Catholic Bibles?

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I’m looking for a easy to read Catholic Bible. Which translation do you recommend ? 🙂 Thanks:)
 
I would suggest the New American Bible.
The New American Bible : Translated from the Original Languages With Critical Use of All the Ancient Sources and the Revised New Testament. Confraternity of Christian Doctrine,
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I would personally un-recommend the New American Bible and the New Jeruselem Bible. Both have inclusive language (gender neutral for political reasons). The NAB has horrific footnotes which frankly, cheapen Sacred Scripture to a merely man made effort.

Most Catholic apologists recommend the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition. The Douay-Rheims version is the classic Catholic translation which is great too. You can meet them in the middle by finding a Confraternity Edition from the mid 20th Century, which is my personal favorite.

Mother Angelica, for her part, favored the original Jerusalem Bible which was free of the inclusive language.
 
mattwcu said:
Mother Angelica, for her part, favored the original Jerusalem Bible which was free of the inclusive language.
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I have both and think both are good. It reads well and the inclusive language many claim to fault it for is minor when compared to any translation. The Word of God comes through either way and with anything we read in this regard, asking God to impart to us His intent goes a long way to proper understanding.
 
The New American Bible is wonderful… another I’ve used which I actually prefer over the NAB is the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition- I have the Catholic Women’s Devotional Bible- NRSV which has inspirational passages and devotions- highlights key women of the Bible, etc. I love it.
 
mattwcu said:
I would personally un-recommend the New American Bible and the New Jeruselem Bible. Both have inclusive language (gender neutral for political reasons). The NAB has horrific footnotes which frankly, cheapen Sacred Scripture to a merely man made effort.

Most Catholic apologists recommend the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition. The Douay-Rheims version is the classic Catholic translation which is great too. You can meet them in the middle by finding a Confraternity Edition from the mid 20th Century, which is my personal favorite.

Mother Angelica, for her part, favored the original Jerusalem Bible which was free of the inclusive language.
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Just a reminder: the OP asked for the easiest Bible to read, not necessarily the best. they aren’t usually the same thing.

The NAB, while not always accurate, is usually OK as far as readibility. The footnotes are the biggest gripe for me.
 
Fidelis said:
Just a reminder: the OP asked for the easiest Bible to read, not necessarily the best. they aren’t usually the same thing.

The NAB, while not always accurate, is usually OK as far as readibility. The footnotes are the biggest gripe for me.
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Ya know, you are right. The NAB is probably the easiest to read. But then again the Jerusalem Bible might be ok too.

To the original poster then:

If you have to buy an NAB, I recommend you find one such as the Giant Print edition with the footnotes at the end of each book. The further they are away from the actual scripture, the better. Especially if you do not know your faith well.

Another option with the NAB would be the “Catholic Answer Bible” which is suppose to be very good and put together by trustworthy Catholic Apologists.
 
👍 Thank you all for your answers. 👍
I own a NAB Bible but want a second translation to read also. I like the RSV-CE its a little harder to read but I really like the way it words things. I found it online today at ewtn.com/devotionals/biblesearch.asp its really nice.

Thanks guys for your help:signofcross: :harp: :heaven:
 
I have about 10 different translations. The one I prefer the most for easy read, yet accurate is the St Joseph Edition of the New American Bible, 1970 Edition
Prayers & blessings
Deacon Ed B
 
If you want an easy to read bible that is still of a good literary quality and doesn’t remove Christ from the Old Testament than you can’t go past the Jerusalem Bible (not the New JB).

It is used at Mass in most English speaking countries.

The version in print has less footnotes but the original from 1966 with all the notes is avaiable from second hand book stores.

My fav is the literal Douay Rheims but it is archaic and weird to read in some bits.
 
I heard where Mother Angelica liked the New Jerusalem Bible also. But even she pointed out that people have to be wary when getting newer editions of almost any bible as the “all inclusive” language is creeping in.
Prayers & blessings
Deacon Ed B
 
RosaryGirl_777 said:
I’m looking for a easy to read Catholic Bible. Which translation do you recommend ? 🙂 Thanks:)
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Ok, just a thought, I already know that 99% of you will not like this but here it goes.

Learn Latin and read the Bible from the Vulgate. I would recomend learning Greek, that this language is good for those who will make a lifetime effort of learning languages, but for just reading the Bible I would say that Latin is your best bet. You can learn enough Latin to read the Bible intellegably with the aid of a Dictionary in just 5 weeks. Reading the Bible in another language keeps you on your toes and does not allow you to insert your own preformed theology or cultural background or idiom into the scriptures. Yes, this would be true even of reading the Bible in French but then we have the “which version” issue again. There are two main versions of the Bible in Latin, both completely approved by the Catholic Church and both agreeing with each other on almost all points of grammar, only style being effected.

Now I know that I am about to be derided as some old guy who wants to bring up back to the dark ages or some such nonsense but that is not true. Latin is among the most easiest of languages to learn (far easier then Greek) and the translation of the Bible into Latin has been checked and double checked for accuracy over 1500 years. It is a solid and sound translation of the Bible. Besides that, you gain all the other benifits of knowing a second langauge, which all scholars and teachers say is important. Americans have too small a biligual rate. We would be able to even speak our own version of English far better if we would just learn one other language half way.

Anyway, that is what I think. I have too many versions of the Bible in English to know the difference anymore. Good Catholic English Bibles are important but I really got to appreciate the Bible while reading it in Laitn. I also read it in Greek and Coptic and Syriac and I am currently learning to read it in Slavonic but I am a professional linguist so that is kind of my job. My favorite is the Bible in Latin. Really, do not hold a prejudice to it and consider it. What better reason , besides marriage, is there for learning a second language enough to follow through.

Latin is easy, super easy if you ask me, and most Americans will be surprised just how well they can learn it in just a short time. We are smarter then we think. Latin has the reputation of a hard langauge yet even Harry Potter could spout out some.

Give it a try is all I ask. We are all Catholics after all and most of us are Latin Catholics. Yet I would even encourage a Syriac Catholic or a Greek Catholic to learn some Latin, it is just that easy a language to learn and helps to build the relationship between us the same as Latins learning Greek or Coptic or any of the other languages that Eastern Catholics speak.

Besides, think of the status syble you will have.

“I read the Bible in Latin.”

“Woo, really?? Far out”

Ok, the last bit is wishfull thinking, usually it is more like

“Latin, ugh, We had the Second Vatican Coucil you know…”

Yet at the council they read the Bible in Latin and it was good enough for them.
 
I would recommend either the Jerusalem Bible or New American Bible. Once you are comfortable you may want to move up to the Douay-Rheims. But the choice is yours. I would however stay away from the RSV-CE but that is my opinion , because it was a direct translation from protestant, but then again that is my opinion. Do what suites you.
 
Claudius
You wrote
the translation of the Bible into Latin has been checked and double checked for accuracy over 1500 years.
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I am afraid I disagree.

The Latin Vulgate was used in the Catholic Church, but it was not checked for accuracy over 1500 years. Catholics did not know Greek or Hebrew, in general. Neither Augustine or Thomas Aquinas knew much Greek or Hebrew.

I really do not see the point of reading the Bible in Latin. It is only a translation, althought a good one, as Jerome was a reputable scholar.

The Jerusalem Bibles are only traslations of translations (from French), as is the Douay-Rheims from Latin.

So I would still suggest the NAB or posiibly the NRSV,
 
Sorry to be perdantic but the Jerusalem Bible was translated from the original languages. The footnotes were translated from the work of the French scholars.

The Douay Rheims though translated from the Latin did compare with the original languages. And are you going to get an any more accurate Bible by bypassing Latin scriptural tradition and starting from scratch. Compare the Douay to the King James or other Protestant translations of it’s time period and in my opinion the Douay stands above them.
 
Canto
If pedantic means being accurate, one should be pedantic here. So no need to apologise.

My understanding was that the Jerusalem Bible and the New Jerusalem Bible were translations from the French.

However on checking the foreward of the JB I see you are corect. Sorry.

I do think starting from scratch, rather than translating a tranlslation is preferable.
 
On of the translators of the Jerusalem Bible of 1966 was J.R. Tolkien.
He did the book of Job. 👍
 
Claudius said:
You can learn enough Latin to read the Bible intellegably with the aid of a Dictionary in just 5 weeks.
.
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👍 I’m trying to learn the Rosary in Latin. So far I have learned the Ava Maria, Glory Be & The sign of the Cross in Latin. (Latin sounds so cool) Know of any sites that teach Latin? (especially prayers in Latin) So far this is the only one that I’ve found, rickmk.com/rmk/Rosary/index.html It really makes it easy to learn the Rosary in Latin because it shows you what the Latin words mean in English. Plus you can listen to the prayers in Latin. Reading the Bible in Latin sounds cool but I’m not sure how to go about learning that much Latin?

And Yes my friends would be like :eek: NOO way you can read Lain too COOL:eek: :cool: . ROFL

Thank you all for your posts, Pax (Latin for Peace):signofcross:
 
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