Let's hear about your latest/favorite bible

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po18guy

po18guy

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Until two days ago, my favorite was a leather bound 1949 Douay-Confraternity that I picked up at a Goodwill store for $2. Scanning the local store Tuesday evening, I spied something interesting on the shelf in the “Religion/ Spirituality” section. Picking it up. I saw that it was a Douay-Rheims, printed by P.J. Kenedy. Copyright 1914, with the approbation of James Cardinal Gibbons, John Cardinal Farley and William Cardinal O’Connor.

Unbelievably well-preserved condition. Almost certainly unread. $8.75 original price penciled on the first page. That price, if written on the page in 1914, is equivalent to $240 today. Imagine that. Am planning on a sparing application of Lexol to the cover, but I cannot believe it is that old.
 
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Nice. But be more concerned with the messages contained than the uniqueness of the cover.
 
PO, you are making my comments all about you, when they were made as an observation about the wonder of message contained in scripture.

I have no reason to doubt that you are an upright, righteous follower of Christ…and I made no such assumption…that determination is outside my pay grade.

Again, forgive me and pray for me.
 
I have a faux leather, gold gilded NAB that I got for a few bucks at Half Price books. It’s pretty good looking, but admittedly, I’m less of a fan of the translation since I started reading the RSVCE.

I need to get a DR or Knox translation for sure, though.
 
I agree that the NAB is a squishy translation, particularly in the New Testament. The Old Testament is far better. The RSV-2CE is pretty darned good. The D-R is antiquated English, but still readable and based on the Bishop Challoner revision of Saint Jerome’s Latin Vulgate - as is the Knox. If you haunt thrift stores, you will run into one sooner or later. eBay and ThriftBooks are also good sources.

I have NABs on the shelf, but it is really difficult to defend Catholic teaching from them. Sadly, the King James Version is better in that regard.
 
Sometimes, the steroids speak for me. My bad there. As to this thread, it is intended as a fun thread in which we can discuss various bibles - which we are strongly encouraged by the Church to read. I love the scriptures and read as many translations as I can. I believe that we testify against ourselves if we do not read the scriptures.

Please tell about your favorite!
 
I like the NAB (pre-NABRE) when I want to be reminded of high school, or of the readings the way I heard them for years as a child and teenager.

When I’m feeling traditional, I use the DR Mom got as a wedding gift from the priest in 1961. It has some foreword or something by Cardinal Spellman, who was a piece of work, so I pray for him when I think of that and hope that he and Fulton Sheen are now friends in heaven.

I sometimes use my father-in-law’s KJV because he just died a few months ago, I just had the Bible fixed up, and it is a handy size to carry around.

I have a big Haydock Bible but because of its size, I need to have a good place where it can sit in the house as I cannot really pick it up to use it. Also it will likely need some major repairs as I bought it cheap on eBay because it was falling apart, so I have not done much with it just yet as I don’t want it to get damaged further before I can send it to the Bible repair shop.

We have some other ones, but those are the main ones on my radar right now.
 
Thank you. Years ago, after an experience with the Holy Spirit, I developed a love of the scriptures. Some time after that, I realized that the scriptures must be given a certain pride of place. I set nothing on top of them, as nothing can top them.
 
Fair enough.

I have quite a collection that I use for various purposes. For study, and referencing most modern commentaries, I like RSVCE2. For daily readings I prefer NABRE, because in my area, it is read and proclaimed at the Mass. When I am feeling the need for some good prose, I turn to the DR. When I just want to read scripture for pleasure I use New Jerusalem. For Lectio Divina I also prefer the RSVCE2.

Favorite?

I like the quote I once heard from Billy Graham, which I think pertains to Catholics as much as protestants. When asked, which is the best bible, he replied “The one you read!”

Pax et bonum
 
I read to my kids from my Knox Bible. Knox is my translator hero. 😄 I do like the way he handles things like place names— a more scholarly translation might call a place “Migdal Eder” in Genesis, and it might be literally translated as “The Tower of the Flock” in the footnotes or it might just be left as-is, but Knox would call it the “Sheep-Tower” in-text. So that allows us to grasp a certain amount of symbolism, because Migdal Eder is associated with Bethlehem… and we all know what happens in Bethlehem about a thousand pages later… 🙂

I also have an old Douay-Challoner Papal Edition from the 1950’s that was purchased from the estate of one of my old priests that passed away. I don’t pull it out very often, but the psalms are very elegant, and I do like the pictures of some of the Cardinals from the Pius XII reign, when people weren’t too self-conscious about enjoying the trappings and pageantry that go along with rank. 🙂
 
What is the official Bible in England for Catholics? Is the Knox used at mass?

I’m a big RSV-CE lover. If I read only one translation, it would be that one.

But I like to go to Bible Hub or Gateway or whatever they may be and look at how one or more verses might be translated in 20 different Bibles. I think it’s quite helpful and fruitful. Good thing there is the internet for such things.
 
I have a Bible that has the Douay-Rheims translation on one side and the Clementine Vulgate on the other. It has a decorated cover and gilded pages so it looks really nice on my bookshelf.
 
The Catholic Church does not have an official bible. There is a semi official bible and it is called the Nova Vulgata. The readings from the bible, when in Latin are from this bible. There are actually two Nova Vulgatae and only one is approved.
This one is approved…
https://www.vaticanum.com/en/Bibliorum-Sacrorum-Nova-Vulgata-Editio-Typica

This one is not (below). IT IS NOT the Jerome translation as claimed, it is merely false advertising. It is a translation of the Masoretic texts which the Church Fathers claimed to be heretical and this is what the protestants use (MT). Eve is called Heva in this edition.
https://www.amazon.com/Biblia-Sacra-Vulgata-Vulgate-Bible/dp/1598561782

The Knox has been authorized for the mass.

My favourite is the DRC Haydock because of all the notes
 
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I don’t want to rain on your parade, but maybe it’s date of being printed is not the same as it’s copyrighted date. :sun_behind_rain_cloud:…🌈
 
Who would know. Not many know Latin. While they use the Masoretic texts as a basis they do correct the texts to the Septuagint and I believe they use the LXX arrangement. The one from Amazon is from German translators, the NV is from the Vatican. I own the NV. If you order it form the Vaticanum it will cost 20 Euros to ship and you will have it the next day. 1 day delivery worldwide.
 
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