You Heard It Here First

Down yonder, Mark Brumley of Ignatius Press writes in part:

The second edition of the RSV is an Ignatius Press exclusive. It is
the *only* English language translation of the Bible updated
specifically to correspond to Liturgiam Authenticam. Some of the
"tweaking" to which I refer above is to bring the RSV into line with
Liturgiam Authenticam.

Ignatius Press is also publishing a new English lectionary based on
the RSV, 2nd Catholic edition. This lectionary may not, at present, be
used in the Liturgy in the U.S., although it is approved for use in the
Antilles and the Holy Father was presented with a copy in December.
Whether the USCCB will permit it to be used remains to be seen, but
other episcopal conferences of English-speaking Catholics may. We’ll
see.

Sweet!

Mark told me about this project a good bit ago, but I didn’t know that it had come to fruition. Let’s pray that the Ignatius lectionary gets approved for use in the U.S. so that we (or some of us) can get some relief from the tin-eared translations found in the current lectionary.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

12 thoughts on “You Heard It Here First”

  2. The Liturgiam Authenticam appears to be an instruction on the most appropriate and faithful way to use the vernacular in the Liturgy of the Word. The full text can be found on the Vatican website.
    I’m sure Jimmy could give a fuller explanation, but bringing the RSV into line with the Liturgiam Authenticam would mean following the instructions in that document with regard to word choice and style, along with other things I’m sure.

  4. The RSV is certainly the best modern English option out there. However, to talk about it as a “Catholic translation” is a bit of a misnomer.
    The Catholic “RSV” has very minor changes from the original RSV. They’re listed in the back of the 1st edition, a word here or there is changed or swapped for a footnote.
    But the translation as a whole is a Protestant translation, a reworking of the authorized version. Now maybe there’s nothing wrong with that, but there has been controversy regarding the rendering of messianic passages, etc. After all, was Protestant biblical scholarship around the time of the RSV found itself in a modernistic era, to be sure.
    Yes, it doesn’t have inclusive language. But if that’s what qualifies a Bible, we have diminished expectations.
    I also find the hyphenation of proper names to be a bit of an annoyance, but hopefully that stylistic point has been changed in the new version.

  5. The full title in English i:
    Liturgiam authenticam 
    ON THE USE OF VERNACULAR LANGUAGES
    IN THE PUBLICATION OF
    THE BOOKS OF THE ROMAN LITURGY
    So it seems it is regarding mainly “liturgical Texts” is this correct?

  7. Tim,
    Probably not, because the Douay-Rheims, being in older style English, is less accessible than more modern translations.
    It’s also less accurate, not having the benefits of modern critical editions or translations from the original.
    Further, the translations of the Deutrocanonicals, especially Judith and Tobit, were somewhat slapdash, in part because Jerome didn’t think they were canonical, and rushed them.
    Further, Jerome didn’t translate the New Testament of the Vulgate, he simply revised an earlier Latin translation. So the Douay text is two translations, and a revision, away from the original text. Why not use the Greek?
    There are lots of great orthodox Catholic translation of the New Testament, from the original Greek, but they are all out of print today.
    For Douay liking types, someone ought to reprint (hint, hint, Ignatius) the Ronald Knox translation of the Bible.

  8. One of our curates said that the instructions in Redemptionis Sacramentum could not be implemented until they were contained in a new Sacramentary, yet to be printed. Is this true?

  9. Sharon,
    Below is a quote from the last paragraph of Redmeptionis Sacramentum that states it is to be observed immediately by all concerned.
    This Instruction, prepared by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments by mandate of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II…was approved by the same Pontiff on the Solemnity of St. Joseph, 19 March 2004, and he ordered it to be published and to be observed immediately by all concerned.
    http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20040423_redemptionis-sacramentum_en.html
    Take care and God bless,
    Inocencio
    J+M+J

  10. There are problems with the RSVCE that I hope have been fixed in the second edition. If you put the Nova Vulgata and the RSV side-by-side, you notice that the scholarship behind the RSV is much more “liberal” in a mid-20th century way. The ESV, where it differs from the RSV, is almost always close to the Nova Vulgata. I think it’s unfortunate that the ESV was not published in a Catholic edition.

  11. +J.M.J+
    I hope they change “young woman” to “virgin” in Isaiah 7:14. And they should clean up St. John 2:4 while they’re at it….
    In Jesu et Maria,

  12. So the Douay text is two translations, and a revision, away from the original text. Why not use the Greek?
    And yet the Douay text of the NT is much more faithful to the Greek than the NAB, which supposedly was translated directly from the Greek.

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