Need a Bible- confused

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I only have so much money and I am fairly confused about which one to buy. I did not realise there would be so many! :confused:
Could anyone recommend an affordable Bible that is relatively easy to follow? We have the King James version in school but the language throws me a bit and I think I ought to have my own to refer to at home.

Many thanks.
 
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someguy:
I only have so much money and I am fairly confused about which one to buy. I did not realise there would be so many! :confused:
Could anyone recommend an affordable Bible that is relatively easy to follow? We have the King James version in school but the language throws me a bit and I think I ought to have my own to refer to at home.

Many thanks.
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I have a red paperback New American Bible with cross-references and footnotes that I like a lot–even if I don’t always agree with the footnotes. I don’t remember how much it cost but I don’t think it was that much.
  • Liberian
 
I LOVE my Serendipity Catholic Bible. Someone brought one to a Bible study and I really liked it. THere are a lot of good study questions as well as some background information about confusing passages. It’s the one I read most of the time. I have several Bibles and I run into the problem of wanting it poetic but readable.

Lisa N
 
Lisa N:
I LOVE my Serendipity Catholic Bible. Someone brought one to a Bible study and I really liked it. THere are a lot of good study questions as well as some background information about confusing passages. It’s the one I read most of the time. I have several Bibles and I run into the problem of wanting it poetic but readable.

Lisa N
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The Serendipity Bible is great & many of the studies provide serious thinking space. Not only that, it is cheap. www.christianbook.com are currently selling it for $9.99. Which is the reason why I bought one. I am very glad to have it and be challenged daily.
 
Hey, just wanted to say thanks for helping me out.

I just ordered a Serendipity Bible, so yes, thanks.
 
I have to agree with MAGDALENE27, the Ignatius RSV-CE is my favorite. I would recommend it to anyone. 🙂
 
if you’re a Catholic get a DRB, if you’re a Protestant get a KJV.
get both isn’t a bad idea either
they two are my favorate.
 
I was also going to suggest the New American Bible. It’s a good one to start out with. I have one, although it’s really ragged right now. I also have a DRB and a Catholic Answers bible. I like both of them. I also have a “protestant” NKJV. It’s ok, but I have found that I have to be careful about reading the notes, since it is a protestant bible. Oh, it’s also a life-application bible. Great notes, maps and personality profiles and the like.
 
I’m casting another vote for New American Bible. It is the one used at Mass and the one that is recommended by the Pastor of my church here in OH. I have the Catholic Study Bible version and I just love it. On every page it refers you to the commentary in the front of the Bible and it has footnotes galore. Go to www.booksamillion.com and click on the FaithPoint tab. The cheapest prices I have see on books are at booksamilliion. The paper (or cloth, I think they may call it) is cheaper. It’s the same as hardcover.
 
First, AVOID ALL Protestant miss-written, unauthorized and incomplete Bibles.

Second, pick a Bible that has both the “Nihil Obstat” and “Imprimatur” printed in it at the begining. This shows it is has been approved by Christs body, His Catholic Church.

Some free online Bibles:

usccb.org/nab/bible/index.htm
drbo.org/

PS, I own many Protestant Bibles. I like them to compare what they say and how they interpret words. Lets just say the sky is the limit on how they miss-self-interpret to fit thier own theology. They pick and choose books and verses to delete at will. With all that said, even the LDS version I own still can be usefull - just not as good as an authorized version (i.e. Catholic Bible).

The best Bible is the one you read, even IF Protestant.

If you are really haveing some financial problems let me know in a private email. I can send you one of my spare Bibles (maybe the Mormon one?😉 ) or send you a nice new one. My gift to you. Consider it a “good work” (for Protestant Bibles that would be a “good deed” or “good doing” an example of how they change words to fit their needs).

Our Faith is known by it’s works? Or is that deeds? Or is that doings? Hum???:confused: Luther tried to take James out you know?

Seriously though, I’d be glad to help you out if needed. We don’t need a Bible for salvation or to be a good Christian, it’s just a tool to help us. It is a very good tool indeed.
 
I know there have been a lot of threads on bible translations, but I read an article by a Baptist pastor in my town who I think made a good point. He said he did not like the RSV version (which I guess our Catholic coutnerpart woudl be the RSV-CE) because in Isaiah 7:14 instead of saying ‘virgin’ it is translated to ‘young woman’. He said this is a sign of the liberal translators who somewhat deny the virgin birth. He said he recommended the New American Bible (which surprised me), and the New KJ.

I have to admit his comment on the RSV made sense. Does anyone have any detailed thoughts on this translation? Do you think he has a good point? I need a new bible and currently have the RSV-CE and am thinking now about replacing it with the New American Bible.
 
I’m afraid this isn’t much help, but I just want to say that my Bible is the St. Joseph Edition of The New American Bible. I love it’s footnotes, etc., and have never found any problem with it. (It’s footnotes and introductions to the various books are also very explanatory, esp. about what things were like during the time that it was written) Unfortunately, I received it as a gift, so I’m not aware as too how much it costs, although I don’t think it’s too much. Hope that helps. 🙂
 
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Elzee:
I know there have been a lot of threads on bible translations, but I read an article by a Baptist pastor in my town who I think made a good point. He said he did not like the RSV version (which I guess our Catholic coutnerpart woudl be the RSV-CE) because in Isaiah 7:14 instead of saying ‘virgin’ it is translated to ‘young woman’. He said this is a sign of the liberal translators who somewhat deny the virgin birth. He said he recommended the New American Bible (which surprised me), and the New KJ.

I have to admit his comment on the RSV made sense. Does anyone have any detailed thoughts on this translation? Do you think he has a good point? I need a new bible and currently have the RSV-CE and am thinking now about replacing it with the New American Bible.
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Commentators who don’t like the RSV (and by extension, the RSV-CE) seem to have only that one verse to grouse about, but never (as far as I’ve seen) provide anything else from that translation that is problematic. Seems pretty small potatoes to condemn an entire translation for.

The word in question (Hebrew almah) can be legitimately translated either “virgin” or “young woman” (look in any concordance). The important thing is how the early Church understood this as it relates to prophecy about the birth of the Messiah, not the way this word is rendered in our English translations. The early Church used the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the OT) which renders the word “virgin.” That this was so doesn’t show error on their part, but shows (in an amazing way, I think) how the Holy Spirit guides the Church into all truth. As long as WE know what it means and --more importantly --what the Church teaches about it, we can rest easy.
 
i just got a NAB from barnes and nobile for 12 bucks. just thought i’d pass that one on.
 
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Fidelis:
The word in question (Hebrew almah) can be legitimately translated either “virgin” or “young woman” (look in any concordance). The important thing is how the early Church understood this as it relates to prophecy about the birth of the Messiah, not the way this word is rendered in our English translations. The early Church used the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the OT) which renders the word “virgin.” That this was so doesn’t show error on their part, but shows (in an amazing way, I think) how the Holy Spirit guides the Church into all truth. As long as WE know what it means and --more importantly --what the Church teaches about it, we can rest easy.
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Besides, these who complain about the RSV never seem to see that the corresponding quote in Matthew does indeed say “virgin”.

As for the Baptist pastor saying he likes the New American Bible, that’s pretty unlikely. Do you think he could have said “New American STANDARD Bible?” It’s not the same.
 
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porthos11:
Besides, these who complain about the RSV never seem to see that the corresponding quote in Matthew does indeed say “virgin”.

As for the Baptist pastor saying he likes the New American Bible, that’s pretty unlikely. Do you think he could have said “New American STANDARD Bible?” It’s not the same.
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You’re right - it was the New American STANDARD Bible. I didn’t realize this was a different version and I blew right past that one. I’ve now read a few more articles by this pastor and he is an ex-Cathoic and obviously very anti-Catholic. (What is the difference between the NAB and the NASB?)
 
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Elzee:
You’re right - it was the New American STANDARD Bible. I didn’t realize this was a different version and I blew right past that one. I’ve now read a few more articles by this pastor and he is an ex-Cathoic and obviously very anti-Catholic. (What is the difference between the NAB and the NASB?)
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The NASB is a revision of the American Standard Version, which in turn was American Revision of the King James after the expiration of the agreement between the American and British translation committees of the Revised Version. It was supposed to be an alternative to the RSV (also a revision of the ASV) because of the so-called liberal biases of the RSV. The NASB is a good literal translation, but translated for a purely Protestant audience, hence it lacks the Deuterocanonicals, and can’t be used by Catholics except for cross-referencing.

The NAB on the other hand is a work by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine as a result of the provisions of Divino Afflante Spiritu, which permitted Catholic Biblical scholars to work off the original languages rather than just the Latin Vulgate. As such, the NAB is purely Catholic work, but is tained with heavy modernistic opinions in the notes, which can be very confusing to new Bible readers who are not familiar with historico-critical theories. The translation itself is fairly okay, until the unfortulate appearance of the horrible 1991 Psalms.
 
IMHO the Dhouay-Rheims is the best, because it is a literal word for word translation of the Latin vulgate at the time (italics are used when a word needs to be added to preserve the grammar. There are free versions available online and there’s a pocket edition NT available from Sinig-Tala publishers with dates for daily reading.

The other I have used is a set of paperbacks “The Navarre Bible,” with English and Latin and some commentary, from Four Courts Press.
 
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