NLT Catholic Edition (Official)

Via the Catholic Biblical Federation:

The New Living Translation Catholic Edition was released on March 6, 2016 by His Excellency, Most Rev. Salvatore Pennacchio, Apostolic Nuncio to India and Nepal during the one day Plenary Assembly held at the Paul VI auditorium, Bengaluru. The members of the CCBI Commission for Bible, Tyndale House Publishers, USA, ATC Publishers, Bengaluru and the twelve scholars were also present for this historical event in the history of the CCBI

New Living Translation
The New Living Translation was translated by a group of 90 scholars who used the dynamic-equivalence philosophy of translation. This makes the text eminently readable, since it uses the vocabulary and sentence structure of modern English. More than 33 million copies of the New Living Translation have been distributed over the past twenty years, and it has been received with enthusiasm. 

Background of the New Living Translation Catholic EditionOver the past three years, every word of the NLT has been carefully reviewed by 12 Catholic scholars here in India. They have worked under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Lucien Legrand, mep and ably supported by Rev. Dr. Assisi Saldanha, cssr and Rev. Dr. Govindu Rayanna, who formed the core committee. The scholars read their assigned book or books in the NLT both to ensure that it is a faithful translation of the original texts, and to ensure that nothing in the text had been translated in a way that was contrary to Catholic teaching. As a result of this review, a relative handful of changes were made in the text of the NLT to improve the precision of the translation in English.

After that careful and thorough review by the team of scholars, the New Living Translation was granted the Nihil Obstat by His Excellency, Gali Bali, Bishop of Guntur, who was the then Chairman of the CCBI Bible Commission. Finally, the NLT was granted the Imprimatur by His Eminence Oswald Cardinal Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay and President of the CCBI.  

Importance of the New Living Translation Catholic EditionIt is a momentous occasion releasing the HOLY BIBLE, New Living Translation Catholic Edition (NLTCE) in the presence of the distinguished gathering. The release of NLTCE is historic because it is the first English Bible to be given an imprimatur by the CCBI in India. The effort is the result of collaboration between Catholic scholarship in India and the world’s leading Christian Publishers, Tyndale Publishing House, USA. It has been an ecumenical effort that spanned nearly three years. NLT is a “missionary translation” intended to present the biblical message in a language accessible even to non-Christians. The translation is both lucid yet solid in its presentation of the message. 

 New Living Translation Catholic Edition

Now, we have a Catholic Edition of the NLT. The New Living Translation Catholic Edition

•  includes the Deuterocanonical books and utilizes anglicized spellings
•  reviewed by a group of eminent Catholic Scholars
•  Imprimatur granted by Oswald Cardinal Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay and President of Conference of Catholic Bishops of India
•  endowed with illustrations

The Holy Bible NLT combines the latest biblical scholarship with a clear, dynamic writing style – communicates God’s word powerfully to all who read it.  Following the principle of dynamic equivalence, it provides a refreshingly fluid reading of the Scriptures, which may be missing in more literal translations. It presents the biblical message in a language accessible even to non-Christians, as suggested by the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, 25.

This Catholic Edition of the Holy Bible NLT will be of great help for personal reading, study, and prayer. With its flowing text and useful marginal references, it will also provide a useful tool for Lectio Divina sharing and other prayer groups.

Releasing of Books: Lectio Divina and The LectorFr. Rayanna Govindu authored two books namely, Lectio Divina and The Lector which were released on this great occasion by His Grace, Filipe Neri Ferrao, Archbishop of Goa and Daman and Vice President of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India, His Excellency, Most Rev. Gali Bali, Bishop of Guntur respectively. These two books offer basic information about Lectio Divina and the training of the Lectors. 

A Word of appreciation
Fr. Rayanna Govindu, executive Secretary of the CCBI Commission for Bible and the Member of the Core Committee thanked all the Office Bearers of the CCBI, the 12 scholars, Tyndale House Publishers, USA, ATC Publishers and Brilliant Printers, Bengaluru for their cooperation and collaboration. He extended his deep sentiments of gratitude to His Eminence, Oswald Cardinal Gracias for graciously granting the Imprimatur and for his timely advice and wholehearted support.

He expressed his heartfelt thanks to His Excellency, Most Rev. Salvatore Pennacchio, Apostolic Nuncio to India and Nepal for his gracious presence and releasing the NLTCE, His Excellency, Most Rev. Gali Bali, the former chairperson of the CCBI Commission for Bible for granting the Nihil Obstat, giving a valuable Foreword and releasing the book “The Lector”, and His Excellency, Most Rev. J Susaimanickam, the present chairperson of the Commission for Bible for his invaluable suggestions and constant encouragement.
He articulated his appreciation to His Eminence, Telesphore Cardinal Toppo, Archbishop of Ranchi for releasing the book ‘Liturgy and Life”, His Grace, Most Rev. Filipe Neri Ferrao, Archbishop of Goa and Daman for releasing the book “Lectio Divina” and His Excellency, Most Rev. Agnelo Gracias for strongly recommending the NLTCE for Iimprimatur. He also expressed  his gratitude to one and all for their assistance.

While thanking His Eminence, Archbishops, Bishops, Administrators fathers, dear brothers and sisters present for all that they have been to CCBI Commission for Bible, Tyndale House publishers, USA, and ATC Publications, Bengaluru, Fr. Rayanna earnestly requested them to promote NLTCE, and other books released such as, Liturgy and Life, The Lector and Lectio Divina.

The historic and joyful moment of the launch of the NLTCE came to a close with the words of the Holy Father, Pope Francis-Bible Advocate: “I would very much like all Christians to be able to learn ‘the sublime science of Jesus Christ’ through frequent reading of the word of God, as the sacred text offers nourishment for the soul and is the pure and perennial source of the spiritual life of us all. We must make every effort so that each believer may read God’s word, because as Saint Jerome says, ‘ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.’” (Audience with United Bible Societies, September 29, 2014)

May the Word who became flesh bless us, nourish us, form us, guide us and fill us with his words of eternal life! 

Update on ICSB from Fr. Fessio

Responding to a listener question on a recent Catholic Answers Live radio program, Fr. Fessio of Ignatius Press stated that he hoped the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible Old Testament would be completed in a year or two.  That, of course, is nothing new.  We heard that from Dr. Scott Hahn a few months backs on EWTN Bookmark.  What was interesting, however, was that it appears that Ignatius may not ultimately publish the complete ICSB in one volume, but rather two.  Citing the amount of commentary and study helps found in the ICSB, he said they are struggling to figure a way to publish it in one volume.  You can listen to the entire program here.  He answers the ICSB question around minute 32.

Now, what do you think about the real possibility of there never being a complete, one volume edition of the ICSB?  Personally, having examined many study Bibles over the past ten years, including ones like the ESV Study Bible and the NLT Study Bible, both of which contain more notes and study helps than the ICSB, I would be highly disappointed if it is only available in two distinct volumes.  Those two study Bibles I just mentioned are full of annotations, contain a ton of extra material in the appendix, and come in many different editions and covers.  The NLT Study Bible, which I am flipping through as I write this post, has well over 300 pages of extra material in the appendix and contains more cross-references and in-text theme notes/person profiles/maps than the ICSB.  The ESV Study Bible, like the recently revised NIV Study Bible, is produced with full-color charts, images, and in-text maps.  When you compare these three study Bibles to the overall look of the ICSBNT, there is a huge difference in appearance and the amount of material contained within.  While the material in the ICSB is outstanding, something that has never been in doubt, the overall look and production quality is sorely lacking.  And the possibility of there not being a one volume edition is simply mind-blowing.  Again and again I continue to wonder what is going on at Ignatius Press concerning the ICSB.  Do they have limitations on what they can do?  Have they looked at other study Bibles on the market?  Where is the promotional support for the ICSB and the RSV-2CE?

NLT Study Bible

Recently I received a review copy of the NLT Study Bible. The NLT is probably one of the most popular dynamic-equivalence Bible translations in English, certainly for Protestants. Most NLT discussions on this blog have been centered on the now out-of-print NLT Catholic Reference Bible. An edition that apparently never received the OK from the USCCB. However, unlike almost all editions of the NLT since, it did include the Deuterocanonicals.

This edition of the NLTSB contains the Protestant canon and is certainly intended for a Protestant audience. So, my brief remarks on the NLTSB will mostly be concerned with the layout and study tools available in this edition. That being said, the NLTSB is a beautiful study Bible. Many of the online reviews that I have read about it tend to compare it with the ESV Study Bible, which came out the same year. The NLTSB contains all the elements that you would expect to find in a quality study Bible. There are extensive introductions, commentary and notes that often take up half a page, charts and maps in the text where appropriate, mini-articles dispersed throughout, and an index and concordance (along with some additional color maps) in the appendix. All of these study tools are integrated nicely in this volume.

On the positive side, the commentary tends to be moderately conservative, but not without reference to various historical-critical findings. I have found that most of the comments would be quite helpful to most Catholics. Even in a number of areas where there may be dispute between Protestants and Catholics, like John 6:53-58, the commentary acknowledges that "Some Christian traditions see the bread as Christ's literal flesh broken for us and the wine as his literal blood poured out for us (NLTSB 1782)." Of course, I have not read all possible passages where there is disagreement, but generally this seems to be the tone found in the commentary for these types of "disputed" passages. In addition, the NLTSB does a great service, IMHO, by placing the cross-references at the side of the page. I find it easier to navigate when they are placed there.

On the negative side, it would be nice to see the NLTSB come in an edition with the Deuterocanonicals. While the NLT has been updated a few times since the mid-90's, the publishers have a translation of the Deuterocanonicals available if they choose to use it. It certainly doesn't have to be called a "Catholic" NLTSB, but one that simply contains the Deuterocanonicals. Also, I could mention that it would be nice to see more color in the many maps and charts that are in this Bible, but this would mostly be due to the beautiful layout of the ESVSB, which in many ways is the paragon of modern study Bibles. However, I am not going to hold that against the NLTSB, since there are no Catholic study Bibles that even come close either.

Overall, the NLTSB is a truly beautiful Bible with some fine study tools. The issue of whether it will ever gain any popularity in the Catholic community is doubtful, particularly without the inclusion of the Deuterocanonicals. However, it still can be a helpful reference for your Bible study library.

**Thank you to Laura, from the NLT Study Bible Facebook page for sending me a review copy**

Another Year, Another Bible

So, last year, around New Years, I decided to give the NRSV-CE a good read through by using it as my primary Bible. I was faithful to this commitment, using the NRSV for personal devotions, work in ministry, as well as class work at the seminary. This lasted for more than six months, almost into August. For devotional reading, I utilized the NRSV-CE edition published by Oxford, while using the HarperCollins Study Bible for study.

I found the overall quality of the NRSV translation to be pretty high. In particular, I appreciated the nice mix between literal and dynamic renderings, certainly leaning more towards the literal end. And while the NRSV is not as literal as the original RSV, I found that to be a positive. In particular, I found reading through the OT to be very enjoyable. I think the text flows quite well, in both Testaments. Also, I appreciate the textual notes at the bottom of each page. They were very helpful. However, some of the excesses in inclusive language use bothered me at times. I am one who believes that it is appropriate to use some inclusive language, but I feel the NRSV is too much. (I think the NJB does a nice job overall.) In particular, the "Son of Man" renderings in the OT, by rendering them "mortals", obscures the messianic meanings behind them. Sure, I know that there may be some legitimate linguistic reasons for an inclusive rendering, but the fact that Jesus referred to himself as the "Son of Man" indicates that he read those OT inferences in that way. In addition, I am not sure changing a passage to the plural is always a good idea.

Also, while I mentioned above that I like the fact the NRSV provides many textual notes, the one thing I noticed is that many of them are simply the more literal Greek rendering. Oftentimes, those notes are the actual text in the RSV or even the NAB. There are a few other things that nag me, but I don't want to harp on the NRSV too much. Like I said, overall I think the NRSV is pretty good, but there are just some things about it that make me uncomfortable with it.

So, since on Sunday we begin a new liturgical year with the First Sunday of Advent, I have decided to do the same thing I did with the NRSV earlier in the year. But, what translation should I go with? Right now, I am seriously considering going with the new Emergent New Testament: The Voice! Actually no, I am just kidding. Truthfully, I am considering the NAB, which in all honesty, I have rarely used. (Of course I hear it every time I go to Holy Mass). I certainly own a few copies of the NAB, including the nicely made Fireside Librosario NAB and a leather 1990 edition of the Catholic Study Bible by Oxford. But, I am still considering which translation to go with. I am open for any of your thoughts! RSV-2CE?

In any case, I hope to blog about my experiences with whatever translation I decide to use. I would like to show, possibly on a weekly basis, how I have used it in study and ministry, along with insights from my daily devotional reading.

Update: I think I shall make the REB a candidate as well.

Update 2: Five additional translations I am considering are the RSV-2CE, NJB, NLT (Catholic Edition), Good News Translation, and the Christian Community Bible.

Update 3: Leaning towards the RSV-2CE.

Update 4: Now leaning nowhere!