Thursday, September 27, 2012
Blog Update
Just wanted to let you know that work has been busy due to retreats at the high school, so I hope to return to regular blogging soon. But until then, feel free to enjoy the best bible blog theme song on the net.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Monday, September 24, 2012
International Contest Winner
It was really hard to choose between the many great entries. But in the end, with my wife's help, the winner is Roman, from Czech Republic.
Roman, please send me an email with your name and address and I will get your Ignatius Compact Bible out to you by the end of the week. Thank you to all the wonderful entries.
Roman, please send me an email with your name and address and I will get your Ignatius Compact Bible out to you by the end of the week. Thank you to all the wonderful entries.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
7 Questions: Mark Brumley of Ignatius Press
1) The Revised Standard Version-Second Catholic
Edition remains the most popular translation as expressed by a majority of the
readers of this blog. Could you speak a little bit about how the RSV-2CE came
to be? Some of my readers have expressed a desire to know more about the
changes from the original RSV-CE, particularly since the RSV-2CE does more than
simply eliminate the archaic English from the text. One example would be the
additions found in Sirach 24 of the RSV-2CE. Another would be changes similar
to what we see in Luke 9:31, where “departure” was changed to the more literal
Greek rendering of “exodus”.
The history of the RSV2CE is straightforward.
We published for many years the so-called Blue Bible, the Ignatius Bible, the
Catholic Revised Standard Version. Many people loved it but some didn't like
that the occasional archaic language of the translation--the "thees" and "thous"
used in direct addressed to God. So we looked into a slight revision, while
still keeping the Blue Bible available. Meanwhile, in discussions with the
Congregation for Divine Worship, we became aware that some folks in the Vatican
wanted a Bible that fit better with the norms for liturgical translations as
found in Liturgiam Authenticam. So our edition of the Bible was reviewed by the
Congregation and several biblical experts to make it more in conformity to
Catholic liturgical use. That is why it's really a sort of RSV Catholic Edition
Plus--plus a more standard English reflecting the removal of the archaic
language and an enrichment of the translation of the text to reflect the
Church's liturgical tradition.
2) Are there any future plans to release the
RSV-2CE in different editions? Some readers have expressed a desire that Ignatius Press publish
a full RSV-2CE compact, as well as a large print edition.
The answer is "yes but". Right now, the focus is
on finishing the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible. We have an "inexpensive" group
edition of the RSV2CE Ignatius Bible due out soon for the Year of Faith, which
will be very affordable for bulk purchases. The other things you mentioned--the
compact Bible and the large print Bible--are certainly things we're interested
in, if people have interest in using them! If folks have ideas for editions of
the Bibles they'd like to see, we're certainly willing to consider
them.
3) Since the NCCCUSA holds the copyright to the
RSV-2CE, is Ignatius Press limited in how it can utilize and promote the
translation?
Not as such. The NCCCUSA holds the copyright for
the underlying RSV Catholic translation. But the specific modifications to the
text are Ignatius Press' copyrighted changes and we have flexibility in what we
can do with the translation itself. In fact, there is a lectionary based on the
RSV2CE that is used in Africa and some other places for the celebration of the
Sacred Liturgy in English. Some folks would like to see it used here, as a
complementary lectionary text, but that's a matter for the USCCB to take
up.
4) The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible is widely
regarded as one of the best Catholic study Bibles on the market. Indeed, the
class I teach for the Catholic Biblical School of Michigan requires the ICSB as
its main textbook and all of my students are amazed at the quality and
comprehensiveness of the notes and other study aids contained in it. Could you
talk a little bit about how the ICSB came to be and how each volume is
evaluated?
Two words, really: Scott Hahn. He was the
original impetus for the project. With respect to the evaluation process for
each volume, it's kind of a dance. Curtis Mitch, a colleague of Scott Hahn's,
works to create the original draft materials, based on a number of
things--Scott's ideas, at least broadly conceived, and Curtis' own research. I
review the drafts and sometimes interact with other scholars about particular
points. Usually, I send my notes to Curtis who reviews things with Scott. We
sometimes go back and forth on things, but not often. I see my role as mainly to
raise questions (sometimes as a kind of devil's advocate, if I can use that
expression in connection with the Bible) and to speak for the average Catholic
in the pew to make sure the dynamic duo of Scott and Curtis, who are both
brilliant, by the way, don't leave the rest of us behind. The idea is that while
there is a broadly Hahnian inspiration for the interpretive moves in the
annotations and commentary, we don’t want any one exegetical vision to
dominate--in the way, say, Scofield's annotations dominated the original
Scofield Reference Bible. This is, after all, a Bible, not a straight
commentary. You can do a lot more by way of asserting your own exegetic opinions
in a commentary than in a Bible. People have a habit of investing annotations to
a Bible with more significance. And understandably so. Thus, we must be careful
not to give the impression that any particular scholar's view is, per se, one
and the same with "what the Bible says". Obviously, Scott and Curtis
agree.
5) Fr. Fessio, in an interview earlier this year,
mentioned that the completed ICSB may need to be published in two volumes. Is
this true? Some of my readers have mentioned that other study Bibles on the
market, like Zondervan’s NIV SB and Crossway’s ESV SB, contain just as much
information and are still able to be published not only in one volume, but also
in various sizes.
The plan right now is to have a single volume.
But there are a variety of factors here that we have to find a way, as
publishers, to fit together. One is the comprehensive quality of the commentary
and annotations. Another is readability of the text. Another still is the
physical size of the book. I expect, though, we'll be able to produce the entire
work, in a highly readable text, and a high quality book. Once we have
finished all the annotations and commentaries for the Old Testament, we will
have to make sure everything fits together. we had to do this with the New
Testament books. We wound up have to do some revisions of the already-published
New Testament content to make sure everything worked. And of course Scott Hahn,
being the ever-fertile scholar he is, had some revisions he thought important to
make, based on his own further study and input he had received.
6) When will we see future volumes of the ICSB
released? Dr. Scott Hahn mentioned on EWTN Bookmark earlier this year that the
ICSB project should be completed by 2014 or 2015 at the latest. Is that still
the plan?
Yes. I'd like to see it done by the end of 2013
but that's probably optimistic.
7)
Finally,
do you have a favorite passage or verse from the Bible? Why?
John 3:16. It says
it all.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Personalize the SBP "Year with the Bible" for Free!
Or Save 25% on our "Year With" series when you enter coupon code YEARWITH at checkout. I don't own a copy of this yet, but hope to acquire one in the coming weeks in order to review it.
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