And yes–in some instances the RSV is more accurate than the Douay Rheims.
No Version of the bible is perfect–and it’s just my opinion–but I will always voice the opinion with No Apology and that is with all its errors a Catholic who wants accuracy in the Bible can do better with a Catholic Version such as the Douay Rheims than a minimally polished Protestant version such as the RSV.
I’m curious what your take is on two issues given your mindset. First, there are verses in the DR that do not appear in the LV, most notably in the deuterocanonical books, like Sirach 1:31-32 (
DRB
rg). Second, I’m personally baffled over 1 Cor 15:51b. Here are six translations (the RSV is not the RSV-2CE, sorry):
(RSV) We shall
not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
(NAB) We shall
not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed,
(KJV) We shall
not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
(DR) We shall all indeed rise again: but we shall
not all be changed.
(LV) omnes quidem resurgemus sed
non omnes inmutabimur
(BNV)
Non omnes quidem dormiemus, sed omnes immutabimur,
Note the location of the negative. Church Father writings attest to varying forms of this verse:
Letter To Minervius and Alexander (Saint Jerome)
“we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed,” 1 Cor. xv. 51 … Jerome prefers the reading
“we shall all sleep but we shall not all be changed”.
On the Resurrection of the Flesh, Chapter XLII (Tertullian)
“
We shall all indeed rise again (though we shall not all undergo the transformation) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump”—for none shall experience this change but those only who shall be found in the flesh.
A Treatise on Faith and the Creed, Chapter 6 (Saint Augustine)
This is the change concerning which the apostle likewise speaks thus:
“We shall all rise, but we shall not all be changed.”
City of God, Book XX, Chapter 20 (Saint Augustine)
“We shall all rise,” or, as other mss. read, “We shall all sleep.”
Against Clesus, Book V, Chapter XVII (Origen)
It is with a secret kind of wisdom that it was said by the apostle of Jesus:
“We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
A Commentary on the Apostles’ Creed, Section 43 (Rufinus)
And afterways he adds,
“Behold I shew you a mystery: We shall all rise indeed, but we shall not all be changed;” or as other copies read, “We shall all sleep, indeed but we shall not all be changed.
Homily XI (Saint John Chrysostom)
“For we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed” (1 Cor. xv. 51.), and shall all share not only in the Resurrection, but in incorruption. Some indeed to honor, but others as a means of punishment.
Homily XLII, 3 (Saint John Chrysostom)
“We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” He means as follows:
“we shall not all die, ‘but we shall all be changed,’” even those who die not. For they too are mortal.
On the Making of Man, Chapter XXII, 6 (Saint Gregory of Nyssa)
“Behold, I show you a mystery;
we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.”
Of God and His Creatures, Book IV (Of God in His Revelation), Chapter LXXXIX (Saint Thomas Aquinas)
This is the meaning of what the Apostle says,
that we shall all rise again, but we shall not all be changed (1 Cor. xv, 51): for the good alone shall be changed to glory, and the bodies of the wicked shall rise without glory.
See, there are sound exegeses for the varying translations (or mistranslations)… but which is true to what Saint Paul wrote?