Which of the "newer" Catholic Bibles do you prefer?

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RPRPsych said:
A bit surprising to see the number of votes for the NRSV, though. I always got the impression that it never quite caught on… 😛
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You can subtract my mistaken vote for the NRSVCE, as I thought you had the RSV-2CE listed. My bad.
 
po18guy said:
You can subtract my mistaken vote for the NRSVCE, as I thought you had the RSV-2CE listed. My bad.
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Sorry for the confusion. I personally find the RSV-2CE the most “orthodox” of the versions that have come out in my lifespan, followed by the JB. If I had to vote for one of the options on the list, it’d be the NJB - partly for reasons already mentioned above, partly because it’s the first Bible I bought with my own salary in a permanent job. I did get a Christian Community Bible as a parting gift when I left home to work, but its political footnotes annoyed me 🙂
 
RPRPsych said:
Sorry for the confusion. I personally find the RSV-2CE the most “orthodox” of the versions that have come out in my lifespan, followed by the JB. If I had to vote for one of the options on the list, it’d be the NJB - partly for reasons already mentioned above, partly because it’s the first Bible I bought with my own salary in a permanent job. I did get a Christian Community Bible as a parting gift when I left home to work, but its political footnotes annoyed me 🙂
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If I could, I would swap my vote for none of them. I have been reading both a 1914 D-R and a 1953 CCD bible, and rather like both of them.
 
po18guy said:
If I could, I would swap my vote for none of them. I have been reading both a 1914 D-R and a 1953 CCD bible, and rather like both of them.
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I have a old used copy of the CCD Bible and really love it a lot.

Hey, if you’re going to go DRB, might as well get a Haydock, 😃 I have one of them too.
 
Church_Militant said:
I have a old used copy of the CCD Bible and really love it a lot.

Hey, if you’re going to go DRB, might as well get a Haydock, 😃 I have one of them too.
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I cheaped out and found the online version. Wanted a D-R for quite awhile, and found one on eBay for $10. 1914 James Cardinal Gibbons (now there’s a bio!) approbation and all. You are quite right. Even though the CCD bible has a bit of “in-between-ness” to it, it is everything that the NAB is not. Sad to say, there are many mint Catholic bibles out there - further perpetuating a negative Catholic stereotype… :o
 
You guys are really motivating me to get a credit card 😃

Most of the modern bibles - and the Douay-Rheims-Challoner - are all available online from my local bookstore, which is how I was able to collect them, paying through my debit card. Unfortunately, the CCD is only available on Amazon, and they only take credit cards.

Let me get a copy, and then I can post a “Which orthodox Bible translation do you prefer?” thread.

In the meantime, whenever I’m in doubt, I refer to the Douay-Rheims (I have a nice hardcover published by Loreto Press) or the RSV-2CE. 😉 While I like the Jerusalems because of my cultural Anglophilia, I am well aware of their shortcomings.
 
Of the ones you listed, the NRSV received my vote. It is the most literary yet formal (literal) of the bunch. It also has the best textual basis and whenever there are issues with inclusive language (or alternative renderings) the NRSV has extensive textual notes which indicate such. Plus, the NRSV has far more study materials, like interlinears, study bibles, and word studies, keyed to it than all those other translations combined, including the RSV-2CE.
 
mccorm45 said:
Of the ones you listed, the NRSV received my vote. It is the most literary yet formal (literal) of the bunch. It also has the best textual basis and whenever there are issues with inclusive language (or alternative renderings) the NRSV has extensive textual notes which indicate such. Plus, the NRSV has far more study materials, like interlinears, study bibles, and word studies, keyed to it than all those other translations combined, including the RSV-2CE.
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Love the blog, which I’ve been following for a while! (In fact, I bought an NAB-RE after reading your articles on it.) Plenty of food for thought there, especially for a “Biblio”-phile like me. 🙂

Though I’m a pretty big non-fan of inclusive language, I do like a lot of the (non-inclusive-related) language choices that the NRSV has made. I disagree with “young woman” in Isaiah 7:14, but I understand their reasoning (and even the Catechism references it as “Isaiah 7:14 (LXX)”, recognizing the depth of the issue).

However, in other places, it’s good. Examples are “he” in Genesis 3:15 as a clear reference to Christ (NJB has “it”, NAB has “they”), and “by your offspring” in Genesis 22:18 (NJB has “by your descendants”). Both preserve the references to Christ that are lost in the other translations. Psalm 45:6 and 45:9 also preserve the allegorical interpretation, while the NAB doesn’t.

The NRSV also has the endorsement of Dr. Joel Hoffmann (sp?) of God Didn’t Say That, which counts for something in my book.

Finally, my own copy of the NRSV is a pleasure to read. Good font size, good paper quality, and the notes are orthodox - including a timeline at the back that uses the traditional dates for the Exodus and the Prophets.

While the inclusive language bit still does jar, I find myself reading it a lot. As I said, my NJB vote is partly based on purely sentimental reasons 😃
 
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