Wednesday, November 24, 2010

To Kindle or Not to Kindle....


Reader Sharon recently emailed me after she received a Kindle for her birthday. As she began to see what was available, she downloaded the Douay-Rheims and RSV-2CE Study Bible (ICSBNT). However, she would like to know what else is available for Catholics, particularly in the area of Bible study, for the Kindle.
So, I propose to you these two questions:
1) What Bible study material is out there and works well on the Kindle?
2) Do you use a Kindle regularly for your own personal Bible reading or study?
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17 comments:

  1. MattNovember 24, 2010 at 7:07 AM

    For starters, you can get the Catena Aurea for free. Although there is no table of contents, so it is necessary to search for chapters.

    Also, there are a ton of other resources such as the full Summa for free. I downloaded the Universalis program and now I can have a month's worth of the (modern) Divine Office on it. All of Chesterton's works are available pretty much free. And it goes on and on...

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  2. chris coNovember 27, 2010 at 10:20 AM

    There is a LOT of Catholic content out for the Kindle, moreso than the nook. Almost all of Scott Hahns books, Catholicism and Saints For Dummies, several versions of the NRSV, the Ignatius Bible, the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament, the Catholic BIble Dictionary, all of the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, and much more. The only glaring ommisions at this point are the Catechism and the New American Bible.

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  3. johnNovember 27, 2010 at 6:09 PM

    I recently bought a Kobo ereader from Borders and would like to know where to get the RSV-CE and the NRSV either a "Catholic Edition" or one with the Apocrypha in "epub" format

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  4. AbeNovember 29, 2010 at 12:02 AM

    The Ignatius website sells the RSV-2CE in epub format. You can find the NRSV w/ Apocrypha through a Google search pretty easily. I would put the link on here, but I'm not sure what the policy for putting other websites on here is...

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  5. TimothyNovember 29, 2010 at 10:49 AM

    Abe,

    Feel free to include any links.

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  6. AbeNovember 29, 2010 at 1:10 PM

    With Timothy's permission:

    For RSV-2CE: http://www.ignatius.com/Products/IB2-E/ignatius-bible-rsv-2nd-edition.aspx
    (I couldn't find one for RSV-CE)

    For NRSV w/Apocrypha: http://www.diesel-ebooks.com/item/9780061946875/ebook/NRSV-Standard-Bible-w-Apoc-Old-Testament-&-Apocrypha-eBook/1.html
    (It looks as if the NRSV ebook bibles are split into NT and OT so you may have to make 2 purchases. Diesel Ebooks looks like they have the "CE" version as well.)

    The Harper Collins website also has the NRSV, but their search function is pretty bad.

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  7. JonathanJanuary 23, 2011 at 6:44 PM

    Here's what I have on my Kindle:

    THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY:
    * Aquinas 101 (Selman) ($10)
    * A Shorter Summa (Aquinas, Kreeft) ($10)
    * The Ignatius Bible ($10)
    * The Catechism of the Catholic Church (Yes, you can download the CCC as a plain-text file, but the website making it available does not seem to have obtained permission from the USCCB to make it available)

    DEVOTIONAL:
    * Missal (Extraordinary Form) http://www.allsaintsrichford.org/Latin-English%20Missal.pdf
    * Missal (Ordinary Form, old) (Copy and paste into a text file) http://www.stjosephsdarlaston.co.uk/order_of_mass.htm
    * Missal (Ordinary Form, new) http://paulo123.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/English_translation_of_The_Order_of_Mass_I_-_formatted.34683410.pdf
    * Examination of Conscience http://www.catholicparents.org/oxcart/Examination%20of%20Conscience.pdf
    * Introduction to the Devout Life (St. Francis de Sales) http://www.ccel.org/ccel/desales/devout_life.txt
    * The Interior Castle (St. Teresa of Avila) http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/tic/tic.txt.gz
    * Baltimore Catechism http://sacred-texts.com/chr/balt/balt.txt.gz

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  8. JonathanJanuary 23, 2011 at 6:48 PM

    Also a good thing about the Kindle is that we can finally read the RSV-2CE in single-column format :-)

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  9. TimothyFebruary 16, 2011 at 5:59 AM

    Jonathan,

    Thanks for the comments.

    And yes, having the RSV-2CE in a single column is wonderful. I wish they would actually produce a print version like it.

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  10. Element 79November 2, 2011 at 9:04 AM

    We have just received the approval from the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine to release a Kindle version of the NABRE, which features an excellent formatting true to the paper editions and multiple navigation aids, which allow opening any verse in the Bible in seconds (as explained in detail in the book itself). All material, including footnotes, is preserved and crossreferenced within the text. See http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006298622

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  11. AnonymousJune 21, 2012 at 4:46 AM

    Where to find a epub or kindle version of the New Jerusalem Bible? Or an e-version of The Catholic Comparative New Testament(that contains the New American Bible · Revised Standard Version · New Revised Standard Version · Jerusalem Bible · New Jerusalem Bible · Douay-Rheims · and Good News Translation) from Publisher Oxford University Press!! I'm going to try to request that they create a kindle version. I love having the comparative tools on hand. It's too bad surgeworks hasn't created an iPad, iPhone version of their Catholic Bible tool (as they have done for the mac)...

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  12. AnonymousAugust 20, 2012 at 4:53 AM

    I use a Kobo Touch. I am a Catholic from UK and would prefer the Catholic Truth Society's version of the Bible - have asked them to consider creating a version. In the meantime I am happy to use the NRSV Catholic Anglicised Version. I also use the Good News Bible (both available on Kobo) - this is a very natural-to-read version and finding chapters within books of the bible is easier. Kindle has Douay-Rheims but cannot get along with its ancient "wordiness", if you know what I mean.

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  13. AnonymousApril 1, 2013 at 7:38 AM

    I too would like the CTS Jerusalem version in kindle format. it is my favorite translation and would welv come it.

    Keith

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  14. RussAugust 13, 2013 at 9:14 AM

    I would like to dedicate more time to reading/studying the bible.  I have the print version of NAB (3rd edition), but I enjoy the flexibility of reading on my kindle (and kindle apps on my iPad and iPhone).  So, I have been looking into kindle versions of the bible.

    In particular, I have been looking at the NRSV-CE2d, and downloaded a sample to my Kindle PaperWhite.  When viewing the sample on my Kindle PaperWhite, the footnotes/comments seem to link to blank pages?  I was wondering if anyone could let me know their experience reading the NRSV-CE2d on kindle as far as accessing notes and comments.

    At home, I have the print version of NAB (3rd edition).  It seems that I probably want the same version on kindle and in print.  So, that would mean NABRE in print and kindle or NRSV-CE2d in print or kindle.  Any thoughts?

    What drew me to the NRSV-CE2d, was an interest in some of Ignatius Press' bible studies by Scott Hahn.  It looks like those use the NRSV-CE2d, and I thought it might me helpful to have that version of the bible on hand.  Does anyone have thoughts that they could share on the kindle versions of Scott's bible studies?

    Thanks in advance for any help.

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    Replies
    1. TimothyAugust 13, 2013 at 9:18 AM

      Russ,

      To be clear, are you speaking about the RSV-2CE from Ignatius or the NRSV?

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  15. RussAugust 13, 2013 at 10:54 AM



    The various terminology has confused me.  I had thought I had sorted it out (somewhat), but your question has prompted me revisit my thought process. 

     My understanding had been that the RSV had a catholic edition (the RSV-CE), but that the successor to the RSV (the NRSV) was not approved by the USCCB.  So, Ignatius Press continued to print the RSV-CE, and subsequently revised it in the form of the RSV-2CE.  I didn't think that the NRSV technically had a "Catholic Edition," and that references to NRSV-CE Second edition were "loose" references to the RSV-2CE by Ignatius Press.  Bad assumption on my part.

    On the USCCB website, the "New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition" (National Council of Churches) is listed as an approved translation.  I had thought that that reference was meant to be to Ignatius Press' RSV-2CE, but after digging around more it seems I was mistaken.  The National Council of Churches' website links to www.NRSV.net, which in turn links to a  "NRSV, Catholic Edition" (http://www.nrsv.net/harper/nrsv-catholic/).   I will need to see if there is a kindle version of the NRSV-CE?

    So, I guess that there is an RSV-CE, and RSV-2CE and a NRSV-CE, and that the first and last are approved by the USCCB - is that correct?

    To clarify then, my reference to the NRSV-CE2d was intended mean the RSV-2CE by Ignatius Press.  But now that I have looked more closely at the www.nrsv.net site, I wonder the NRSV-CE compares to the RSV-2CE?  And is that the version used by Scott Hahn?  Which would be recommended?

    I appreciate you patience.  Thank you.

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    Replies
    1. TimothyAugust 13, 2013 at 1:33 PM

      Now you got it!

      Hahn primarily uses the RSV-CE or the RSV-2CE.

      I think both of them are good. The RSV, in both cases, is a bit more literal and doesn't use inclusive language. The NRSV is slightly less literal but it does have the advantage of being used in academia and also referencing recent textual finds like the Dead Sea Scrolls.

      Both are used for the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

      I'd recommend looking at some parallel passages and seeing which of the two you like best.

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