Only the Vulgate?

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Similar to some Protestants who claim the King James Version of the Bible is the only uncorrupted translation of Holy Scripture, some Catholics have told me that the Latin Vulgate is the only authoratative for Catholics. They base their argument on the fact that the Council of Trent declared the Vulgate as the official Bible of the Catholic Church, and that it is free from all moral and doctrinal errors. I agree that the Vulgate is the official Bible of the Church in the same way as Latin is the offical language of the Church, but does that mean that Catholic must only use the Vulgate?
 
Can the Vulgate even be bought new now? I thought I remembered looking and couldn’t find it - Douay Rheims was the closest I could get…
 
The only true (or as close as you can get) version of any of the books of the Bible are the ones written in their original language. This is due to loosing meaning in translations to other languages.

This means that you would have to go back to Hebrew, Arameic, and Greek for the Scriptures.

PF
 
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WanderAimlessly:
The only true (or as close as you can get) version of any of the books of the Bible are the ones written in their original language. This is due to loosing meaning in translations to other languages.

This means that you would have to go back to Hebrew, Arameic, and Greek for the Scriptures.

PF
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Right, I understand that we no longer possess the originals, but that we have copies of them on which we based today’s translations on. But St. Jerome compiled the *Vulgate *back in the 4th century with papal aid, and surely Jerome had access to the most reliable and authentic sources of Holy Scripture as opposed to fragments and parts we have today. What I’m asking is if Catholics must only use the Vulgate, since it was made authoratative by the Council of Trent in the 15th century?
 
Youthcrusader, the translation used by the Catholic Church here in the USA, is the New American Bible (NAB). This is the translation that is used at Mass.
 
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youthcrusader:
Similar to some Protestants who claim the King James Version of the Bible is the only uncorrupted translation of Holy Scripture,
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Meaning what:​

  • that it contains the whole canon ? It does
  • that the text is free of all corruptions ? It is not
  • as is plain from Divino Afflante Spiritu: see section 17 & those following ##
some Catholics have told me that the Latin Vulgate is the only authoratative for Catholics. They base their argument on the fact that the Council of Trent declared the Vulgate as the official Bible of the Catholic Church, and that it is free from all moral and doctrinal errors. I agree that the Vulgate is the official Bible of the Church in the same way as Latin is the offical language of the Church, but does that mean that Catholic must only use the Vulgate?
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The Vulgate is the “authorised version” of the Bible for the Latin Rite. It is authoritative:​

  • not because it is inerrant;
  • or a perfect translation either of the Hebrew, Aramaic or the Greek;
  • or because it is incapable of being improved;
  • or because no other Bible is any good;
  • or because it is textually perfect
for it is none of those things. It is sufficient for its function - which is, to be the official Latin Bible of the Latin Rite. As such, it can be used in the Liturgy, in controversies, and in theology and for all other purposes served by the Bible. But none of this implies it is incapable of improvement.

It is official - and that is all. It is authoritative for Roman-Rite Catholics - not for any others. The Coptic, Byzantine, Chaldean, Maronite, and other Catholics in union with Rome don’t use it, and don’t need to, as they have their own ancient versions: for Byzantine Catholics (for example) the official OT is the Septuagint version - not the Vulgate.

The above is based on what Pius XII said in Divino Afflante Spiritu in 1943, when explaining the sense of a decree of the Council of Trent regarding the use of the Vulgate. Since 1943, a great deal has happened - so Vatican II’s teaching on the Bible, and the CCC’s teaching on it, need to be taken into account as well. It sounds as if the “Vulgate only-ists” are misunderstanding Divino Afflante, and forgetting part of what it says on the Vulgate.

Especially as Pius XII explicitly encouraged the making of translations from the original languages.

Here you are: papalencyclicals.net/Pius12/P12DIVIN.HTM

See in particular sections 20 to 22 - they should help answer your question 🙂 ##
 
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youthcrusader:
Similar to some Protestants who claim the King James Version of the Bible is the only uncorrupted translation of Holy Scripture, some Catholics have told me that the Latin Vulgate is the only authoratative for Catholics. They base their argument on the fact that the Council of Trent declared the Vulgate as the official Bible of the Catholic Church, and that it is free from all moral and doctrinal errors. I agree that the Vulgate is the official Bible of the Church in the same way as Latin is the offical language of the Church, but does that mean that Catholic must only use the Vulgate?
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No, you can use any transation that you wish. You should be aware, however, that many translations contain subtle interpretational leanings toward the preconceived notions of the translators.
 
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