New American Bible... is it Good?

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SoonerforChrist

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The reason why I ask is because, I have been getting some conflicting information and I want to get to the bottom of it.

Basically I was doing some research on New American Version of the Bible… To make a long story short is there conflict between catholicintl.com/ and Catholic Answers?

Is one more credible than the other?

My research started at fisheaters.com

and I got this:
  • Modern translations, even so-called “Catholic” ones, can be quite modernized – not only with obvious things such as “inclusive language,” but with subtle changes that can profoundly affect one’s understanding of God’s Truth. As an example: I Corinthians 9:5 reads:
Have we not power to carry about a woman, a sister, as well as the rest of the apostles, and the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?

But in the 1991 New American Bible, a translation approved by American Catholic Bishops, the same verse reads:

Do we not have the right to take along a Christian wife, as do the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Kephas?

And which is the right translation? The words translated as “a woman, a sister” in the Douay, and as “Christian wife” in the NAB, are “adelphên gunaika” in the Greek. “Gunaika” means both “woman” and “wife,” just as “femme” does in French; “adelphên” means “sister.” St. Paul used “adelphên” to modify “gunaika” in order to make clear that he was not referring to “wives,” Christian or not, but to female disciples such as those that always followed Jesus – women who are referred to as “gunaika” in Matthew 27:55-56, Luke 8:1-3, etc. The new “Catholic” translation is one written by “Catholics” who want to attack celibacy. And so it goes. For more on the out and out heresies of the New American Bible – the Bible used as the basis for American Novus Ordo lectionaries – see this article (off-site, will open in new browser window): New American Bible: Is It Good for Catholics?*

Thoughts, opinions… Anybody done the research already?
 
The New American Bible is fine if you are just the average person looking to do the average act of reading the Bible. There are a few problematic things in it, but no more than any other translation. While it is true that some translations are better than others, it is also true that no translation is perfect and that all translations have a decent number of problems. In terms of those Bibles that have the deuterocannon (and are done as Catholic translations), the NAB is average. It’s not terrible, but it’s not great. So if you want to just read the Bible the way that most people do, it is fine.

If you want to do a deeper study of Scripture then, which translation is best? None. If you want to do a deeper study, no one translation is going to cut it. What you will want to do is pick up a variety of Bibles and compare the verses to try to get the most balanced and proper view of what the Scripture says. The only perfect version of the Bible is the one that is written in the original Greek and Hebrew. You could go out and learn those. However, if you dont want to do that, pick up an interlinear translation. This is a translation that has the greek and/or Hebrew put side by side with the english. You won’t be able to do as well as if you knew the languages, but you can gain some valuable insight even without knowing the languages.

A great tool is to go to www.e-sword.net. Download their software, it is completely free. This is a Bible viewer program. They also have dozens of Bilbe translations availible. They also have the orignial greek and hebrew versions, and the vulgate. Additionally availible are various greek and hebrew dictionaries that will allow you to start to understand the greek and the hebrew. Many of the Bible’s availible also have a feature by which you click on the enlish word and it brings you to the hebrew or greek dictionary entry corresponding to where the word came from.
 
the fisheaters cite is not moderated by people in communion with the CAtholic Church, so ignore it. The New American bible is the version authorized for liturgical and catechetical use in the United States, so that should be good enough for any American Catholic.
 
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asquared:
the fisheaters cite is not moderated by people in communion with the CAtholic Church, so ignore it. The New American bible is the version authorized for liturgical and catechetical use in the United States, so that should be good enough for any American Catholic.
Click to expand...
I don’t know about the fisheaters cite not being accurate in what they say. I have seen Catholic International and Catholic Answers bang heads on various issues, mainly with Karl Keating.

I see alot of liberalism finding its way into the Catholic Church especially in the United States, and the one example I mentioned in my first post, got me thinking about which Bible is best. I really trust Father Mitch Pacwa on issues like this, I might have to shoot him or even Jesse Romero an email on this issue. I’m not a Bible Scholar, but like I told one of my good Catholic friends, it wouldn’t suprise me if something as small as this was another effort to chizzle away the celibacy of the priesthood.
 
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asquared:
the fisheaters cite is not moderated by people in communion with the CAtholic Church, so ignore it. The New American bible is the version authorized for liturgical and catechetical use in the United States, so that should be good enough for any American Catholic.
Click to expand...
Its actually not the NAB which is authorized for Liturgical use, but a modified version of the NAB which can be found in the NAB St. Joseph edition.
 
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Lazerlike42:
Its actually not the NAB which is authorized for Liturgical use, but a modified version of the NAB which can be found in the NAB St. Joseph edition.
Click to expand...
How does the “NAB St Joseph Edition” differ from any other NAB? And how does the US Lectionary differ from the NAB in ways that, say, the Canadian Lectionary does not differ from the NRSV (if I’m recalling that correctly?)?

I’d thought the “St Joseph Edition” merely designated the NAB plus notes, maps, and other extra materials as presented and published by the Catholic Book Publishing Company?

tee
 
The footnotes in the NAB are it’s worst aspect.

While it is not a literal translation, neither is it a dynamic equivalent. It falls about half-way between the two, which is the only reason why I sometimes use it. I don’t limit myself to just one translation. I have and use several.
 
When I first converted to the Catholic Faith, I purchased my first “Catholic Bible”, an NAB version, with great enthusiasm. Thus, one of my* first * big shocks and disappointments in the American Catholic church came in seeing what a pathetic excuse for Scripture most other Catholics were using. :confused: 😦 :mad: :eek: :nope: :bigyikes:

That the NAB is a profoundly deficient version should be evident even from its title, “New” and “American”…It does not deserve to be called a translation, but rather a quasi-heretical paraphrase (the commentary and footnotes are certainly materially heretical).
The fact that it has had ecclesiastical approval is irrelevant - lots of worthless trash got approved in the “Silly Seventies” - but now most folks know better.

The fact that the first edition of the NAB had to be retracted, and that even later editions had to be rejected even for American liturgical use, should also tell us something. An intelligent, educated Catholic (whether, orthodox, conservative, traditional, or not!) would do well to look elsewhere. The RSVCE is a lesser evil, and the DRCV is the best for an authentic Roman Catholic Bible experience. Better yet, start studying Greek and Latin…
 
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tjmiller:
The fact that it has had ecclesiastical approval is irrelevant - lots of worthless trash got approved in the “Silly Seventies” - but now most folks know better.
Click to expand...
:bigyikes: I think we’ll have to agree to disagree on that point.

Doesn’t pretend to know better than the Church,
tee
 
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Lazerlike42:
The New American Bible is fine if you are just the average person looking to do the average act of reading the Bible. There are a few problematic things in it, but no more than any other translation. While it is true that some translations are better than others, it is also true that no translation is perfect and that all translations have a decent number of problems. In terms of those Bibles that have the deuterocannon (and are done as Catholic translations), the NAB is average. It’s not terrible, but it’s not great. So if you want to just read the Bible the way that most people do, it is fine.

If you want to do a deeper study of Scripture then, which translation is best? None. If you want to do a deeper study, no one translation is going to cut it. What you will want to do is pick up a variety of Bibles and compare the verses to try to get the most balanced and proper view of what the Scripture says. The only perfect version of the Bible is the one that is written in the original Greek and Hebrew. You could go out and learn those. However, if you dont want to do that, pick up an interlinear translation. This is a translation that has the greek and/or Hebrew put side by side with the english. You won’t be able to do as well as if you knew the languages, but you can gain some valuable insight even without knowing the languages.

A great tool is to go to www.e-sword.net. Download their software, it is completely free. This is a Bible viewer program. They also have dozens of Bilbe translations availible. They also have the orignial greek and hebrew versions, and the vulgate. Additionally availible are various greek and hebrew dictionaries that will allow you to start to understand the greek and the hebrew. Many of the Bible’s availible also have a feature by which you click on the enlish word and it brings you to the hebrew or greek dictionary entry corresponding to where the word came from.
Click to expand...
A question for you, I downloaded the Bible View and some commentaries to go with it. To your knowledge, are any of the available commentaries geared toward the Catholic side? I was dissapointed to see commentaries that are slanted toward the Protestant view of things.
 
I read the NAB completely through last year, about the 11th or 12th time I’ve done the complete (at least by Protestant standards) Bible, and my second time with a Catholic translation (I had done the Jerusalem Bible back in the early 70s).

I would give it about a C- as a translation. The translators tried to be too modern and “hip.”

Additionally, in the Psalms and other poetical passages someone really had a thing for reversing subjects and predicates, and as I’ve mentioned before in these forums, many places sound like they were translated by Yoda.

To compound things, there are passages that blatantly use inclusive language. And the footnotes–don’t even get me started about the footnotes!!!

I’m currently working through the RSV-CE, and I find it much better.

DaveBj
 
I’m also very confused on the bible controversy. Why doesn’t Rome issue a “real” Bible, properly translated from the original languages, but before it can be watered down by “inclusive” language? It could be a double set, with the Cathechism. Thats the one I want, but cannot decide which to go with. Douey Rheims was going to be my choice, but then people say it was translated from translations from translations.
 
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anawim:
The footnotes in the NAB are it’s worst aspect.
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You can say that again!

At New Years I started reading the Bible again w/ the intent of reading it all. Well I’d glance down at the notes to get some insight and half the time it makes me want to throw up.

I stopped reading the Bible.

I gotta get me a better one or one w/ out notes.
 
The NAB is the only Bible I’ve used. It was what we were supposed to use for my high school and I still use it. I’d like to take my study of the Bible seriously and in depth. From what has been written in this thread, it would seem that I should use a different bible. What area of the NAB is the biggest obstacle to scholarly study. If the translation is the problem because it tries to modernize or alter the text too much, then I’ll look into a new Bible. What’s the problem with the footnotes? If the main problem is that you guys despise references to the different literary traditions (yahwist, elohist, etc.), then it doesn’t really affect me. Whether or not you find merit in the historical-critical method, it is approved by the Church. Calling it heretical because you disagree with it is childish.
 
The Graf-Wellhausen Documentary Hypothesis is not formally heretical, it’s just stupid. It involves a mass of gratuitous, unsubstantiated, rationalistic speculations currently tolerated by the Magisterium - not officially approved.

If “JEDP” nonsense were the only problem w/NAB footnotes and commentary, it might be a tolerable product. There’s far worse treachery than that afoot, however…Those who still keep a copy can help give you some examples of NAB errors - but in my case, I found the tripe sufficiently offensive that I threw out my copy long ago…
 
So is the DRCV the best option, then, or does someone find another version to be superior?
 
One hopes that an English translation of the Neo-Vulgate will come out in our lifetime. Barring that, I don’t think anyone who knows his stuff will propose any other single version as being “superior” to the DRCV. There are textual and linguistic inaccuracies to be found in it (as in the Latin), however, so most in the know will recommend the original Greek. With proper ancillary literature, that can be managed more easily than most would suspect.

Some can’t stomach the archaic language of the DRVC - so for such folk the RSVCE would seem to be acceptable. Heck, if its good enough for Ignatius Press, and for the Navarre Bible, it ought to be good enough for us, eh?
 
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tjmiller:
The Graf-Wellhausen Documentary Hypothesis is not formally heretical, it’s just stupid. It involves a mass of gratuitous, unsubstantiated, rationalistic speculations currently tolerated by the Magisterium - not officially approved.

If “JEDP” nonsense were the only problem w/NAB footnotes and commentary, it might be a tolerable product. There’s far worse treachery than that afoot, however…Those who still keep a copy can help give you some examples of NAB errors - but in my case, I found the tripe sufficiently offensive that I threw out my copy long ago…
Click to expand...
While you might want to put this a bit more … charitibly, I can’t think of anything in your posting with which I disagree.

Get the Ignatius Bible for some good notes. Unfortunately, it is not yet comprehensive; they haven’t produced a complete bible yet. The Navarre Bible is another great option, and I believe it is complete, but you may have to order TWELVE volumes!

I think they’re both based on the RSV translation.
 
ANYTHING but the New American Bible.
Well, not “anything,” but you know what I mean.
The bible text itself isn’t particularly awful,
but the study notes and footnotes actually assert that the inspired writers erred (such as Luke) in many areas. If I took the NAB footnotes and study notes seriously, I would reject the Christian Faith.

I recommend Ignatius’ bibles, the Navarre, the RSV,
and the HAYDOCK Study Bible especially (it’s a Douay-Rheims).

Love,
Jaypeeto4 (aka Jaypeeto3)
 
I know this will run against the current a bit but my most treasured version of the Bible is a New American. Perhaps it is simply that that is the version I had when I came to a great appreciation of the gospel message.

The truth of the gospel is a fantastic thing and any version of it is a thing to be treasured

Because there is no such thing as a “literal translation”, the search for such a translation would be futile. What we all need is a clear understanding of the Good News that God’s kingdom is at hand.

Any bible that helps us understand that is a valuable resource.

So are footnotes, commentaries, etc.

So is, hopefully, the priest giving the homily on Sunday.

I have found the footnotes of the NAB to be occasionally insightful, sometimes puzzling, sometimes I wonder what planet they come from. I don’t regret having been exposed to them

I do refer to different translations from time to time to try and better understand the meaning of a verse.

Enough rambling,

The goal is this: to better understand God’s kingdom so that we may seek it more readily. Look through any version of the Bible that helps you accomplish that goal.

peace

-Jim
 
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