Which bible is best?

[AMDG]

Has anyone tried a parallel version bible.....set up like a traditional bible, except where you would have 4 columns , 2 per page...you have 4 versions of the same text... ; 1 per each column...

John 1.1 NIV--John 1.1--NAB--John 1.1 --KJV--John 1.1--Jerusalem Bible

[ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ]

I've seen one in my Introduction to the Bible class that I took many years ago. Thought it was interesting but not so interesting as to buy one. (I figure that I've just about got my own since I have a separate Doauy-Rheimes, NAB, Jerusalem--not the New Jerusalem, and KJV.)

 

[JoabAnias]

That compare feature is available in the free program E-sword and you can choose versions.

The only approved Catholic versions available in it are the Vulgate and DR though.

 

[anawim]

Has anyone tried a parallel version bible.....set up like a traditional bible, except where you would have 4 columns , 2 per page...you have 4 versions of the same text... ; 1 per each column...

John 1.1 NIV--John 1.1--NAB--John 1.1 --KJV--John 1.1--Jerusalem Bible

[ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ]

Only the NT: http://www.amazon.com/Catholic-Comparative-New-Testament-Douay-Rheims/dp/019528299X/ref=pd_sim_b_5http://www.amazon.com/Contemporary-Parallel-New-Testament-International/dp/0195281365

 

[JoabAnias]

Whats the importance of reading only a Church approved Bible?

There is only one English text currently approved by the Church for use in the United States. This text is the one contained in the Lectionaries approved for Sundays & Feasts and for Weekdays by the USCCB and recognized by the Holy See. These Lectionaries have their American and Roman approval documents in the front. The text is that of the New American Bible with revised Psalms and New Testament (1988, 1991), with some changes mandated by the Holy See where the NAB text used so-called vertical inclusive language (e.g. avoiding male pronouns for God). Since these Lectionaries have been fully promulgated, the permission to use the Jerusalem Bible and the RSV-Catholic at Mass has been withdrawn. [See note on inclusive language]

 

[MrJim]

Whats the importance of reading only a Church approved Bible?

bumping~curious about an answer....

 

[JoabAnias]

bumping~curious about an answer....

Experience teaches us that it is easy to find even contradictory meanings from the same Scripture with an unbridled approach to reading and interpreting the Bible.



In all human communication, the receiver must create meaning from the symbols (the message) used by the communicator. All Christians must discover the meaning intended by the author(s) of the books of the Bible to understand what God is revealing. The process of discovering meaning from the Bible is called hermeneutics. All Christians recognize that how we approach the Bible determines often what we take from it. Understanding what God would have us know from the Bible is made difficult by many factors:

• • The Bible contains some very ancient books;
  • Sometimes it is not even known who the author of a book really was;
  • Not knowing for certain who an author was is complicated by the period of time in which an author lived;
  • Since many authors were ancient Semites, their way of thinking and manner of expressing themselves differ from our own;
  • Since we do not possess any original manuscripts of the books of the Bible, we have to contend with copying and editing which occurred over time;
  • Then the issue of the multiplicity of human authors and editors complicates our understanding;
  • Finally, the fact of both a divine and a human author makes understanding a challenge.

Hermeneutics (from the Greek word hermeneia which means speech or interpretation) is used to cover a broad scope in the process of understanding. It refers to

• • interpretation by speech itself, as language interprets the mind;
  • the process of translation from an unintelligible language to an intelligible one (cf. 1 Cor 12:10);
  • interpretation by commentary and explanation.

Hermeneutics: Understanding Revelation

In short, who better to ask what they meant than those who from whence those who wrote the book came?

The examples of faulty translation and interpretation are to numerous to treat in a single post but range from denial of what is canon to vertical inclusive language to misprints and outright forgeries.

With the Church one knows he is getting an authentic rendition and without the Church there would be no Bible.

Here are the words of Professor Peter Flint, the non-Catholic scholar who translated the only English version of the Dead Sea Scrolls which won first prize from the Washington Biblical Archeology association:

"Without the Catholic Church you have no Bible, just a bunch of books and letters. With the Church you have the Bible!"

Are Catholics Into the Bible? by David MacDonald

Major Church Pronouncements on the Bible

Take several translations and compare them and see which ones are faithful to the LXX and Vulgate. It soon becomes obvious which is the authentic standard and which is translated with an agenda in mind.

 

[InTheCloud]

The protestants treat the Bible as a stand alone book.
Anyone with knowledge of communication sciences, semiotics and linguistics know that is impossible.
The discourse cannot be separated form the authority. Knowledge and power are articulated in the discourse (Focault). The Bible is the product of the knowledge and religious power of the Church, the body of Christ.

 

[Minty]

Thanks for all of the info, JoabAnias, it's fascinating

 

[Fish and Bread]

As long as we're still on this subject, though I strongly prefer the NRSV, one thing I can say in favor of the NAB is that most of the editions of it I've seen have interesting introductory passages about each book of the bible giving some background on it.

 

[Lady Bug]

One problem I have with the NAB Bible is that it takes out the Hail Full of Grace clause in Luke. That somehow bothers me so much that this is a reason why I don't recommend this translation.

 

[JoabAnias]

One problem I have with the NAB Bible is that it takes out the Hail Full of Grace clause in Luke. That somehow bothers me so much that this is a reason why I don't recommend this translation.

I think its interesting to note that the Church would approve "Hail favored one! the Lord is with you" [Lk 1:25] as it is in my NAB and for the lectionary just as it has "Hail full of Grace." in other translations.

 

[JoabAnias]

Thanks for all of the info, JoabAnias, it's fascinating

My pleasure sister.

I believe it was St. Paul who first preached the truth of Church unity being the one body where the new covenant rituals are encountered and later described by St Jerome in Latin as the sacramentum.

 

[AMDG]

I think its interesting to note that the Church would approve "Hail favored one! the Lord is with you" [Lk 1:25] as it is in my NAB and for the lectionary just as it has "Hail full of Grace." in other translations.

Maybe so, but it is interesting to me that the Doauy-Rheimes has "Hail full of Grace" and it is approved by the ancient Fathers and agrees with the ancient Cyriac and Arabic versions. In fact, the notes of my KJV have "much graced". I can understand that because, as I understand, the angel greeted Mary with "kecharitomene" and the root word "charis" is "grace".

For centuries the Doauy-Rheimes was the accepted translation in the Catholic Church and I believe another Catholic Bible (the Ignatius Bible) also has "full of grace" so I surely don't know why there is a translation of Mary just being "highly favored". I mean, afterall, we all are "highly favored" by our Baptisms, but we aren't all "full of grace" (Immaculately Conceived).

 

[Lady Bug]

I think its interesting to note that the Church would approve "Hail favored one! the Lord is with you" [Lk 1:25] as it is in my NAB and for the lectionary just as it has "Hail full of Grace." in other translations.

oh
I thought that the last time I looked in one it didn't have that...that was some time ago though...ugh

 

[JoabAnias]

oh
I thought that the last time I looked in one it didn't have that...that was some time ago though...ugh

I don't have a lectionary to look at but I do own a big family NAB that I love for the categories which is set up on an altar in my house that I read in passing and an Ignatius RSV-CE and a 1866 DR.

I just went and checked the literal translation of St. Jerome's Vulgate [405] and it says:

Luk 1:28 et ingressus angelus ad eam dixit have gratia plena Dominus tecum benedicta tu in mulieribus

To English:

Luk 1:28 And entering, the angel said to her, Hail, one having received grace! The Lord is with you.

So knowing that St. Jerome translated the Textus Receptus as literally as possible in most instances (some exceptions) would presume this Vulgate translation is as close to the meaning of the original text as he could get and since both the Greek and Latin are dead languages that should be nearly exact in most instances. If any one knows if this is one of those exceptions or that the lectionary says something else please correct me.

Otherwise I see no problem with the NAB as approved by Rome, also not to say my big family NAB is on that mark either because I know there were changes made to it by Rome especially for the promulgation of the lectionary.

I have it in the Greek TR too but thats well, all Greek to me.

Do we have any Greek speakers who could translate this for us:

Luk 1:28 καιG2532 CONJ εισελθωνG1525 V-2AAP-NSM οG3588 T-NSM αγγελοςG32 N-NSM προςG4314 PREP αυτηνG846 P-ASF ειπενG3004 V-2AAI-3S χαιρεG5463 V-PAM-2S κεχαριτωμενηG5487 V-RPP-NSF οG3588 T-NSM κυριοςG2962 N-NSM μεταG3326 PREP σουG4771 P-2GS ευλογημενηG2127 V-RPP-NSF συG4771 P-2NS ενG1722 PREP γυναιξινG1135 N-DPF

It raises a good question though.

Does my NAB match the lectionary? I am not sure.

For me; "Having received grace" (LV), "full of grace" (DR), or "highly favored one" (NAB) are nothing to quibble about.

 

[Minty]

Thanks for the recommendations I'll see if I can a copy of the Douay-Rheims or the RSV-CE in the future, thanks again