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A Mother’s Teachings
My mother was born and raised a Catholic. She would tell me stories of catholic school and everything that she learned. It was a lot of information to retain. They would read scripture and recite it back to the whole class.
When she would read from the Douay Rheims bible, she told me that would get tongue tied a lot of the time. She did enjoy the lessons that she learned by recited in front of the class. My mother would recite the testaments to my sister and I before every meal growing up. It was very inspiring.
Modern Bible Versions
There are many different religions out in the world. Just like there are different versions of the bible as well. As times change so does everything else. This can be said about the bible as well.
The basic concept is the same. That will never change. What will change is that there are more modern bible versions out there. The language is a little outdated. Nowadays a more modern feel is desired. The more modern bible is easier to read and understand.
A True Gift
My family and I are active members in our church. We love the people and worshipping the Lord. We have an amazing church and pastor who we have come to love as part of our family. We attend service every Sunday.
One year it was our pastor’s 15th year anniversary. We presented him with a beautiful gift. We presented him with an exquisite collection of New American Bibles. For once he was speechless. He was so overwhelmed with our generosity of spirit. We told him that it was us who are overwhelmed with his generosity of the Lord’s work he does every day.
Bible Study
I was talking to my grandmother the other day and she was saying how her eyesight was going bad. In her Bible study, she noticed that even when she put on her glasses to read the passages she couldn’t see the print. She was feeling really discouraged. Bible study was her favorite time of the week.
I sent her a Bible audio book. When I talked her last week she informed me that she uses the audio book at her Bible study. She apparently was not the only person with sight problems. They where all so appreciative and it makes their Bible study a lot more exciting.
Gender Language in NRSV Bible
In the modern era where members of both sexes often participate fully in religious life, antiquated gender language has become a major issue. That’s one reason why the Revised Standard Version of the Bible was edited in 1989 and released as the New Revised Standard Version. The new version dealt with modern demands of worshipers.
For instance, in NRSV Bibles if a translation used the word brothers to refer to a group of men and women – or where the gender of the group was not identified – then the NRSV uses brothers and sisters. Bruce Metzer, who wrote the preface for the NRSV, pointed out that masculine-oriented language should be eliminated in the text as often as possible while trying to balance an accurate depiction of the historical patriarchal culture of the Bible. All alterations to gender in the text are noted with a footnote.
Bible Revisions and Updates
In time for Easter, Catholics will have a revised edition of the New American Bible. The new version has been updated with clearer translations, thanks to scholars’ ability to use the Dead Sea Scrolls and other archaeological finds that weren’t available until 1991. Many of the changes deal with pronouns. Per the Vatican’s request, gender specific pronouns have been left intact while passages that target men and women use more gender neutral terms like “them” and “they.”
Separately, the Zondervan publishing company is releasing their latest translation of the New International Version Bible. The NIV is the best selling Bible in North America, and is used primarily by evangelicals and other Protestants. The NIV audio Bible is also popular, as is the electronic version which has already sold 40,000 copies of the updated version. Translating gender language has been an issue for the NIV just as it has been for the NAB.
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, or NCC for short, is a partnership of 36 Christian faith groups in the United States. Mainline Protestant, Orthodox, African-American, Evangelical, and Peace churches count themselves as members. In total, 100,000 congregations – 45 million people- are affiliated with the NCC.
The NCC does a lot of work on behalf of its members. Some of their activities include theological and educational dialogue among different denominations and social and political advocacy. The NCC was vital in helping to raise the minimum wage in approximately 20 states. The NCC also put together the NRSV Bible which is used in most Protestant Churches and some Orthodox and Catholic congregations.
New Jerusalem Bible Review
In my opinion, the New Jerusalem Bible is an incredible tool to bringing you closer to God. It translates directly from Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic texts rather than previously translated European texts. Additionally, the footnotes, indices, and parallel passages give great historical context and religious interpretation to the text.
Some may be wary of purchasing the New Jerusalem Bible because it has been touted as a Catholic text. As someone who is not a Catholic, I can assure you that I did not feel alienated from any part of the text. If anything, the editors strove to be inclusive. Some masculine language has been translated to be inclusive to females, such as “set your heart not on your neighbor’s woman [wife]” becomes “… neighbor’s spouse.”
400th Anniversary of King James Bible
2011 marks the 400th anniversary of the printing of the King James Bible. To celebrate, many rare copies of the King James Bible will be on display across the world. In Canada the University of Toronto’s Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library will exhibit 90 historic English Bibles, including a very rare copy of the 1611 King James Version. Though other modern texts have arisen over the years, the King James Bible remains a popular choice for individuals and congregations.
In fact, a press release from the Thomas Fisher Book Library notes that “within a generation, the KJV’s mellifluous prose and poetry became synonymous with scripture itself, so much so that, down to the present day, there are still some who would assert, without the least sense of irony, that God’s word is revealed in neither Hebrew nor Greek, but in late Elizabethan English.” The King James Bible and Shakespeare are considered the two greatest influences on English prose. The modern King James Bible is slightly different from its historic predecessor, in that “typos” and misplaced words have been revised. Still, the essence of the translation that 47 scholars slaved over in the 1600s is still the gold standard in Bibles.
Bringing Church into the Home
My elderly parents have always been active in our church. My mother was a Sunday school teacher and my father was always in charge of some church project or another. In the past few years their health has declined. Often it is difficult for them to attend Sunday services because they are feeling too poorly to get out of bed.
I know that my parents feel sad about missing church, so I found away to bring church to them. I bought my mom and dad Bible audio books to keep in their home. Each Sunday after church my family goes over to my parents’ home and we tell them what passages were read in church. My parents listen to the passages while my family prepares lunch. By the time we’re ready to eat, everyone has heard the day’s Scriptures and we can discuss it over the meal.