*I was able to get a review copy of the NLT CE from India this morning from a Catholic bookstore with branches in the center of Manila.
*For starters, in the intro, the NLT edition utilized is that of the 2004 revision, including minor revisions afterwards up to the 2010 edition.
*There's a note at the imprimatur page that says it's not meant for liturgical use. The intro specifically says that it's more meant for Lectio divina and evangelization.
*It's available in leatherbound and hardbound editions. Not quite sure if they have it in paperback. But they have a pocket sized edition.
*Regarding the book intros, as you can see below in the imprimatur and copyright page, the intros in this edition are based on Fr. K. Luke, OFMCap's book.
*Here's Psalms 51 (Miserere) to 55. Notice the line drawings, very similar to the GNT Anne Valloton drawings:
19 comments:
Thank you, John Francis! And you too Timothy...envious here...I have waited so long for an approved Catholic NLT for use in ministry...hopefully coming soon to bookstore or Amazon...
Deacon Dave,
I hope to be able so share some info on that in the near future.
Any chance I could get the following verses from this?
Genesis 1:2
Psalm 1:1
Isaiah 7:14
Luke 1:28
John 1:51
Thanks!
That bleed through reminds of so many NLT bibles I have come across.
Here's the link to the publisher's order page:
http://atcbooks.in/?product_cat=bibles
Christopher,
Can you explain how you paid? I placed an order but could not find a way to pay by credit card.
Thank you!
Eric,
The NLT is available online at BibleGateway.com. There could be some minor changes in the Catholic Edition, but I can't imagine they will be significant in many of those verses you cite.
For example, Isaiah 7:14 reads "All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin[a] will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’)."
a. Or young woman
I haven't ordered it yet, just wanted to share the link.
As is often the case with retail sites abroad, it doesn't take credit cards, just bank transfers. I've run into that in the past.
I am from the Philippines, I am much curious on where you found it John Francis!
Is it available in St. Pauls or at Totus in Greenhills?
Looking forward to purchase one.
Hello from the Philippines!!!
Thanks to Tim for the chance to share my little "review" of the NLT-CE! (Now, I could say that acronym without fear!). I got to discover new translations (especially the CEB, MSG-CE and the NLT-CE) from this blog.
Deacon Dave.
I also share your joy and "relief" at having a real Catholic edition of the NLT Bible. I started my bible reading journey in the seminary with the Catholic edition of "The Way" (the "complete Catholic edition" of The Living Bible which includes Fr. Nevins' paraphrase of the deuterocanonicals).
Gerald.
Kabayan, I got my copy from Catholic Book Center in the CBCP building, right in front of San Agustin Church, Intramuros. Special thanks go to Ms. Lily and the whole CBC team. They are in close contact with ATC Books, India. Thus they get to procure and sell their new titles. The book will be available by June 2016, but they might get only a limited number of copies at first, since they will still gauge if this edition will "take off" here in the Philippines.
In local bookstores, the NLT seems to be at third place among the best selling bibles (the first is KJV, second is NIV) among Protestants and Evangelicals. Surprisingly, The Message is quite hard to find, even in Christian bookstores, though the Catholic Edition is being distributed by Claretians (yes, it also comes from India!).
"In local bookstores, the NLT seems to be at third place among the best selling bibles (the first is KJV, second is NIV) among Protestants and Evangelicals. "
Well, it may differ locally where you are, but internationally, the best-selling English Bible is the NIV, which has held the #1 spot almost without interruption since its first publication in 1978. I believe that the NLT is now #2, and the KJV usually appears around 3rd or 4th.
It is an interesting story, the first Bible to displace the KJV from the #! spot was the RSV in its first publication in 1952, but after the novelty wore off and the conservative critics came out of the woodworks, the RSV fell and the KJV regained the top spot until the publication of the original Living Bible in 1971. The Living Bible held the top spot from about 1971 to 1978, with the NIV holding it ever since.
So the RSV is really the one Bible that is responsible for the current massive plethora of modern Bibles. One the RSV became huge in 1952, every other publisher started licking its lips and thinking 'I too can make a Bible translation and entire this market', and in the 1960's and 70's there was a flood of new translations.
Thanks for that note, Biblical Catholic!
I only got the idea from looking at our bookstore shelves here in Manila, or practically any part of the Philippines.
Comparatively, KJVs are cheaper and plentiful in stock. You can even get one from second-hand bookstores. Even the staff of the Catholic Book Center would be surprised by shoppers looking for it in their shelves.
The NIV has a good following from Evangelicals, it's more quoted and it's easily available both in print and phone/table apps.
These three (KJV, NIV and NLT) are available in different editions and sizes, from cheap paperbacks to study bibles.
On the other hand, Catholic bibles are more costly, a bit bulkier (the most "portable" ones are the GNT-CE and the old NAB), and without much variety of editions. But groups like Philippine Bible Society and Claretian Communications are doing their best to distribute Catholic bibles that are inexpensive and easy to bring along anywhere.
No cross references!!! Why????
While we're counting who sells best, notice what I pointed out in my Bible taxonomy post from last year: http://www.catholicbiblesblog.com/2015/09/guest-post-catholic-bible-taxonomy.html
The Kings James "genus" with its various "species" make up an important part of the Catholic Bible ecosystem.
While the King James version itself never received an imprimatur, it's New Testament translators did rely in part on the Douay-Rheims NT in their work.
Moreover, The RSV (and later NRSV) was specifically chartered as an authorized update of the RV and ASV, that were in turns updates of the KJV in the UK and USA respectively.
Interestingly, the original Living Bible was a revision of the ASV that was meant as a natural language reading alternative to the RSV. Which makes the NLT a descendant of the KJV tradition too, by way of the ASV.
So, of the many approved Catholic Bibles, quite a few are direct descendants of the KJV and updates of it:
-RSV-CE
-NRSV-CE
-RSV-2CE
-Catholic Living Bible
-NLT-CE
Well, the KJV is really little more than an update of the work of William Tyndale. According to one recent analysis, in the books which Tyndale translated and published within his own lifetime, the KJV repeats Tyndale's exact wording more than 90% of the time.
Tim, I have questions to ask you I hope you don't mind. Do you think NLTCE Bible is good or not? Is it worth to purchase this or not? Is it an dynamic translation thought for thought? Is it an Catholic- friendly Bible? Is NLTCE an good translation? Thanks
James,
It really depends on what you are looking for. I'd highly recommend going to Biblegateway and read portions of the NLT to see whether or not you like it. It certainly is on the dynamic end of things, so make sure to keep that in mind. Yes, it will be more thought for thought, but that doesn't necessarily make it less accurate. As it has been updated over the years it has moved slightly more formal. So, read it online first before making a purchase. Read large portions, instead of only a few selective verses.
Tim, thanks for your help. It's good yeah I will have a look on NLT on biblegateway. That's a good advice I'll read it large portions to see if I like it or not. Cheers
You are welcome. I hate giving yes/no answers to translation preference because what I may like doesn't necessarily mean you will like it. And if you have read my blog for any length of time, you know that my tastes continue to change.
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