Customer Reviews

The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This translation of Scripture is the best one on the market, for the following reasons. First of all, it is faithful to the original languages, and avoids two errors so common in Biblical translations nowadays: excessive paraphrasing and gender-revisionist language. (In particular, it refers to God with masculine pronouns, as is mandated by historic Christian teaching.) Moreover, it is stylistically superior to most modern translations, having retained much of the phrasing (in modern spelling and usage) of the Authorized (King James) Version. Finally, being a Catholic Edition, it is faithful to historic Christian teaching, retaining all of the books of the Old Testament Canon (including the deuterocanonical books), which were included by the Catholic Church in the councils of Carthage and Rome. The short comments can be relied on to be faithful to Catholic teaching. (Indeed, Ignatius Press is known for its solid and reliable collection of books.) Altogether a marvelous work, and highly recommended for people of all faiths. The five stars are well-deserved. (I wish there were a six-star option for this one.)

This translation is truly outstanding. It is a literal and elegant translation of the Scriptures. This edition also chooses to render into English those readings in the ancient manuscripts that support Catholic doctrine. Therefore, it is in my opinion, one of the most suitable translations for liturgical and devotional reading. It is also good to compare this edition of the RSV with other translations to see how scholars and translators choose among the variant readings in the ancient manuscripts. Most translations are done by predominantly protestant scholars and reflect that bias. This translation shows that certain ancient manuscripts also support Catholic renderings of the text. HIghly recommended.

The only drawback is that there are very sparse annotations and the book introductions are too brief. It would be nice to have a Study edition of this Bible with more extensive annotations and introductions.

The Catholic edition of the Revised Standard Version is the most accurate modern translation available to English-speaking Catholics. The heir of the tradition of the Authorized Version (King James), this translation was completed by an international, ecumenical commission of scholars. It preserves the nuances of the Hebrew and Greek that are sometimes lost in the dynamic translations. In addition, you will find that this translation remains faithful to Church teachings and has none of the awkward gender-neutral nouns demanded by the political correctness trend.

As an American Catholic in the 21st Century, I've learned - the hard way - that if the Church lacks anything, it's readable and reliable translations of the Holy Scriptures into English.

The RSV-CE is, for the most part, a fine translation of the Bible (with few, but notable, exceptions, such as Isaiah 7:14), which is a good thing 'cause we're running out of options!

But, like other reviewers, I'm saddened by the appearance of the translation on the page. Ultra-fine print, no breaks, no adequate footnotes for alternative reading, poor binding, no room for notes (if you underline a text, you cross out the line below it!), and an odd cover. I could go on and on.

It would be nice to have an edition of this bible in a much more worthy format.

As far as I know, the RSV is a very good and accurate translation. It is especially good for those who are serious about Bible study-and we all should be-and not merely short personal, devotional reflections. Its accuracy in translation may lead some phrases to sound stiff, un-English as it were. But that's what you want in a good tranlation. Not a paraphrasing into a modern equivalent in English, which is the problem with the Jerusalem and New Jerusalem translation.

I have to admit that I do not know if the Ignatius edition have added to or changed the footnotes because the edition of the RSV I have did not have much footnotes. But my copy is wilting, so I am looking for a new RSV! And if Ignatius Press is putting out a copy, I'm very interested. That's how good I think the translation is.

I also know that Scott Hahn recommends the RSV translation. And I have seen a copy in the hands of Fr. Tom Forrest CSsR, head of Evanglization 2000.

I must add something else: I appeal to all who are reviewing this book not to add their anti-religious baggage. Please, will only believers who have ACTUALLY READ the RSV Bible review this book. I would appreciate if there is proper screening of the reviews. Someone who is hostile to Christianity asking 'Why do people follow a book like lemmings' and not dealing with things like accuracy in translation and helpful footnotes is not giving a proper review by ANY standards.

If I were teaching theology, this is the bible I would use. This is the best one to learn the scriptures on because it is very straight forward and easy to read. I have a fondness for "The King James." But I would not use it to teach with. The reason is that too much time could be spent on teaching the Elizabethan. I also like "The Living." But that translation should only be read after one has a healthy knowledge of the church and the scriptures. In my opinion, "The Revised Standard" should be read before any other translation is looked at.

The RSV is the most accurate English translation available for Christians. The Vatican continues to use the Catholic Version of the RSV for scriptual references in all publications. This is best for quoting and reference. Note that it doesn't break up the text into "titled sections" as well as other translations, like the NAB.

This is a great translation and it is also published in a good format. I don't like a lot of footnotes and intro's cluttering my Bible up, and this is great for that! One version I had was not indicated to be study Bible yet half of the page was the actual Word of God and the other half was notes! This had very minimal comments, and that helps when reading it.

Also the translation is a beautiful one because it is easy to read and still hasn't become so modern that you don't know your reading His Word. Espically when it comes to the Psalms. For those that pray the Divine Office they know a beautifl and easy translation of the Psalms, this is my favorite of Psalms and as soon as I can I plan to buy it. I don't like NAB's Psalms they are too modern, and the Douay Rheims is too cryptic, it's pretty but old.

There is no translation that I back 100%, I think you need to learn Latin for he Vulgate, or Greek for it's original to get the full effect of Scriptures. But if your like me you don't have time to learn another language, so I recomend this one!

The Ignatius Bible is the RSV translation.. This is the most poetic and eloquent translation of the Catholic Bible.Very minimal footnotes, doesn't crowd the page. The same translation that is used for Navarre Study Bibles,considerd to be the most accurate commentary for Catholics. It's compact enough to carry with you and quite durable. Mother Angelica of EWTN highly recommends this Bible, and, Dr Scott Hahn is writing individual studies for each book of the Bible based on this particular Bible.

Readers of this translation should be aware of certain differences between the RSVCE and traditional Catholic translations like the Douay-Rheims and Douay-Confraternity editions.

The RSVCE tends to translate Aramaic and Hebrew words while the Confraternity New Testament and Douay-Rheims retain the original languages. For example, the RSVCE Old Testament translates "alleluia" as "praise the Lord." The Confraternity and Douay-Rheims translations leave it as "alleluia."

The differences are even more noticeable in the New Testament. The Confraternity New Testament uses "Magi," "Amen, Amen, I say to you," "Raca," "Rabbi," "Maranatha," etc. The RSVCE New Testament uses "wise men from the East," "Truly, truly, I say to you," "fool," "Master," and "Come Lord Jesus."

Theologically, the biggest difference in the Old Testament is the translation of "a virgin shall conceive" as "a young woman shall conceive" by the RSVCE. Two theological differences in the RSVCE New Testament are that Peter is told "the powers of Death shall not prevail against you" instead of "the gates of Hell," and "righteous" and "righteousness" are used instead of just and justice.

In an ideal world, a Douay-Rheims Old Testament and Confraternity New Testament Bible would be published with art from people like Raphael and Michelangelo. Now, you can only get this combination from used book stores and frequently the Old Testament includes books from the Confraternity Edition (based on the Hebrew) instead of the Douay-Rheims version (based on the Vulgate).