Bibles and Catholics

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With all the threads on this site about this subject I haven’t seen this issue addressed directly and that is which MODERN CATHOLIC Bible should we be using. Before you start typing RSV-CE 2cnd Edition etc. let me say that it is “off the Table”, it is NOT a Catholic Bible, it is essentially a Protestant Bible translation. What I mean is a CATHOLIC Bible translation done by Catholics from the ground up.I don’t want this to turn into another RSV vs. Douai-Rheims-Challoner thread. I wish to discuss only MODERN Catholic Bibles and which one a Catholic should use as a Primary Bible for everything. There are only two that fit this criteria.
  1. The New Jerusalem Bible
  2. New American Bible
PS. The Jerusalem Bible 1966 is not an option. Only Catholic Bibles published after 1980 are under consideration.
 
kotek said:
With all the threads on this site about this subject I haven’t seen this issue addressed directly and that is which MODERN CATHOLIC Bible should we be using. Before you start typing RSV-CE 2cnd Edition etc. let me say that it is “off the Table”, it is NOT a Catholic Bible, it is essentially a Protestant Bible translation. What I mean is a CATHOLIC Bible translation done by Catholics from the ground up.I don’t want this to turn into another RSV vs. Douai-Rheims-Challoner thread. I wish to discuss only MODERN Catholic Bibles and which one a Catholic should use as a Primary Bible for everything. There are only two that fit this criteria.
  1. The New Jerusalem Bible
  2. New American Bible
PS. The Jerusalem Bible 1966 is not an option. Only Catholic Bibles published after 1980 are under consideration.
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Personally between the 2 that fit your criteria, I would choose the New American Bible. While it may not be the best Bible on the market, it is what lectionaries use in the U.S. On the downside of the NAB and probably the NJB as well, is that not all translators on the committee were Catholic. In every group that I have been part of in the religious sense has used the NAB. I personally bring my Douay-Rheims and read from that, but that is me. The NAB isn’t that bad of a Bible regardless what RSV-CE and RSV-2CE advocates say. The original RSV is indeed Protestant. The committee that organized the Catholic Edition were mostly Catholic, but there were a few Protestants though. Protestants aren’t bad people. I just don’t however agree on making a Protestant translation into a Catholic translation. Again I would choose the NAB. The choice is up to you. I would prefer to read my Douay-Rheims as primary version and the NAB for a secondary.
 
Catholics are free to use ANY authorized version.

Your criteria is meaningless.
 
1ke said:
Catholics are free to use ANY authorized version.

Your criteria is meaningless.
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I agree completely, Catholics are free too use any approved translation which obviously includes more than the two I mention in my OP. I just wanted opinions on which of the two I cite is the better of the two. I personally use the RSV-CE (the original one, not RSV-CE 2). But I will be switching to the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition. In spite of how many here feel about the NRSV it does have the Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat of the Church.
 
That’s where, perhaps, a parallel translation bible comes in handy. 🙂
 
kotek said:
I agree completely, Catholics are free too use any approved translation which obviously includes more than the two I mention in my OP. I just wanted opinions on which of the two I cite is the better of the two. I personally use the RSV-CE (the original one, not RSV-CE 2). But I will be switching to the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition. In spite of how many here feel about the NRSV it does have the Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat of the Church.
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what does having the imprimatur and Nihil Obstat have to do with choosing a translation? My NAB mentions Nihil Obstat and imprimaturs Patrick Cardinal O’Boyle, DD Archbishop of Washington, James Hickey, S.T.D., J.C.D. Archbishop of Washington and Most Rev. Daniel E. Pilarczyk President, National Conference of Catholic Bishops.

My Douay-Rheims doesn’t have an imprimtur and I am fine with that.
 
The RSV:CE is good enough for the Catechism, it’s good enough for me.

But you don’t need to limit yourself to only one Bible.
 
ConallCernach said:
The RSV:CE is good enough for the Catechism, it’s good enough for me.

But you don’t need to limit yourself to only one Bible.
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True you don’t need to limit yourself to only one Bible. I use 3 translations currently and compare them among other translations. I love the Catechism, but don’t like the RSV-CE one bit. I improvise by looking scripture passages in the Douay-Rheims. I don’t limit myself just to the Douay-Rheims. I also read from the Confraternity Bible and most recently, the Ronald Knox Translation. Very seldom to I use anything other than those 3. For reference purposes I use the Jerusalem Bible, NAB, RSV-CE and the Protestant KJV. I almost never read out of them unless I have to. I just use them for reference puposes only
 
tobinatorstark said:
True you don’t need to limit yourself to only one Bible. I use 3 translations currently and compare them among other translations. I love the Catechism, but don’t like the RSV-CE one bit. I improvise by looking scripture passages in the Douay-Rheims. I don’t limit myself just to the Douay-Rheims. I also read from the Confraternity Bible and most recently, the Ronald Knox Translation. Very seldom to I use anything other than those 3. For reference purposes I use the Jerusalem Bible, NAB, RSV-CE and the Protestant KJV. I almost never read out of them unless I have to. I just use them for reference puposes only
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I like the RSV:CE, it’s suggested by this site actually, but I also have the NAB, NJ, GN and a few more I think.

Pax
 
Of the two you list, I prefer the New American when I’m looking things up, because it has the verse numbers listed. The New Jerusalem is good for casual reading, but not for looking things up, because the verse numbers aren’t correlated to the actual verses.

For myself, I use the Catholic edition of the NRSV because it’s the one that is approved by our Diocese for teaching, etc. - ie: it’s the one that everyone else is using.
 
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