Can I Keep My "Protestant Bibles"?

  • Thread starter Thread starter TristanCross
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
T

TristanCross

Guest
I have many “Protestant Bibles”, and I personally do not see a problem with keeping them. Yes, they exclude the Deuterocanon, but they contain everything else.

What do you think? My Catholic Bible (The International Student Bible For Catholics; an NAB Study Bible) is my main one, of course. Though, I do love my KJV Bible and read it often.

I also have NKJV, NIV, TNIV, NLT.

Thank you, and God bless.

In Christ,
Amen
 
I would think so, for many reasons.
  1. I grew up believing it was basically a secular sin to throw away a book.
  2. You can use them as a reference to see how others interpret passages and their bias.
  3. You don’t want to give them up and have them in the wrong hands who actually believe those to be correct interpretations.
  4. You paid for them OR they were a gift. Don’t throw your money away and don’t give away somebody else’s generosity.
 
yea you could keep it. Especially because you said that your “main” one was the catholic one. because it contains the complete bible.

But yea i see nothing wrong with keeping the “protestant bibles” and even if you didn’t have a catholic one… its better than having nothing…
 
Moreover, if you choose to engage in ecumenical discussions they become an evagelization tool helping you point to Biblical passages supporting the teachings of the Catholic Church.
 
If they were personal gifts, then I would keep them. Otherwise, I really don’t see any reason to.
 
You need to go out and start a bonfire and burn them ALL now!
No, just kidding.
If you like reading that translation at times, sure. I think it’d be okay for periodic devotional reading, but I wouldn’t use it for study. I would also read through the NAB or another Catholic Bible before reading a certain point in your King James, so as to see the differences. And of course, take it all with a grain of salt.
 
Hmm… interesting to read the replies to this question. I was told by a dear friend who is a huge part of my conversion that eventually, all old bibles that are not Catholic bibles will need to be destroyed. Is he nuts or speaking with some authority on the issue?
 
CopyKat said:
Hmm… interesting to read the replies to this question. I was told by a dear friend who is a huge part of my conversion that eventually, all old bibles that are not Catholic bibles will need to be destroyed. Is he nuts or speaking with some authority on the issue?
Click to expand...
From The Catholic Source Book re: “Non-Catholic” Bibles:
This label is used for translations of the Bible done by Protestants or under the auspices of a Protestant Church or organization. This does not mean that a translation is “theologically slanted.” It does mean that seven Old Testament books will not be included or, if included, will be labeled “Apocrypha.” It also means that the Catholic Church has not given official apporval to that translation or originally did not have anything to do with its development…

re: Catholics Reading “Non-Catholic” Bibles:
*The Catechism of the Catholic Church does not mention “Protestant Bibles” in either of the two direct exhortations (133 or 2653) to the faithful to read the Bible. The Jerome Biblical Commentary, edited by Raymond E. Brown (Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1968} refers to the 1917 Code of Canon Law when it says that Catholics may read non-Catholic editions of the Bible under two simple conditions; that the Catholic is involved “in some way” in Scripture study, and if the editionn is complete and faithful and without notes that attack or amount to an attack on Catholic faith (a condition many non-Catholic editions of the Bible would meet) *

Some Catholics and non-Catholics alike are skeptical of anything that smacks of the ecumenism encouraged by Vatican II that would restore the unity of the Body of Christ.
Before the NAB, approved by Pope Paul VI in 1970, many of us were told we were only to read the Douay-Rheims translation while non-Catholics only read King James.
 
For study and regular reading I use the New Jerusalem Bible. I have a nice collection of beautiful and/or useful bibles which I have collected over the years. As long as you have a copy of one of the Catholic versions for the missing books that’s all that matters as far as your own reading and study is concerned. I still like the King James best for the purpose of quoting passages but not for study.

There is no need to destroy the ‘Protestant’ Bibles because they are still books of the Bible only not all of them.

Also there will never be complete agreement as to which translation is the most authentic or correct… so the more versions the merrier.

Rove
 
roveau said:
For study and regular reading I use the New Jerusalem Bible. I have a nice collection of beautiful and/or useful bibles which I have collected over the years. As long as you have a copy of one of the Catholic versions for the missing books that’s all that matters as far as your own reading and study is concerned. I still like the King James best for the purpose of quoting passages but not for study.

There is no need to destroy the ‘Protestant’ Bibles because they are still books of the Bible only not all of them.

Also there will never be complete agreement as to which translation is the most authentic or correct… so the more versions the merrier.

Rove
Click to expand...
Again from The Catholic Source Book:
There is no perfect translation.
The Complete Guide to Bible Versions gradation from literal to idiomatic paraphrase
1. Strictly Literal–New American Standard Bible
2. Literal–New Kings James Version, Revised Standard Version, The Revised New American Bible (NT)
3. Literal with freedom to be idiomatic–New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible
4. Thought-for-thought–New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible
5. Dynamic equivalent–The Complete Bible, Phillips, Today’s English Version, New English Bible
**6. Paraphraisic **–The Living Bible
 
Remember that the COMPLETE King James has the Deuterocanonical/Apocrypha.
 
I also use my old Lutheran bible, but its mainly because approx. 80% of the population of my homeland is (at least namely) Lutheran, and that is the only bible available in my mother tongue. :sad_yes:
 
Thank you for your answers. They are greatly appreciated.

I’m going to keep them. I still love them. 🙂

May the Lord our God bless you all.

In Christ’s Name,
Amen
 
adstrinity said:
  1. I grew up believing it was basically a secular sin to throw away a book.
Click to expand...
Being a book lover I would agree with that.
There were only a few books from my fundamentalist days that were taken out with the trash (Hislop’s ‘Two Babylons’ pops to mind). But most of them I donated to the local fundamentalist church (the preacher almost had an accident with joy). A few of the Protestant Bibles I still have, I donated the rest unless they were in bad condition. I still have my Schofield KJV Referance Bible from my ordination.
Now I am in the process of re-building my book collection.😃
If I ever become a ghost, just send the Ghostbusters to the local used book store.😃
 
I would say keep them, but I wouldn’t advise using them until know you have a good grasp of Catholic doctrine, as the translations that are approved by the Church are ones that It feels won’t cause any harm to what Jesus Christ taught and wants you to learn. Besides the actual translations of the words used, many protestant Bibles have notes pertaining to protestant beliefs that may cause confusion when you don’t realize it.
 
This is a very interesting Thread. I read every Post.

I am a Protestant Christian. For the past 3 years or so, I’ve been studying the history of Christianity and Judaism. In the process of my studies, I have spent a lot of time comparing Bible translations.

I have many Bibles. Ironically, though I am Protestant, I have found the New Jerusalem Bible to be one of the most accurate and honest translations.

I also have the Catholic Comparative New Testament, which contains 8 Bible translations side by side: The Douay-Rheims Bible, Revised Standard Version Catholic Bible, New American Bible, NRSV Catholic Bible (Anglicized), Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, and Christian Community Bible.

The Catholic Comparative New Testament contains a list of changes in the Revised Standard Version New Testament for the Catholic Edition (Appendix 2.) The list shows the Protestant RSV Passages and how they were changed to meet approval of the Catholic Church. This is a fascinating list. Most of the differences involve what is placed in the main body of text and what is placed in the Footnotes.

I plan to read the “Apocrypha.” So, I am a busy Protestant :coffeeread:

Anna
 
Hello,

I think you should keep it or give it to someone instead of throwing it away because the Bible is the word of God no matter if it is Catholic or Protestant.

Good day.
 
Anna_Scott said:
This is a very interesting Thread. I read every Post.

I am a Protestant Christian. For the past 3 years or so, I’ve been studying the history of Christianity and Judaism. In the process of my studies, I have spent a lot of time comparing Bible translations.

I have many Bibles. Ironically, though I am Protestant, I have found the New Jerusalem Bible to be one of the most accurate and honest translations.

I also have the Catholic Comparative New Testament, which contains 8 Bible translations side by side: The Douay-Rheims Bible, Revised Standard Version Catholic Bible, New American Bible, NRSV Catholic Bible (Anglicized), Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, and Christian Community Bible.

The Catholic Comparative New Testament contains a list of changes in the Revised Standard Version New Testament for the Catholic Edition (Appendix 2.) The list shows the Protestant RSV Passages and how they were changed to meet approval of the Catholic Church. This is a fascinating list. Most of the differences involve what is placed in the main body of text and what is placed in the Footnotes.

I plan to read the “Apocrypha.” So, I am a busy Protestant :coffeeread:

Anna
Click to expand...
Glad to hear all this. Keep reading.
And here is something you might consider sometime:
Read the works of the New Testament era chronologically. Arrange the New Testament books and extra-Biblical Christain writings in the year (to the best of the knowledge of Bible scholars) they were written. You might be surprised to learn how early certain doctrines were taught and did not come about as a later ‘afterthought’.
 
Anna_Scott said:
I also have the Catholic Comparative New Testament, which contains 8 Bible translations side by side: The Douay-Rheims Bible, Revised Standard Version Catholic Bible, New American Bible, NRSV Catholic Bible (Anglicized), Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, and Christian Community Bible.

The Catholic Comparative New Testament contains a list of changes in the Revised Standard Version New Testament for the Catholic Edition (Appendix 2.) The list shows the Protestant RSV Passages and how they were changed to meet approval of the Catholic Church. This is a fascinating list. Most of the differences involve what is placed in the main body of text and what is placed in the Footnotes.

I plan to read the “Apocrypha.” So, I am a busy Protestant :coffeeread:

Anna
Click to expand...
Don’t you just love this with the different translations right there!
 
Anna_Scott said:
This is a very interesting Thread. I read every Post.

I am a Protestant Christian. For the past 3 years or so, I’ve been studying the history of Christianity and Judaism. In the process of my studies, I have spent a lot of time comparing Bible translations.

I have many Bibles. Ironically, though I am Protestant, I have found the New Jerusalem Bible to be one of the most accurate and honest translations.

I also have the Catholic Comparative New Testament, which contains 8 Bible translations side by side: The Douay-Rheims Bible, Revised Standard Version Catholic Bible, New American Bible, NRSV Catholic Bible (Anglicized), Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, and Christian Community Bible.

The Catholic Comparative New Testament contains a list of changes in the Revised Standard Version New Testament for the Catholic Edition (Appendix 2.) The list shows the Protestant RSV Passages and how they were changed to meet approval of the Catholic Church. This is a fascinating list. Most of the differences involve what is placed in the main body of text and what is placed in the Footnotes.

I plan to read the “Apocrypha.” So, I am a busy Protestant :coffeeread:

Anna
Click to expand...
JustaServant said:
Glad to hear all this. Keep reading.
And here is something you might consider sometime:
Read the works of the New Testament era chronologically. Arrange the New Testament books and extra-Biblical Christain writings in the year (to the best of the knowledge of Bible scholars) they were written. You might be surprised to learn how early certain doctrines were taught and did not come about as a later ‘afterthought’.
Click to expand...
JustaServant:

I appreciate your suggestion. I am aware of the fact that the NT Books are not all arranged in chronological order, and I have been reading the “Church Fathers.”

I have been rather astonished at some of the things I have read.

I think many Protestant Churches are lacking when it comes to the history of Christianity. I am finding a wealth of information on these Forums.

What made you decide to become a Catholic? I know the question is a digression from the topic of this Thread, but I am curious.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top