A Simple Strategy for Staying Catholic in These Dark Times

Michie · Oct 27, 2023

I could start this blog with a long introduction explaining what’s going on in the Catholic Church, the dangers that present themselves right now, and why we can rest assured that if we just stick with the historic and traditional Catholic Faith, we’re going to be okay, and the Church will prevail eventually. I’ll spare you of all that, and just say it’s all true. It’s going to be okay, and Jesus Christ, working through the Holy Spirit and the Saints of our time, will eventually correct his Church. It’s guaranteed. So don’t worry too much about that.

What matters now is “right now,” obviously, what do we do right now? And for that I just want to skip the long blogging and break it down to four basic things. If you do these four things, you’re gonna make it. Here we go…

First, you need a good Bible…

There are a lot of Bibles out there, and while on the one hand that can be good, on the other hand it can make things even more confusing. The Catholic Church approves a handful of them, but to really simplify things (because I think things need to be simplified in times like these), I’m just going to break it down to two types of English Bibles that the Church approves. Either one of these is ideal and this is what we should be reading right now…

Douay-Rheims Bible (DRB): Originally published in 1582-1610, this is the oldest English Catholic Bible in print and it remains approved for all Catholics everywhere. It can be a little cumbersome to those not familiar with Sacral English, but for those who are familiar with Sacral English, it remains the most powerful and accurate English translation on the market. You can read the DRB Online here, or purchase it through any bookstore outlet. It is widely available.
Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition (RSV-CE): There are three versions of this modern translation that are very easy to read, and all three are approved for Catholics as the most accurate translation in Modern English. Each one is approved for liturgical use in various Catholic jurisdictions, and the English version of the 1992 Catechism uses quotations from the RSV-CE. The three approved versions are as follows: Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition(published in 1965-1966), the New Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition (published in 1989-1995), and the Revised Standard Version – 2nd Catholic Edition (published in 2006). Any one of these is suitable for personal use by any English-speaking Catholic. The reason for this is that like the DRB, these are “formal equivalent” translations, which means they are as close to the original Greek, Hebrew and Latin that an English translation can get, and still make sense. Almost no liberties are taken with the text, unlike other translations called “dynamic equivalent” or “optimal equivalent” which take more liberties with the text, in an attempt to make it flow easier in English, with the risk of imposing translator bias or narrowing down possible interpretations too much. So if you’re looking for an English translation of the Bible, that is the most accurate, you’re going to want a “formal equivalent” translation, and as of today, only two are approved for use by Catholics: the DRB and the threefold RSV-CE family: RSV-CE, NRSV-CE & RSV-2CE.

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