These are new ideas to me. Could you tell me more about how they use better manuscripts for example?
Melchior:
*This is a pretty good description of all the translations and what manuscripts were used in basic terms. laurelstreetchurchofchrist.com/bibleorigin.htm
*I in no way endourse the church of Christ. They just happen to ahve a good resource here.
Actually I agree with everything you said except this. In fact, all modern scholars have access to the same manuscripts. It’s what they do with them that makes the difference.
I agree about the Protestant study notes. Especially in MAcArthur’s which I own, but regret buying now. For fun look up infant baptism in the concordance. He has a smarmy little note (not found in the Bible or something.Actually I agree with everything you said except this. In fact, all modern scholars have access to the same manuscripts. It’s what they do with them that makes the difference.
Anyway, as to the topic, there’s a number of reasons for a Catholic to use a Catholic Bible. The fact that the seven deuterocanonicals are missing from non-Catholic bibles has already been mentioned. Also, if you are in a Catholic Bible study group, it makes it easier when everyone is using the same translation. If you are using an NAB, it is usually the translation, more or less, you hear at Mass.
Just as it is true there are doctrinal and traditional biases in Catholic Bibles, there are some in Protestant versions. The NIV is a notable example (If you want to read more about this, visit Steve Ray’s site at www.catholic-convert.com where he has an article about this. I know many serious Protestant Bible readers don’t like the NIV, but it is just an example).
I also second the motion that one should own and refer to several Bibles for private study (I have about ten, I think, with access to many more on-line). No translation is perfect, so it helps to compare.
The most important issue, IMHO, is not the translations themselves, but the footnotes and study aids that come with many Protestant Study Bibles. On the one hand, they do not reflect 2000 years of the Churches accumulated refection on the Scriptures–no Early Church Fathers, no Aquinas, no Jerome; it’s like they never existed. At the most, you have about 500 years of Reformed thought or, more likely, 200 years of (American or English) Evangelical influence. This is not a slam, just a fact. The Catholic reader who would use these exclusively for study ends up somewhat impoverished as to his own biblical heritage.
On a more troublesome note, some Protestant Study Bibles can even be downright anti-Catholic. A good example is the McArthur Study Bible, edited by John McArthur, a notorious anti-Catholic with whom I am quite familiar. Commonly, these types of Bibles will, in their commentary on certain verses and passages, go out of their way to target the Catholic understanding of them. These types of Bibles should not be used by any Catholic because of the distorted picture they present of what the Church teaches.
Isn’t Popery that stuff that looks like mulch but smells like flowers that you put in your bathroom?
Isn’t Popery that stuff that looks like mulch but smells like flowers that you put in your bathroom?
Mel
No argument there.
I’m not a real big fan of the NAB notes, although occasionally you’ll find one that’s helpful. But a lot of them are annoyingly modernist to the point of distraction, so for my devotional reading I’ll use a Bible that doesn’t have any commentary at all. If I’m in a sweat to get more background or info in a verse or passage, I’ll reach for a trusted commentary or Bible dictionary. Good one.
that can be very helpful. You can only used approved translations for liturgy or for teaching and bible study in the public, parish setting. Of course, in that context, comparing translations could be a useful exercise, as long as the presenter is willing and able to explain differences in meaning and interpretation that flow from differences in translation.Is there anything that says we can only use a Catholic Bible? I generally rely on approved translations, but I have several Bibles and sometimes referencing other translations helps me understand what the passage is saying, (or at least I think I understand it better.)
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No argument there.