Now that we know that Scripture Reading can allow us to obtain an indulgence! Yet it's only obtainable under the criteria that we read an “approved text.” So our next question would have to be; What is an approved text?
As I mentioned in the post addressing the indulgence of Scripture Reading, there doesn’t seem to be an absolute rule or drawn-line on what is considered an approved work, or at what level someone has to be to approve it.
But! We are not left to totally speculation. Searching around the internet, there are some sources that provide lists of scriptural/biblical translations that seem to be appropriate for the edification of the Catholic Faithful. Before I provide those lists though I would like to present the thoughts of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) who published an article addressing the topic “Understanding the Bible.” Here they address a few things someone should look for when they are trying to find a good, usable Bible or scripture translation.
When looking for a bible, a sure way to tell if it is an appropriate source for the use of study and edification, is to note if it boldly states "Catholic" or “Catholic Edition.” Usually will say this somewhere on the cover. This indicates that the text is certainly Catholic geared and/or a Catholic produced translation.
An approved Catholic edition will also have an “imprimatur” notice on the back of the title page. An “imprimatur” indicates that the book is free of errors in Catholic doctrine. From what I’ve seen the notice is rather small and placed in among the rest of the credentials.
If the Bible is a completed work (not just the Gospels, Psalms, New testament, etc.), it will have a total of 73 books. Depending on the church/denomination “bibles” may range from 66 books (most protestant bibles) to 81 books (the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church). The Catholic Church proclaims 73 books. If you are unsure for any reason that a bible has 73 books, a quick and mostly fool proof method I use is I look for the books 1 Machabees and 2 Machabees. Catholic bibles should have 2 books of Machabees, no more and no less.
Now, on with the lists. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) provides this list of Approved Bible Translations:
Books of the New Testament, Alba House
Contemporary English Version – New Testament, First Edition, American Bible Society
Contemporary English Version – Book of Psalms, American Bible Society
Contemporary English Version – Book of Proverbs, American Bible Society
The Grail Psalter (Inclusive Language Version), G.I.A. Publications
New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE)
New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, National Council of Churches
The Psalms, Alba House
The Psalms (New International Version) – St. Joseph Catholic Edition, Catholic Book Publishing Company
The Psalms – St. Joseph New Catholic Version, Catholic Book Publishing Company
Revised Psalms of the New American Bible (1991)
So You May Believe, A Translation of the Four Gospels, Alba House
Good News Translation (Today’s English Version, Second Edition), American Bible Society
Translation for Early Youth, A Translation of the New Testament for Children, Contemporary English Version, American Bible Society
As you can see, most of these listed works are not a complete bibles. The publishers Alba House have 3 separate works and the Contemporary English Version (CEV) translates 4 works including a new testament version for children. From what’s on the list there seems to be 2 reliably full-bible translations New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE) and New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition (NRSVCE). The New American Bible (NAB) is also available on the website of the Vatican, if that says anything about the validity of the translation. There’s also a third bible translation in question called the Good News Translation (GNT), but it's unclear on what edition it must be, or if that’s even an important detail.
The Second list is provided through uCatholic.com / Approved Bible Translations:
New American Bible: Revised Edition – 2011 – Optimal Equivalence
Ignatius Bible – 2006 – Formal Equivalence
Good News Bible: Catholic Edition – 1992 – Dynamic Equivalence
New Jerusalem Bible – 1990 – Dynamic Equivalence
New Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition – 1989 – Formal Equivalence
Jerusalem Bible – 1966 – Dynamic Equivalence
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition – 1966 – Formal Equivalence
Douay–Rheims Bible – 1582 – Formal Equivalence
In this list there are many completed bibles. The (NABRE) and (NRSVCE) are listed again, and the (NRSVCE) seems to be a work related to the (RSVCE). In the same way (GNB) seems to be closely related to the (GNT) when researching the two, and the Jerusalem Bible (JB) and New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) also seem to be closely linked as one following after the other. The Douay–Rheims Bible doesn’t seem to have an abbreviation but it is described as an old and reliable translation.
Lastly in this list, all though the Ignatius Bible seems underwhelming in comparison to the other bibles on the list (especially since its only considered a (RSV)), this is actually the bible that I was personally recommended to get for a Catholic, academic-style bible study that I attended. I enjoy it and see no reason why I wouldn’t place my personal recommendation on it if you are looking for a bible.
The Third list is provided through maybetoday.org / Current Catholic Translations:
New American Bible Revised Edition
Revised New Jerusalem Bible
New Catholic Version/Bible
New Community Bible
Abbey Psalms and Canticles
Jerusalem Bible
New Jerusalem Bible
Christian Community Bible
Alba House New Testament/St. Paul Catholic Edition
Revised Standard Version—Catholic Edition
Revised Standard Version—Second Catholic Edition
New Revised Standard Version—Catholic Edition
English Standard Version—Catholic Edition
New Living Translation Catholic Edition
Douay-Rheims-Challoner Version
Knox Version
Confraternity New Testament
This list hits heavily on Bible translations that include “Catholic” in the name. The (NCV), (ESV CE), and (NLT) are additional abbreviations we can add to our list of bibles. Therefore, the only few bibles left in question are the Knox Version and the New Community Bible (NCB). All though their titles are not explicitly mentioned to be Catholic they are, in fact, exclusively Catholic geared as far as I can see. However the Christian Community Bible (CCB) needs to have the statement “Catholic pastoral version” since there appears to be alternative versions of this translations that are not Catholic geared.
A short forth list, provided by rcstortford.org.uk gives Catholic Renditions:
New Revised Standard Version
Revised Standard Version
Jerusalem Bible
New Jerusalem Bible
Contemporary English Bible
Good News Bible
This list gives a second approval for the Good News Bible (GNB)/(GNT) and the Contemporary English Bible (CEB)/(CEV) as a whole bible, not just select books/works of the bible. This resource also makes a point of recommending certain bibles for certain desires, like the RSV or NRSV being the most suitable for scholarly interest.
This last list is proved through Wikipedia / Catholic Bible.
I will not analyze the bible translations listed here, but will only put translations in bold that have not already been mentioned in another list above in case you would like to check them out for yourself.
Abbreviation | Name | Date |
DRB | Douay–Rheims Bible | 1582, 1609, 1610[b] |
DRB | Douay–Rheims Bible Challoner Revision | 1749–1752 |
CB | Confraternity Bible | 1941[c] |
Knox | Knox Bible | 1950 |
KLNT | Kleist–Lilly New Testament | 1956[d] |
RSV–CE | Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition | 1965–66 |
JB | Jerusalem Bible | 1966 |
NAB | New American Bible | 1970 |
TLB–CE | The Living Bible Catholic Edition | 1971 |
NJB | New Jerusalem Bible | 1985 |
CCB | Christian Community Bible | 1988 |
NRSV–CE | New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition | 1993 |
GNT–CE | Good News Translation Catholic Edition[e] | 1993 |
RSV–2CE | Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition | 2006 |
CTS–NCB | CTS New Catholic Bible | 2007[f] |
NABRE | New American Bible Revised Edition | 2011/1986 (OT/NT) |
NLT-CE | New Living Translation Catholic Edition[13] | 2015 |
ESV-CE | English Standard Version Catholic Edition[14] | 2017 |
NCB | St. Joseph New Catholic Bible[g] | 2019[16] |
RNJB | Revised New Jerusalem Bible[17] | 2019 |
The Message-Catholic/Ecumenical Edition | 2013 |
So what does all of this mean for us? Well, it means that there seems to be plenty of acceptable Catholic-translated scripture for us to use in our ‘Scripture Reading Indulgence’. It also means we have a semi-formal list of Bibles and Bible translations that, should we find we need to purchase a new bible, we can look back on this list.
New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE)
Revised New Jerusalem Bible (RNJB)
New Jerusalem Bible (NJB)
Jerusalem Bible (JB)
New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition(RSVCE)
English Standard Version—Catholic Edition (ESVCE)
New Living Translation Catholic Edition (NLTCE)
New Catholic Version/Bible (NCV)
New Community Bible (NCB)
Douay–Rheims Bible
Knox Version
These are all presumably safe versions/abbreviations for Catholic bibles. Good for Scriptural reading and edification. Moreover if another bible version catches your eye that doesn’t fall on this list, or seems similar but not exact, this following short list of qualifications, that was already mentioned above by the USCCB, can also help us find a reliable rendition:
Does it say “Catholic Edition,” or something similar?
Does it have an “imprimatur” notice on the back of the title page?
If it's a complete Bible, does it have 73 books?
I may also add this as my personal recommendation and in terms of where it should be safe to find such materials as long as they comply with the above lists:
Is it being sold in a Catholic supply store?
Is it/can it be used in an explicitly Catholic service, Mass, or ministry?
Is it provided or recommended by my church for the congregation?
All of these factors should give us a good starting point in finding an appropriate Bible or Scriptural source for our gaining of the Indulgence attached to Scripture Reading.
I hope you have found this helpful. Of course Indulgences can be confusing but also finding appropriate and reliably translated Scripture is a whole other question. One that I have faced before and perhaps you have to. It was my pleasure to address it today. Please feel free to leave any further thoughts and questions should you have any.
*I’ve made sure to connect all external links throughout this post as they were addressed. Still I would like to provide my sources again all at once, so that you may check them out for yourself.
USCCB-"Understanding" Link (article), USCCB-"Translations" Link (article), UCatholic "Translations" Link (article), MaybeToday "Current" Link (article), RCStortford "Renditions" Link (article), Wikipedia-Catholic Bible Link (page), ForAllThings.Bible Base Link (article)
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