomfortable and that is my own convictions. This should not hinder your perception of choosing a Catholic Bible. The link to the in an above post I would avoid. It is extremely biased towards the RSV-CE. I don’t want to be biased against or for one translation. Some the NAB is a perfect translation. It is great for beginners, but a word to the wise the NAB has foot and endnotes that are contradictory to the Catholic Church. The Jerusalem is also good. If you can get past the use of Yahweh instead of Lord. This might be your translation. Also good are the Confraternity edition, if you can find a complete Douay OT/ Confraternity NT and the Ronald Knox Translation. I recommend those 2 along with the Douay-Rheims. They remain faithful to the Catholic faith and no inclusive language like the NRSV or the NAB NT and Psalms.
 
tobinatorstark said:
The Jerusalem is also good. If you can get past the use of Yahweh instead of Lord.
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The CTS Bible I mentioned, which is the Jerusalem Text, replaces ‘Yahweh’ with ‘The LORD’ throughout as it appears in missals and the UK lectionary.
This makes for much more comfortable reading!🙂

The Grail Psalms are used instead of the Jerusalem ones too. I myself am not sure why the Church of England and Wales decided to replace the Jerusalem’s Psalms but I’m comfortable with the Grail ones being used.

Matt
 
I have seen it one a couple site I am happy that you are comfortable with the grail psalms for the CTS. I am glad you also appreciate the original JB. I have just the NT of the JB. You hit the head on the nail about my discomfort on the RSV-CE. Again these are only my convictions. I am still looking at finding a way to appreciate the RSV-CE
 
Yeah I try my best with the RSV, bless it! I just have my sneaking suspiscions and reservations and I really don’t know why since it has an Imprimatur.

The original JB is something special to me, but I always struggled with the use of ‘Yahweh’, so the CTS New Catholic Bible is a no-brainer for me.🙂

Plus I believe the revised Grail Psalms are to be avoided? Good job we here in the UK use the original ones still. I also enjoy chanting them at evening prayer in the Divine Office.

Pax,

Matt
 
One more thing, I still wish the People who changed ‘Yahweh’ to ‘Lord’ in the CTS could have made Lk 1:28 into “Hail Mary, Full Of Grace, The Lord is With you!, Blessed are you among women.”

Well, no version is perfect!😉

Matt
 
Mattjolley said:
One more thing, I still wish the People who changed ‘Yahweh’ to ‘Lord’ in the CTS could have made Lk 1:28 into “Hail Mary, Full Of Grace, The Lord is With you!, Blessed are you among women.”

Well, no version is perfect!😉

Matt
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Bingo, you hit my pet peeve right there with Luke 1:28. The original NAB translated it similar “Hail favored one” I don’t necessarly agree with favored but it did include Blessed are you among women. Most modern versions omit Blessed art thou among women. Luke 1:28 is one thing I do like about the RSV-CE. Although it does full of grace it does omit blessed art thou among women. But I do like the translation of Luke 1:28 it provides.
 
You all (those on this site) are the best. Every time I ask questions there are quick, informative and heart-felt responses. I just ordered the RSV-C 2nd edition and will try that one out. Hopefully later I can pony up for the Haydock but right now I’ll stick with the NSV due to the language issues and my designed usage. Again thanks!
 
jon1163 said:
You all (those on this site) are the best. Every time I ask questions there are quick, informative and heart-felt responses. I just ordered the RSV-C 2nd edition and will try that one out. Hopefully later I can pony up for the Haydock but right now I’ll stick with the NSV due to the language issues and my designed usage. Again thanks!
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Actually, the Haydock Bible is also online if you are interested:

Haydock Bible

God bless
 
tobinatorstark;:
How can we be absolutely that all Protestant doctrine was removed completely from this translation?
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Take a look at the differences between the RSV-CE, and the RSVA.

jonathon
 
Mattjolley said:
The original JB is something special to me, but I always struggled with the use of ‘Yahweh’, so the CTS New Catholic Bible is a no-brainer for me.🙂

Matt
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Matt and others,

Just WHAT is it that bothers you about the use of “Yahweh” in the text of the JB/NJB?
 
Mattjolley said:
One more thing, I still wish the People who changed ‘Yahweh’ to ‘Lord’ in the CTS could have made Lk 1:28 into “Hail Mary, Full Of Grace, The Lord is With you!, Blessed are you among women.”

Well, no version is perfect!😉

Matt
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Matt,

You’ve made an excellent point re Luke 1:28.

The editors of the CTS bible obviously had no trouble deleting the names “Yahweh”, “El Shaddai”, “Yahweh Sabaoth”, Elyon" from the OT, not to mention the Psalms, so I don’t want to hear about “copyright issues”.

So, while they were at it, there were lots of other places where the JB could’ve been altered in the right direction, i.e., to conform to Liturgiam Authenticam. E.g., they used “wine” instead of “fruit of the vine” in the Last Supper narratives. So much for the “poetry” of the JB!

And could someone explain to me, please, how “sex is always a danger” is a good translation of “for fear of fornication” in 1 Cor. 7:2?

IMHO, neither the JB nor the (R)NAB are good enough for the Liturgy.
 
Manfred said:
IMHO, neither the JB nor the (R)NAB are good enough for the Liturgy.
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I agree. I read those translations from time to time, the are interesting to read, but when it comes down to the liturgy I feel a much more literal translation should be used.
 
Manfred;:
What the heck is the “RSVA”?
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Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha. This contains the books that are canonical for Anglicans. As such, it has three more books than those that are canonical for Catholics.

jonathon
 
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