Advent Contest 1

As promised, I will be offering at least one contest during this Holy season of Advent. I may offer another one, depending on how busy the next few weeks get at school. But for now, the winner of this contest will receive:

1) The Catholic Prayer Bible: Lectio Divina Edition (NRSV)

2) The Gospel According to Luke I-IX (Anchor Bible) by Joseph A. Fitzmyer. 1981.

Here are the rules:

1) If you have a blog, please advertise this contest on your blog. (If you don't, you can still enter the contest.)

2) This contest is only for people who are in the United States or Canada. (Again, overseas shipping costs are a bit too high for me right now. Sorry.)

3) In the comment box, answer the following question:
What Catholic Bible, or Bible study tool, would you like to see under your Christmas tree this year and why? (Feel free to invent something that meets your needs!)

4) The contest ends on Saturday at 11:59PM EST.

5) One entry per person.

Truth & Life Audio Bible Review

Well, this is not so much going to be a review, but rather some of my thoughts on this fine product. As mentioned in previous posts, the Truth & Life Dramatized Audio Bible is an exciting development for Catholic Bible readers (and listeners). I believe this is the first dramatized audio Bible that utilizes a Catholic edition of the Bible. The RSV-CE is the translation used, and I must say that even though the translation is 40+ years old, it still sounds both contemporary (for the most part) and elegant.

The audio CD's are packaged in three separate "digipaks" which contain six CD's each. Each of them contains photos from the project, as well as a foreword on the Word of God from Pope Benedict XVI, a letter from the producer Carl Amari, and additional information about the cast and producers. All in all, it has a professional look to it, which is something that doesn't always accompany Catholic Bible products.

Now onto the audio Bible itself. At this point, I can say that I have listened to all of the Gospel according to John, as well as snippets from the other Gospels and some of the letters. As I was listening to the Gospel of John, narrated by Stacy Keach, I tried to compare this audio Bible with other audio Bibles I own, most notably portions of The Word of Promise and the The Bible Experience: New Testament. The first thing that comes to mind is that in comparison to the other two audio Bibles, this one is a little more scaled back in the use of background sounds. However, I think this is a benefit to the whole listening experience. While there is certainly background noise and sound that accompanies the actors performances, it is not as pronounced as in the other two, IMHO. In a way, by not over-producing these "environmental" sounds, with dominating crowd noise or the sounds of nature, the focus remains on the Sacred Word being read. Again, it just adds enough to help the listener use his or her imagination to construct the scene in their mind as they listen.

The second aspect of this audio Bible that I would like to point out is the voice acting. One thing to note is that while the other two audio Bibles I mentioned had celebrities playing the roles of almost all the characters, the Truth & Life audio Bible has around eleven fairly well known actors playing the main, starring roles, while the others are handled by supporting or voice actors. For me, this was actually a good thing, since I wasn't always distracted by trying to figure out who is saying what. Overall, I found the acting, thus far, to be quite good. Jesus is played by actor Neal McDonough, who does a nice job overall. In particular, I found the readings done by Micheal York, Julia Ormond, and John Rhys-Davies to be my favorites.

Ultimately, I found this product to be quite beautiful to listen to. I can see myself using these, not only for personal use, but also in future Scripture classes at the high school, particularly the letters of St. Paul. I found my copy at Barnes and Noble and paid a little under $30.00, so it can certainly be found at a great price. It is also great to support Catholic products like this. No date has been set, but there are plans to do an Old Testament edition in the future.

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?

CSSI Update

You can get a sneak peak of the CSSI Bible at the Tan Books site here. I do not see any cross-references at this point, but that seems to confirm the belief that a future edition should/needs to contain them. (Hat tip to Kenneth for the link.)

Thank You Mark Shea

Although I try to maintain the focus of this blog to specifically "Catholic Bibles" and things related, I can't help but refer you to a fine examination/parody by my favorite Catholic blogger, Mark Shea, on the reporting by the mainstream press on Pope Benedict's comments concerning condom use in his upcoming interview book Light of the World.

Enjoy:

(ROME) In a startling change to the Catholic Faith, Pope Benedict XVI announced today that tossing people down elevator shafts could represent a first step in assuming moral responsibility "in the intention of reducing the risk of murdering billions of innocent people."

The Imperial Mainstream Media Center has taken this as a signal that the Church intends to canonize Darth Vader for his saintly courage in tossing Emperor Palpatine down an elevator shaft as he was torturing his son to death with huge bolts of electric Force energy. In addition, the Imperial Mainstream Media Center has also declared that the Pope therefore means to say that destruction of whole planets, as well as the subjugation of billions of inhabitants all over the galaxy, the betrayal of his closest friends, the slaughter of the Jedi and their younglings, and his conversion to the Dark Side "don't matter". But most importantly, according to an Imperial Mainstream Media spokesman, "The point is, throwing people down elevator shafts is now formally accepted by the Church as moral behavior and Catholic need to think about how to incorporate this new development of doctrine into their lives. If you feel that throwing people down elevator shafts is the safe and right thing for you, then," says the Imperial Mainstream Media Center, "we believe the Pope means to say, 'Do it with my blessing.'"

ICSBNT Contest Giveway Winner

Congrats to reader Lou! Please drop me an email at mccorm45 (at) yahoo (dot) com with your name and address and I will get your copy of the ICSBNT out to you.

Stay tuned, I think I will be having another contest soon since we are entering into the Advent season. All I have to do is figure out what the contest question will be.

Thanks again to all who entered.

CSSI Bible Now Shipping

According to the Saint Benedict Press website, the Catholic Scripture Study International RSV-CE is available for order now. Personally, I am still debating on whether or not to shell out $69.95 + shipping for this, but I would be interested to hear from any of you who do decide to purchase it.

This new RSV-CE edition contains:

This high-quality RSV-CE Bible seamlessly integrates Sacred Scripture with extensive study materials and reference guides. Includes 76 full color pages, Holy Land maps marked with significant events and places, and extensive biblical apologetics and topical indexes, all beautifully bound in our Classic Black Bonded Leather with multiple ribbon markers, gold edges and beautiful foil stamped cover.

Update: You can a sneak peak of this volume on the Tan Books site here. I do not see cross-references.