Is there any particular version of the Bible I should read?

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Regular_Atheist

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Maybe I should ask some Protestants, as you guys don’t seem so concerned about the Bible, but I haven’t yet gone and invaded a Protestant forum to bother them with my opinions, so I’ll ask you instead! 😃

There’s this really nice Christian tea house near where I live. It’s great, and they sell really good fudge and sweets and what not, but they also sold Bibles so I figured I should go and buy one and finally read it. However, I was wondering if there is any particular version that I should read? For whatever reason?
 
I’ll save you trying different forums and give you a protestant answer. 😉

King James Version. The reason being that the language is just far more moving that modern English and that might just give you a deeper spiritual experience.
 
Are you planning to read it cover to cover - Genesis to Revelation? If so, my first recommendation is ---- DON’T. 😃 Even hard core Bible scholars admit to reaching an eyes-glazed-over state around Leviticus.

What is your goal? There are some excellent study bibles with lots of footnotes. One of the easier to read, in my opinion is the New Standard Revised Version (there’s a NSRV-CE if you want the Catholic one). The Ignatius Study Bible uses this translation.

If you want inspiration, there are Bibles with motivational references.

If you want to understand the original authors, there are Bibles that have the English side-by-side with the Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic original text.

There is a great verson of the New American Bible that ties Scripture together with the Catechism and explains how Church teaching is Scripturally based. It’s the Catholic Answer Bible – no affiliation with our kind hosts at CAF.
 
I enjoy the New American Bible. Its up-to-date but faithful translation make it easy for me to read and relate to. There is a St. Joseph edition of it which is a good study bible.

Remember that the Bible is a Library, not a single book. And in my opinion, I would get a paperback so that you can break the binding and curl up with it and start with the Gospel of Mark and Acts and the Pauline letters.

The Catholic version of the Bible also contains Sirach, which I think is an amazing book of wisdom that is highly relevant to young men today.
 
peter26 said:
I’ll save you trying different forums and give you a protestant answer. 😉

King James Version. The reason being that the language is just far more moving that modern English and that might just give you a deeper spiritual experience.
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REally? that is your opinion, I think. I would suggest that you might wait on the bible a bit considering where you are right now on your journey. I recommend you try reading “Mere Christianity” by CS Lewis. Its a classic and offers some wonderful insights into the entire subject of Christianity itself. I’d save the bible reading for now.😃
 
peter26 said:
I’ll save you trying different forums and give you a protestant answer. 😉

King James Version. The reason being that the language is just far more moving that modern English and that might just give you a deeper spiritual experience.
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The problem with the KJV outside of Great Britain is: it only has 66 of the 72 books.

The NAB is quite good and readable, the Harper Collins NRSV study bible is nice. It really doesn’t matter as long as it’s complete and in your language, and fairly mainstream. I would, for a newbie, suggest a study Bible, though, that will have good notes.

You can also read a rather large m number of translations online for free. new.usccb.org/bible/books-of-the-bible/
 
Make no mistake. Catholic read 3 Bible passages every week at Mass (and many of us pick our Bibles up during the week). We just aren’t interested in being able to quote whole passages word for word. We are interested in taking away with us the intent of a reading.

That being said you will find New American easy reading. New Revised Standard Version is also excellent.

I’d personally recommend starting with reading the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).
 
Regular_Atheist said:
Maybe I should ask some Protestants, as you guys don’t seem so concerned about the Bible, but I haven’t yet gone and invaded a Protestant forum to bother them with my opinions, so I’ll ask you instead! 😃
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I’m paying $110 to take 2 Bible classes, Acts of the Apostles, and Hebrews, which starts this Tuesday. Geeez, you mean, I’m not supposed to be concerned. Oh my gosh, you mean, I’m not a normal Catholic. 😦
 
Used2beSherryG said:
REally? that is your opinion, I think. I would suggest that you might wait on the bible a bit considering where you are right now on your journey. I recommend you try reading “Mere Christianity” by CS Lewis. Its a classic and offers some wonderful insights into the entire subject of Christianity itself. I’d save the bible reading for now.😃
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You may mock, but its the same argument everyone on this forum who prefers the TLM makes. Its the same argument made by everyone who decries “guitar masses” in favour of “reverent litugy”. Like it or not, the way something is expressed has a big impact on the way we experience it.
 
Regular_Atheist said:
Maybe I should ask some Protestants, as you guys don’t seem so concerned about the Bible, but I haven’t yet gone and invaded a Protestant forum to bother them with my opinions, so I’ll ask you instead! 😃

There’s this really nice Christian tea house near where I live. It’s great, and they sell really good fudge and sweets and what not, but they also sold Bibles so I figured I should go and buy one and finally read it. However, I was wondering if there is any particular version that I should read? For whatever reason?
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…though I do not relally get your introduction… it’s been my experience that if you ask Protestants they will say most any Bible that is not Catholic–I’ve only heard them express slightly more disdain for the Jehovah Witnessess’ version/s than for all Catholic versions); if you get caught by a certain group/s they would take exception if you reject the KJV (it is their holy of holies).

I think that you should get a Catholic Bible that is not attempting to be modern and likeable (I do not mean stick to ancient English!)… if you can get your hands on a JB with the built-in concordence and generous footnotes (I have the 1975 Spanish version based on the 1973 French); there are gimmicky Bibles that highlight centain texts which tend to help if you are a beginner–but be careful of the version since some are outright anti-Catholic in their renderings (I’m speaking about the interpretations offered on the footnotes).

Maran atha!

Angel
 
Regular_Atheist said:
Maybe I should ask some Protestants, as you guys don’t seem so concerned about the Bible,
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Really? I think I can prove that wrong.
Poll: Catholics: When did you last read the Bible?
Poll: Catholics and the Bible:Update.
but I haven’t yet gone and invaded a Protestant forum to bother them with my opinions, so I’ll ask you instead! 😃
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There’s this really nice Christian tea house near where I live. It’s great, and they sell really good fudge and sweets and what not, but they also sold Bibles so I figured I should go and buy one and finally read it. However, I was wondering if there is any particular version that I should read? For whatever reason?
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Heck, if you promise to read it I’ll mail you one if you PM me your address. Then you can sit home with a drink of anything you like and really check it out.

One of he really nice things about the Catholic Bible is that you don’t wind up with the abridged version with 7 books and parts of 3 others missing. Get the whole Bible, read it all, and then make up your mind where to go from there.
 
The best Bible translation is one that you will read. Check out your local library; then you won’t have to buy one if you decide you don’t want one.

I recommend reading this tract before you make up your mind:
catholic.com/tracts/bible-translations-guide

I love to read, and love the English language. I’m also literate in Elizabethan and Jamesian English, so I love the older King James Version (KJV), with the “Apocrypha” (the books modern Protestant Bibles leave out). It’s a literal translation. Mine is in my Bible Study software; I haven’t seen one in bookstores.

The official Catholic Bible from that era is the Douay-Rheims Version (DRV). I only prefer the KJV because it is the one I was raised with.

I also like the NSRV-CE, the New Revised Standard Version - Catholic Edition. I got mine at the late Borders. It has all the books, and in the right places. It is a dynamic equivalence translation. That’s the one I use for study.

“It has been reissued by Ignatius Press under the title The Ignatius Bible (available from Catholic Answers in both hardcover and paperback formats).” (From the above tract. If you want to buy one, click on the “Shop” key at the top of the page.)

The NAB (New American Bible) is kind of simplified, and easier to read. It also has a paperback edition that’s much cheaper than the ones above. If that turns out to be the one for you, be sure and get the 2nd edition, as the first one had some errors in its footnotes.

There are many, many translations. Some are better than others!

And, as previous posters have said, don’t start at the beginning. Read Genesis, chapters 1-4, for sure; but the next books will dry up your brain! Skip to the New Testament after that. A good Study Bible, like the Navarre, will be a big help. But be prepared - you get an inch or to of Bible text, and the rest of the page is footnotes!
 
I personally read the New American Bible. I’ll also look at the Einheitsübersetzung (teaching myself German by immersion) and the Douay-Rhiems (Catholic equivalent of the King James)
 
Julia_Mae said:
The problem with the KJV outside of Great Britain is: it only has 66 of the 72 books.

The NAB is quite good and readable, the Harper Collins NRSV study bible is nice. It really doesn’t matter as long as it’s complete and in your language, and fairly mainstream. I would, for a newbie, suggest a study Bible, though, that will have good notes.

You can also read a rather large m number of translations online for free. new.usccb.org/bible/books-of-the-bible/
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If you like the language of the King James Version a good Catholic equivalent is the Douay-Challoner Version. It was translated a few years before the KJV and contains all the books that Catholics consider as the Scriptures and reads very similar to the KJV. For a more modern translation there is the Revised Standard Catholic Edition published by Ignatius Press.
 
The King james Bible is greatly written in all, but if you want a complete Bible, go with what the others said 👍
 
LegoGE1947 said:
If you like the language of the King James Version a good Catholic equivalent is the Douay-Challoner Version. It was translated a few years before the KJV and contains all the books that Catholics consider as the Scriptures and reads very similar to the KJV.
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To be more precise, the Rheims New Testament was published in 1582, while the Douai Old Testament was published in 1609-10. The original Douai-Rheims is a slavishly literal translation of the Latin Vulgate to the point that it is very stilted and wooden. “[W]e presume not in hard places to modifie the speaches or phrases, but religiously keepe them word for word, and point for point, for feare of missing or restraining the sense of the holy Ghost to our phantasie.”

The Challoner ‘revision’ meanwhile was produced between 1749 and 1752 by Bishop Richard Challoner. His revisions borrowed heavily from the KJV (himself being a convert from Protestantism to Catholicism, and thus familiar with its style) whose translators had themselves borrowed from the 1582 Rheims NT. He not only addressed the odd prose and much of the Latinisms, but produced a version which, while still called the ‘Douai-Rheims’, was little like the original. At the same time he aimed for improved readability and comprehensibility, rephrasing obscure and obsolete terms and construction; and in the process, consistently removing ambiguities of meaning that the original version had striven to retain.
 
Most Protestants on the internet forums will probably recommend the New International Version. I believe it is still the most popular Bible today among Evangelical Protestants (and, yes, I was one and enjoyed it myself). The reason it is popular is that it reads smoothly in modern English.

I would imagine the closest Catholic version rendered in smooth modern English and with the full set of books would be the New American Bible or the Jerusalem Bible. Way too many choices for someone trying to narrow it down to one! (My personal choice is the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition).

If you read a Bible in a language too far removed from what you are accustomed to, it will be like trying to watch a movie with sunglasses.
 
If you don’t believe the Hail Mary indeed comes from scripture then read, trust, and believe in the NAB translation.

The NAB like Protestant translations doesn’t believe that the Hail Mary comes from scripture either!

Defend the PROTESTANT translation oh you NAB supporters who try to shut up critics of the NAB here at CAF!

And one last thing–if someone asked the devil would he be a bigger supporter of “favored one” or “full of grace”?
 
Regular_Atheist said:
Maybe I should ask some Protestants, as you guys don’t seem so concerned about the Bible, but I haven’t yet gone and invaded a Protestant forum to bother them with my opinions, so I’ll ask you instead! 😃

There’s this really nice Christian tea house near where I live. It’s great, and they sell really good fudge and sweets and what not, but they also sold Bibles so I figured I should go and buy one and finally read it. However, I was wondering if there is any particular version that I should read? For whatever reason?
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My version of choice is the RSV…I use the Oxford Study Bible Expanded Edition, it was originally published in the '70’s as “The Common Bible” as it incuded those books in the OT used by Catholics but not most Protestants, and those used by the Orthodox but not Catholics. It was meant as an ecumenical version of scripture.

I believe it is now in it’s 4th or 5th edition, with many good notes and history of each of the books from a more modern scholarly point of view. Each book has a short history of why it was written and when. It doesn’t typically state only those “faith affirming” dates that many conservative believers tend to adhere to. When you get to the NT the notes also reflect some of the issues, such as 1 & 2 Peter were not written by Peter but are psedenomonous as are some of the letters of “Paul”.

I highly recommend it.
 
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