With Epiphany Approaching

Longenecker on Bible Translation

Fr. Dwight Longenecker, whose book Catholicism Pure and Simple I recommended recently, penned at short essay back in 2003 entitled "How to Choose a Bible" for the UK charismatic magazine Goodnews.  In it, he recommends the NJB:

Recently so many further updates and revisions have come out that it is difficult to keep track of them all. The New Jerusalem Bible is the most up to date, scholarly Catholic version. Other new versions or updates are The New Revised Standard, The New King James Version and the New American Standard Version. Many of the newest 'translations' attempt to 'correct' gender-biased mistakes in the Bible and are therefore biased in their own way as they attempt to be politically correct. Other new translations like the Ignatius Study Bible try to correct the 'liberal' slant with their own more conservative stance. This one as yet has only produced individual books of the bible and not the whole thing, although this will be the final goal.There are still more versions that offer varied presentations of the older translations. These are often abridged or adapted versions to make the Bible more attractive to a particular set of readers or have notes for young people or some particular category. One very accessible down to earth bible that has become popular in recent years, which a fellow parishoner drew my attention to, is the Community Bible which comes out of the lived experience of the basic Christian communities in Latin America. As might be expected while not of the highest scholarship it has very useful pastorally oriented footnotes.

I can hear you thinking, why doesn't he cut through all that and simply recommend a Bible version? Okay. Go for The New Jerusalem Bible. Get as good a one as you can, and by 'good' I don't mean fancy leather covers or giltedged pages. Invest in a solid, hardback edition with lots of study notes. It may cost thirty pounds or so, but it will be a treasure trove forever. It will be readable and clear, and the study notes will keep you awake looking up fascinating details and digging out interesting tidbits from the cross references.

Of course, this was written for a British audience almost ten years ago.  I wonder if he feels the same about the NJB today?  I also enjoy his advise about getting a solid hardback edition.  Something to consider!

Catholicism Pure and Simple

I first came across the writings of popular Catholic blogger Fr. Dwight Longenecker a few years back when I was in Rome.  I had stopped in a fairly large bookstore just outside the Vatican and picked up a small booklet entitled The God Man: Finding the Real Jesus written by Fr. Longenecker.  It was a short book, but one that was both very clear and elegant in its style and convincing in its argumentation.  I am very happy to report that you can now acquire this small booklet, which is now part of a much larger collection that has just recently been published entitled Catholicism Pure and Simple.

This volume is a simple explanation of the faith, but full of fantastic insights.  For example, in the section discussing the rise of the prophetic movement in ancient Israel, Fr. Longenecker writes:


"In the second part of the Old Testament the Jewish
writers begin to speak the language of love. The
prophets were holy men who taught the Jewish people
about God in a vivid and powerful way. In many different
ways the Jewish prophets tell us that God loves
his people.  They say God is like a passionate lover who seeks
and pursues the beloved everywhere. He is a faithful
husband who loves his wife no matter what she does.
The ancient Jewish writers tell us that God is a good
and gentle shepherd. He is a wise and gracious king,
a patient Father, and a long-suffering servant. The
prophets say that he is a faithful God: although we
might turn away from him, he will never turn away
from us."

Beautiful huh?  A number of people who have already reviewed this book point out that it would be a helpful companion for those in R.C.I.A. classes.  While I wholeheartedly agree with that statement, I am planning on giving it to family members for Christmas as way of (re-)evangelizing family members.  We are in the "Year of Faith", a time to rekindle not only our own faith life, but also those around us who may have left the Church.  I think Catholicism Pure and Simple is an excellent tool in doing this!