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Curious Cloudy wrote:

Hi, guys —

  • Is it OK for a Catholic to read the (CSV) Christian Standard Version of the Bible?

Cloudy

  { Is it OK for a Catholic to read the (CSV) Christian Standard Version of the Bible? }

Mike replied:

Hi Cloudy,

I see no problem reading this version of the Bible. The main ones you must stay away from are Bibles from the Jehovah's Witnesses.

My colleague may have another view.

Mike

John replied:

Cloudy,

If it has study notes, just be careful that they don't contain doctrinal errors of the Church. If you have questions about any notes, feel free to e-mail us with them.

Also be aware that Protestant Bibles are likely missing (7) seven books as well as parts of Ester and Daniel from the Old Testament. We don't use those books very often but they are part of the Bible that Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformers took out of the Bible because some of them explicitly teach, what they misunderstood, as:

  1. "prayers for the dead", as well as
  2. "the dead praying for us".

But otherwise, I've heard nothing else against that translation though it's not a commonly used one.

The Jehovah's Witnesses Bible that Mike referred to is called the New World Translation or Version. It is laden with heresy.

John

Mike replied:

Dear Cloudy,

My colleague mentions a good point. Here are some previous questions we have answered that also may help:

The best Bible is the one you are going to read — and remember, (as John implied) you always get more for your money with a Catholic Bible . . . seven plus more books!!

Mike

John replied:

Just to add to Mike's points.

I agree the best Bible is the one you read but with a couple of caveats.

Certain translations are really watered down. For example:

  1. The Message Bible, isn't really a translation; rather it's a paraphrase. So much of the meaning in certain texts is lost.

  2. The Good News Bible is similar. It further waters things down as it's written at an elementary school level, probably 5th grade so they aren't very good, especially if you're studying Scripture.

    They are great for kids as an introduction but I don't recommend them for adults who have average reading comprehension.

I also recommend reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a study aid to understand the major doctrines found in Sacred Scripture.

John

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