Which version of the bible?

[m_crane]

My son has expressed an interest in reading the Bible. He wants to read the version that is closest to the earliest text but in english . Which do I recommend?

 

[Spencerian]

My son has expressed an interest in reading the Bible. He wants to read the version that is closest to the earliest text but in english . Which do I recommend?

Hi.

Two books come to mind for the discerning young (or old) Catholic.

The New American Bible is the official text of the Church. It’s written fairly well and is easily digestible. You should be able to get that at any Catholic bookstore.

Apologists and those who want a more studious version may consider the Revised Standard Version from Ignatius Press.

 

[Jesus_123]

+Mother Angelica of worldwide EWTN fame loved and used the . . . **1966 Jerusalem Bible ** (a paraphrase of man, not a word for word translation) . . . in her teaching . . . but frequently sounded serious warnings about the . . . loss of Sacred Truth (Holy Thoughts of God) . . . via the unholy use of . . . “inclusive language” . . . incorporated into ALL this Bible’s versions thereafter.

:bible1: The Holy Bible (Douay Rheims Version [Douai-Rheims], Revised by Bishop Richard Challoner) is a wonderful translation . . . it was first translated . . . word for word . . . from the Latin Vulgate, the Catholic Church’s Official Bible. Bishop Challoner’s edition phrases it to make it more reader-friendly. It was the only English Catholic Bible for over 300 years and has been greatly blessed of God as such. The original Latin translation is largely the result of the **Holy Spirit’s **inspiration and annointing of the labors of the blessed St. Jerome . . . and some of the manuscripts **St. Jerome **used are no longer in existence.

Pope Pius XII stated that the
Holy :bible1: Bible
Latin Vulgate Translation
was **
“free from any error whatsoever in matters of faith and morals.”**
With **St. Jerome **. . . **who as well as being a SAINT is a HOLY DOCTOR of the Catholic Church . . . and . . . ** the Vicar of Christ’s declaration of support . . . vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_30091943_divino-afflante-spiritu_en.html . . . you can’t go wrong with this Bible . . .

Below are comments from the **Eternal Word Television Network’s ** ewtn.com website . . . which also contain some examples of the Holy See’s gravely serious definitive and corrective point of view on some Biblical translations on the market today.

:bible1: Douai-Rheims [Douay-Rheims]. The original Catholic Bible in English, pre-dating the King James Version (1611). It was translated from the Latin Vulgate, the Church’s official Scripture text, by English Catholics in exile on the continent. The NT [New Testament] was completed and published in 1582 when the English College (the seminary for English Catholics) was located at Rheims. The Old Testament was published in 1610 when the College was located at Douai.​

**The renown teaching priest Father John Corapi ** endorses and highly recommends the **ORIGINAL Revised Standard Version-Catholic Edition ** of Sacred :bible1: Scripture as his favored modern English translation . . . please note that this is the ORIGINAL RSV-CE.

:bible1: Revised Standard Version - Catholic Edition (RSV-CE).Considered the best combination of literal (formal equivalence translation) and literary by many orthodox Catholic scholars. Published today by Ignatius Press (Ignatius Bible) and Scepter Press …**​

The enemy of souls most unholy spirit has used the grave and disordered error of “inclusive language” (stripping God the Holy Spirit’s designated use of masculine and feminine words from text re God and mankind and neutering them) to make serious inroads in corrupting that which the **God the Holy Spirit **has entrusted to Christ’s Most Holy Apostolic Roman Catholic Church . . . when/if purchasing a Revised Standard Version-Catholic Edition be very careful not to request the NEW RSV-CE . . . which is being heavily promoted nowadays and contains real errors . . . the NAB version has a similar problem . . .

New Revised Standard Version - Catholic Edition (1989). An adaptation for Catholic use of the NRSV of the National Council of the Churches of Christ. Although used in the American edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it was rejected for liturgical use by the Holy See owing to inclusive language … ******​

NAB with Revised Psalms and Revised New Testament (1991) [also a paraphrase of man,not a word for word translation]. It was **due to the use of vertical inclusive language **(re: God and Christ) and some uses of horizontal inclusive language (re: human beings), that the Holy See rejected this text as the basis of a revised Lectionary for the United States. This is the version of the NAB currently on sale in the United States. ******
​

. . . all for Jesus+
St. Jerome please pray for us+
thank You Lord for Thy Wonderful Holy Word+​

 

[momor]

Since we Catholics do not belong to a sola scriptura church is any particular translation of the Bible that important? Don’t we take the Bible as a whole along with Tradition and the Catechism?

If I have trouble understanding a particular passage I might compare several different versions to get the prevailing flavor of the meaning.
Here is the website I use bible.cc/. I just type in the verse(s) I’m interested in.

I use the NAB as my primary translation because I just find the English phrasing so much easier to understand.

 

[musicality]

Since we Catholics do not belong to a sola scriptura church is any particular translation of the Bible that important? Don’t we take the Bible as a whole along with Tradition and the Catechism?

If I have trouble understanding a particular passage I might compare several different versions to get the prevailing flavor of the meaning.
Here is the website I use bible.cc/. I just type in the verse(s) I’m interested in.

I use the NAB as my primary translation because I just find the English phrasing so much easier to understand.

Of course the translation is important! Though we don’t believe in sola scriptura, scripture is still an authoritative source and if it is not translated well from the original language, its teachings may be misunderstood!

 

[momor]

Of course the translation is important! Though we don’t believe in sola scriptura, scripture is still an authoritative source and if it is not translated well from the original language, its teachings may be misunderstood!

I was referring to any accepted Catholic translation. I do look at what non-Catholic translations say but only to get a wide perspective. In my experience on that website they are usually pretty close in meaning.

 

[Jesus_123]

+Paraphrases . . . *men’s personal ideas of what they “think” *Scripture is saying . . . are not . . . Scripture . . . and from some of the disturbing notes in the commentaries in the NAB one can discern that the hearts of some of the so-called “translators” were neither understanding . . . God’s Holy Word . . . ** nor Catholic Church Doctrine nor the Holy Apostolic See . . . and sadly also the NAB writings purporting to be Scripture are sometimes literally unrecognizable in relation to word for word translations of Scripture re the Catholic Church’s official Holy :bible1: Bible the Latin Vulgate . . .

One needs to return to Catechism teachings and Sacred Scripture itself to enter into intelligent awareness and some understanding of the mystery of “language” (words) as a mode of expression of body, soul and spirit of communion between God and man.

**. . . :coffeeread: . . .
The Holy :bible1: Bible **
(Bishop Challoner’s Douay-Rhiems Version
from the Latin Vulgate)

Genesis 11:1-9

1 And the earth was of one tongue, and of the same speech. … 4 And they said: Come, let us make a city and a tower, the top whereof may reach to heaven: and let us make our name famous before we be scattered abroad into all lands.

5 And the **Lord **came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of Adam were building. 6 And he said: Behold, it is one people, and all have one tongue: and they have begun to do this, neither will they leave off from their designs, till they accomplish them in deed. 7 Come ye, therefore, let us go down, and there confound their tongue, that they may not understand one another’s speech. 8 And so the Lord scattered them from that place into all lands, and they ceased to build the city. 9 And therefore the name thereof was called Babel, because there the language of the whole earth was confounded: and from thence the Lord scattered them abroad upon the face of all countries.​

Sinful man . . . *in his fallen state being corrupted and spiritually dead in sin and utterly separated from the . . . Source of Eternal Continuing Life . . . our . . . Wonderful God . . . *having corrupted and lost his purity of intent of **heart ** where God was his first love . . . and lost the connection with God through **Whom **all relationships and communion (conversation of body and the heart of the soul and spirit) were in right perfect pure relationship flowing forth with and from God **to all creation and his fellow man . . .had destroyed his pure communion with God and his fellow man through the mortal sin of prideful disobedience.

This mortal sin of prideful disobedience reached such a corrupt point that all creation and mankind was somehow known by God to be gravely threatened through misuse of the beautiful **Godly ** extraordinary gift of “pure language” . . . and **God **had to completely disrupt man’s ability to communicate through “language” to stop this corruption of sin from permeating the world and all creation through unholy use of “language” . . . containing corrupt and sinful man’s ability to further corrupt himself and all creation.

Sacred Scripture in its true word for word translation is a return to the holy pure language of the heart of God and the **heart ** of man in perfect communion one with another . . . for it is God speaking to, with and through man in **perfect heart-to-heart ** communion . . . using certain chosen Godly men throughout finite time as his “recording secretaries” . . . gifting the world with **eternally pure fresh bread for the body, soul and spirit of mankind **and it is through the phenomenal holy miraculous gift of the return of communion through “pure language” with our **Most Holy Triune God **. . . where man’s perfect pure communion with God was experienced by man . . . that Sacred Scripture came into being . . . portion by portion, line upon line, precept upon precept in God’s perfect timing.

We of the FAITH know that the “words” of Scripture are God’s alone . . . pure, undefiled and infallible . . . not man’s . . . man in relation to the Holy :bible1: Bible was God’s wholly surrendered instrument in perfect restored communion with his **God **. . . God’s “paintbrush” so-to-speak, using the medium of “pure language” to recreate, cure and reform man’s fallen sinful soul.

. . . all for Jesus+
. . . thank You Sweet Spirit of our Holy Triune God+​

 

[musicality]

I was referring to any accepted Catholic translation. I do look at what non-Catholic translations say but only to get a wide perspective. In my experience on that website they are usually pretty close in meaning.

There are subtle differences in translations that are very important if you wish to have a theological discussion on certain topics in scripture. For more info on specific translations I’d check out this page: catholic.com/library/Bible_Translations_Guide.asp

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

My son has expressed an interest in reading the Bible. He wants to read the version that is closest to the earliest text but in english . Which do I recommend?

The earilest text was (outside the original languages) was Latin (for the western Church).

The Douay is a translation of that Latin text called the Vulgate.

Versions of the Bible are made for different purposes (some good, some bad)

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Since we Catholics do not belong to a sola scriptura church is any particular translation of the Bible that important? Don’t we take the Bible as a whole along with Tradition and the Catechism?

If I have trouble understanding a particular passage I might compare several different versions to get the prevailing flavor of the meaning.
Here is the website I use bible.cc/. I just type in the verse(s) I’m interested in.

I use the NAB as my primary translation because I just find the English phrasing so much easier to understand.

That depends on what one is doing with it. Changes in wording can alter meanings or cause us to loose a meaning found only in the Greek or Latin text when not properly translated. Would I accept “majority rule” when it comes to a meaning by comparing many different translations? No.

 

[Ralph4454]

I recommend the New American Bible or New Revised Standard Version.

 

[crazzeto]

My son has expressed an interest in reading the Bible. He wants to read the version that is closest to the earliest text but in english . Which do I recommend?

I would highly recommend the Douay Rheims bible, it’s a very literal, very accurate translation from the Latin Vulgate. Note, the Vulgate is not the “original source text”, but it is the gold standard for the Western Church. The laguage is very beautiful, and it really draws you into the reading.

If you can find it, I would recommend this version:
inhisname.com/product.php?product=42012

 

[jwashu]

I highly recommend the RSV Catholic Edition, it’s pretty literal and incorporates the updates found since DR. I’ve heard the original DR, if you can find one, is one of the best reading Bibles though. As I don’t have one I can’t compare.

Personally I’m not too taken with the NAB, I know it’s used for the Lit but I have found other translations, which are also approved by the Church, to be better IMHO.

Joe

 

[aspirant]

For most adults, I’d recommend the Revised Standard Version (Catholic) 2nd Edition published by Ignatius. (This would not necessarily be best for younger readers or readers for whom English is a second language.)

 

[kage_ar]

There are subtle differences in translations that are very important if you wish to have a theological discussion on certain topics in scripture. For more info on specific translations I’d check out this page: catholic.com/library/Bible_Translations_Guide.asp

Great reference

 

[Jesus_123]

• Below is a quote from Father John Corapi’s newsletter which came via e-mail today . . .

"…One of the most important major documents that came out of the Second Vatican Council is the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, or “Dei Verbum,” - “Word of God.” This is the Church’s most important contemporary document on how to read and interpret Sacred :bible1: Scripture, indeed on Divine Revelation as a whole.

The** Holy Father **expressed concern recently that there is real danger in some modern biblical interpretation that he believes can diminish the meaning of Sacred :bible1: Scripture and erode the bond between the Bible and the Church. The substance of the Pope’s concerns are pastoral in nature, more than academic, although the two certainly converge. He wants Catholics to be enriched on a daily basis by the proper and authentic reading of the written Word of God. The Church has given us the ‘road map’, if you will, of just how to do this in ‘Dei Verbum’."

- from Father Corapi’s latest book, "Letters​

​

".​

It has been reported on other threads here at CAF that the . . . Holy Father . . . **Pope Benedict XVI **. . . when needing to use an English version of the Holy :bible1: Bible . . . uses the Revised Standard Version - Catholic Edition . . .

. . . all for Jesus+​

 

[aspirant]

• Below is a quote from Father John Corapi’s newsletter which came via e-mail today . . .

"…One of the most important major documents that came out of the Second Vatican Council is the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, or “Dei Verbum,” - “Word of God.” This is the Church’s most important contemporary document on how to read and interpret Sacred Scripture, indeed on Divine Revelation as a whole.

I recommend regular reading of Dei Verbum to my friends! It is neither very long nor very difficult to understand, and it’s a goldmine of wisdom.

 

[horselvr]

Please excuse me for being such a dunce but I still find getting the correct bible very confusing along with confusion on getting the correct missal.

The bible I have is the Holy Bible
Revised Standard Version
Second Catholic Edition.

Is this one OK?

 

[aspirant]

Is this one OK?

Yep

 

[horselvr]

Thanks so much !