Guest Post: Ignatius RSV-2CE (Large Print)

 Thank to long-time friend of this blog, Rolf, for this guest review of the new RSV-2CE Large-Print from Ignatius Press.

As some of you know, I have been commenting (and yes, a little ranting) on this blog since 2008 about the whereabouts of a large/giant print RSV-2CE Bible from Ignatius Press. I bought the first RSV-2CE Bible when it first came out in 2006, so when Tim's blog started up in 2008 I had already been waiting 2 years! Well it has finally arrived!

This Ignatius Bible Second Edition Large Print is in reality a 'giant print' Bible. It uses size 14 font.  When the Bible arrived, the first thing my wife said when she picked up the box on our porch was, "man that is heavy!" This is a large and heavy Bible (see photos). 

This giant print Bible measures 10 1/4 x 7 1/4 x 2 3/8 inches and has 2100+ pages. It is quite a bit larger and heavier than the RSV-CE large/giant print Bible from Oxford/Ignatius Press/Scepter (see comparison photos). The reason for this is the paper thickness. The newer RSV-2CE Bible uses a heavier paper unlike the RSV-CE Bible which has tissue paper feel.

Is it worth the extra weight and size? To me it is, the words pop off the page on this new Ignatius Bible. It is a combination of the thicker paper, the creamy page coloring, and the very bold size 14 font that makes it the best reading Bible that I have ever owned! But this readability comes at a cost! To me it is worth it but to others it may not be. Giant print Bibles are not for everybody, they are great for teaching from and of course are a must for people with poorer eye sight.

I purchased the bonded leather cover (blue) which is practically the same cover that is on the regular print Ignatius Bibles. For bonded leather it is flexible and comfortable, and has the now familiar icons on the cover ( which I like). Since Ignatius uses the heavier paper in this Bible, it works well with the thin bonded leather cover and is not 'too floppy' when you hand hold it.

The layout and contents are practically the same as the regular print RSV-2CE, including the 16 pages of color maps and no extras. My one complaint is they did not include any ribbon markers, even with the bonded leather edition? Hopefully Ignatius will include them in future editions! 

If you like the Ignatius Press RSV-2CE regular print Bible and you have a hard time with the size 9 print, this might be a good read at home Bible. If you teach from the Bible this giant print is wonderful, as long as you don't have to hand hold it for a long time!

I have since bought the hardcover version also which I have tabbed and added some ribbon markers. The hard cover stays in my brief case for my RCIA sessions and I will keep the bonded leather Bible for home reading and maybe one day, a journey to Leonard's? Hmmm... Burgundy hand dyed rustic goatskin!!!

Golgotha of Jasna Gora Resurrection

"He is not here, he has risen again." 

-Luke 24:6

Behold the Cross of Our Salvation

National Gallery, Alexandros Soutzos Museum, Athens Image caption: Andreas Pavias

"And when they reached the place which is named after a skull, they crucified him there; and also the two criminals, one on his right and the other on his left.  Jesus meanwhile was saying, Father, forgive them; they do not know what it is they are doing." 
-Luke 23:33-34

The Transpositioning and Dislocating of Biblical Texts

Sinag-Tala Confraternity Bible

Over the past couple of weeks, we have been having a fascinating discussion regarding which OT would fit best with the Confraternity NT were it ever to be re-published in the future.  One of the more interesting comments I read concerns the issue of transpositioning/dislocating of verses, which was done in the Confraternity/NAB Old Testament (1969).  

Commenter Mark pointed out the places in Ezekiel and Job in the Confraternity/NAB OT (1969) where this took place and wrote: "For the many passages in the Confraternity version where transpositions and other dislocations of the text are incorporated in the translation, you aren't really reading God's word at that point, but rather what scholars from the 1940s and 50s thought a theoretical reconstruction of the "proper text" might have looked like. And some of those transpositions are in major portions of the text (Job 28's praise of wisdom, the vision chapters of Ezekiel). Not a stray verse here and there, not a disputed reading here and there, but major portions of major books."

Fortunately, the revised NABRE OT avoided transpositioning texts, which was a very good thing. Before 2011, I would occasionally have trouble teaching from the original NAB OT due to this issue. At the time, I had been involved in helping out with an ecumenical bible study, where the vast majority of students were Protestants who used the NIV, ESV, or KJV.  All three of these popular translations did not transposition verses.  This reality was made even more difficult, since the NAB used the Hebrew numbering of verses and chapters, while the vast majority of other English translations followed the Greek numbering.  This remains a minor issue today even in the improved NABRE, most notably in the Psalms and prophets.

While I wouldn't go as far as Mark who said that one who reads a bible that transpositions verses isn't "really reading God's word at that point," I would say that a translated text should be kept in the order it has been received.  I think this should be the case even if moving a verse or two around would aid to clarity of reading a given passage.  We are already reading a text that has been translated into another language, thus leading to a certain level of interpretation already.  I am not sure how fidelity to the original is served when verses are moved around.  As mentioned above, I am grateful that the NABRE OT moved away from this since it has been the text I have used most often this past year when teaching.

What say you?

How to Pick a Catholic Bible by Philip Kosloski

Saw this article today at Aleteia about choosing a Bible.  I have some thoughts, but perhaps I will leave them to the comments section.  How about you?

Let’s envision a common scene: shortly after the Easter Vigil a new convert walks into a Catholic bookstore and asks to see their bibles. A friendly sales associate points this person to the back wall. The new convert makes her way to the back of the store and is surprised by what she sees. There is not just one Catholic bible; there are at least a dozen Catholic bibles, all with different abbreviations on the spine!

Which bible should this new convert choose?

To be honest, there is no one-size-fits-all version of the bible. Each has advantages and disadvantages, and all are flawed by the fact that they are not in the original language in which the Bible was written. Nevertheless, very few of us have the luxury of studying ancient Greek or Hebrew, so we must make the decision as to which Bible we will use. It is a critical decision, as God desires to speak to us through the words of scripture, and the rest of our lives could be changed by what we read.

Here are some basic tips to consider the next time you find yourself looking at a dozen different Catholic bibles and don’t know which one to buy:

read the rest here

Weekly Knox: The Old Testament

"We mustn't think of the Old Testament as an awkward fact which we've got to get over somehow, hush it up if possible because it is so difficult to make propaganda out of it. It's the lock into which the key of the Incarnation fits, and if you begin the Bible with St Matthew, it makes a mutilated story." 
-The Messianic Hope (Sermon)

Video Review: Catholic Study Bible 3rd Edition (bonded leather)