Product Description

The history of Bible translation within the Catholic Church is characterized by a rich tradition of rendering the Scriptures into the language of the faith community. The CCNT features eight complete Catholic New Testaments that show the full range of expression for this central text of study, worship, prayer, and contemplation. A wide spectrum of people - including new and experienced Bible readers, homilists, and teachers - will gain from having this resource on their bookshelves. The Douay-Rheims, RSVCB, NRSVCB, and NAB are called formal equivalent translations (popularly referred to as "word-for-word" translations). This means that scholars rendered the New Testament's original language into English that is as close as possible to its original wording. The result is a translation that is particularly valuable for careful analysis of the text. Meanwhile, the JB, GNB, NJB, and Christian Community Bible represent the "thought-for-thought" school of Bible translation (technically described as dynamic or functional equivalent). This method places the priority on the intended meaning of the original vocabulary, adapting it to English syntax and grammar. Such a translation tends to be easier to read and understand. The texts are conveniently displayed on facing pages (four translations per page), with the same set of verses on each one. The order in which the translations appear on the pages demonstrates a progression in translation philosophy from formal to functional equivalency.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #92371 in Books
• Published on: 2006-01-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1800 pages

Review

"A wide spectrum of people - including new and experienced Bible readers, homilists, and teachers - will gain from having this resource on their bookshelves." --Catechetical Leadership

Customer Reviews

Opening the Book
With the publication of this comparative New Testament, whoever said that Catholics don't read the Bible is probably eating his hat. However, Protestants looking for a good parallel text edition might want to consider this one. Why? It has not only the new "inclusive language" Revised Standard Version, but the old "standard" Revised Standard Version, and the RSV is surely one of the most beautiful translations next to the King James ever produced. Then there's the Jerusalem Bible, which many people like to read if for no other reason than that Tolkien translated the book of Job in the Old Testament (not included here).

The Good News New Testament was designed as a limited vocabulary paraphrase so as to be easy to read. The American Bible is the regular "standard" Catholic Bible. The real find in this edition is the Douay- Rheims, a translation historically significant to both Protestants and Catholics which many people are curious about and would like to read. The title of Flannery O'Connor's novel, The Violent Bear it Away, for instance, comes from a verse in that translation.

For those wondering how a Catholic Bible differs from a Protestant one, the Catholic one has 73 books instead of 66, but the additional books are all in the Old Testament; the New Testament has the same 22 books. I don't agree with some of the notes in the Oxford Annotated RSV Bible, some of which may be common to this edition. But Oxford has chosen a tantalizing assortment of translations for this volume, which even the casual reader will find difficult to put down.

A very good purchase
This is a bible that is well worth the money. I saw it in a book store, and I am going to order it as soon as I'm done writing this review. Yes I really feel it is that good!!! What I like about this paticular parallel bible is the fact that it's using translations you don't normally find in other parallel bibles. I can almost guarantee you probably don't have at least two to three of these bibles in your collection (I have almost one book shelf devoted to different translations and I don't have a couple of them). That makes this a great resource!!! I especially love the fact that the Douay-Rheims, Revised Standard, and the New American Bible are used here. I'm not Roman Catholic. I just know a good purchase when I see it. Excellent choice of 2 to 3 fairly uncommon bibles to help your research library. The Douay-Rheims alone makes this a great purchase. That bible is very hard to find at an affordable price. This is a wise purchase in my humble opinion.

Great tool for Bible study
The Catholic Comparative New Testament is an excellent tool for Bible study. It is easy to use. It gives you 8 diffent translations at a glance. Why look up a passage in a single version Bible when you can compare 8 Bible versions at once? This book should be owned by all serious Bible students.