The Good News Bible

[Eucharisted]

I remember the Bible I read on the day of my conversion was the Good News Bible. It was a blue hardcover Good News Bible, with sketch drawings on every other page. I recently learned that this Bible translation is Protestant. This confuses me: if I was reading a Protestant Bible, than it is possible that the Jesus who appeared to me was not really Jesus?

 

[Pug]

Nothing you related in your brief post leads me to think Satan or some other false figure appeared to you. Is there anything besides that you were holding a particular bible at the time that leads you to think it was a false thing that you saw or a false conversion?

I’m familiar with those old bibles with the sketch drawings. They had a Catholic version, one that actually had the right books in the right places, if I recall. I was familiar with a red softcover of it, but the later edition was a different color, probably blue. Are you sure it wasn’t a Catholic edition you were holding?

In general, though, if you actually see an apparition of a personage, it is possible that the apparition is not genuine. Was this a recent event and has it continued, or are we talking long ago?

 

[Eucharisted]

Nothing you related in your brief post leads me to think Satan or some other false figure appeared to you. Is there anything besides that you were holding a particular bible at the time that leads you to think it was a false thing that you saw or a false conversion?

I’m familiar with those old bibles with the sketch drawings. They had a Catholic version, one that actually had the right books in the right places, if I recall. I was familiar with a red softcover of it, but the later edition was a different color, probably blue. Are you sure it wasn’t a Catholic edition you were holding?

In general, though, if you actually see an apparition of a personage, it is possible that the apparition is not genuine. Was this a recent event and has it continued, or are we talking long ago?

Oh, a Catholic version? I might be mistaken in it being Protestant than. It included a book about the angel Uzriel and the end of the world. That was my favorite Old Testament book next to Genesis and Exodus.

The apparition happened when I was ten years old, which was, um…well I can’t figure out how long ago it was but something like ten or thirteen years ago. I think. I don’t know if the apparition is true or not; gotta wait on the Church’s judgment. (Patience is a virtue)

 

[Snerticus]

Even if it was a Protestant Bible, I don’t think it would have mattered. God comes to people in different ways. God the Father appeared to me around the time my best friend at work told me she was a Born Again Christian. At that time I was not practicing religion at all, didn’t want to, didn’t even want to think about God. Nothing religious in our house (I was married at the time - husband was also a non-practicing Catholic) except for I think an Irish Wedding Blessing or something of that nature.

Even after my “apparition” and locution - which was a warning by they way - I didn’t give in to what He told me, so I kept wallowing in my sin. Slowly the sin kept eating at me and eventually as I was slowly coming back to the Church it blew up in my face - so to speak. Afterwards, I was much more willing to listen to God, and came back quicker. But I still had some trials to go through before I really started going back to Church seriously.

All in all, I’ve noticed from revert or convert stories that God may bring someone home by pushing them away for a time, kind of like to view the bigger picture at a different angle. I don’t think it matters really. When I came back to the Church, the first bible I got was NIV, but it was Protestant. That didn’t matter, I still grew spiritually even though it lacked several of our books. Then I got a New American Bible (because I love red-letter-editions!) and I’ve been using that ever since.

 

[Pug]

Oh, a Catholic version? I might be mistaken in it being Protestant than. It included a book about the angel Uzriel and the end of the world. That was my favorite Old Testament book next to Genesis and Exodus.

The apparition happened when I was ten years old, which was, um…well I can’t figure out how long ago it was but something like ten or thirteen years ago. I think. I don’t know if the apparition is true or not; gotta wait on the Church’s judgment. (Patience is a virtue)

Ah, you had me puzzling for a moment there. I suspect you mean Uriel from the book of 2 Esdras (confusingly also known as 4 Esdras), which is not part of the canon of the bible (Catholic or Protestant), but it is often included in the “apocrypha”. You are right that they translated/included that in the Good News Bible, at least the ones with an apocrypha in them or that were the Catholic Edition. So, just to be clear, if you mean 4 Esdras, it is not part of the Old Testament or the New Testament. It was, however, quoted by the Fathers.

I didn’t mean that it was originally/fundamentally a Catholic translation, just that they had later come out with a version with an imprimatur for Catholics to read, called the Catholic Edition, or Catholic Study Edition. It is like the RSV in a way. Originally the RSV was a Protestant translation (still is), but later someone came out with a Catholic Edition, the RSV-CE. They probably did a better job on the RSV-CE, fixing it up and stuff, than they ever did on Today’s English Version (the Good News Bible), but I haven’t compared the two enough to say for sure. Many Catholics like to read the RSV-CE, especially folks here at CAF.

The reason I asked if this was a recent event or ongoing was because if it was ongoing, I’d advise you talk to a priest about it to get advice. But yours was long ago. You’re right, you’ll find out someday.

Oh, I looked up my old red Good News Bible and they didn’t have the books in position. I remembered wrong. They were sandwiched between the OT and the NT.

 

[Pug]

Slowly the sin kept eating at me and eventually as I was slowly coming back to the Church it blew up in my face - so to speak. Afterwards, I was much more willing to listen to God, and came back quicker.

People are like that with sin. We sometimes demand proof, like for it to blow up in our faces, before we will concede it is wrong. I’m glad you started listening and came home!

 

[Eucharisted]

Ah, you had me puzzling for a moment there. I suspect you mean Uriel from the book of 2 Esdras (confusingly also known as 4 Esdras), which is not part of the canon of the bible (Catholic or Protestant), but it is often included in the “apocrypha”. You are right that they translated/included that in the Good News Bible, at least the ones with an apocrypha in them or that were the Catholic Edition. So, just to be clear, if you mean 4 Esdras, it is not part of the Old Testament or the New Testament. It was, however, quoted by the Fathers.

I didn’t mean that it was originally/fundamentally a Catholic translation, just that they had later come out with a version with an imprimatur for Catholics to read, called the Catholic Edition, or Catholic Study Edition. It is like the RSV in a way. Originally the RSV was a Protestant translation (still is), but later someone came out with a Catholic Edition, the RSV-CE. They probably did a better job on the RSV-CE, fixing it up and stuff, than they ever did on Today’s English Version (the Good News Bible), but I haven’t compared the two enough to say for sure. Many Catholics like to read the RSV-CE, especially folks here at CAF.

The reason I asked if this was a recent event or ongoing was because if it was ongoing, I’d advise you talk to a priest about it to get advice. But yours was long ago. You’re right, you’ll find out someday.

Oh, I looked up my old red Good News Bible and they didn’t have the books in position. I remembered wrong. They were sandwiched between the OT and the NT.

Yes, that is the angel I meant. Thank you for the info