Rating: 
Summary: The best book ever written.
Review: Absolutely the best book ever written, of course with God as its author how could it not be?
Rating:
Summary: The best devotional study Bible for catholics
Review: By far the best devotional study Bible for catholics
Rating: 
Summary: Novus Ordo Redux - ICEL Reductionism strikes again.
Review: Do not get me wrong, I support Vatican II. But the translation guidelines that ICEL issued have some very inherent problems. The attempt to translate an ancient text into politcially correct english and avoid sacra vocabulary would be laughable were it not so important. Inclusive language has its limitations. Reducing the elegance of the Latin to apersonal and unfamiliar phrases can cause confusion at times. Who is not familiar with Jesus's repudiaion of the first temptation, "Man does not live by bread alone." And who is familiar with the NAB version--"One does not live by bread alone."There is a also a loss of rhetorical continuity between various parts of the Bible. Genesis 1:1 "After God created the Heaven and Earth, ..." What happened to "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth." The Vulgate says "In principio creatavit Deus caelum et terram." There are many rhetorical reasons for "In the beginning," such as first cause, manifest unity of creation, etc. This is lost in the NAB. I will say the book is very readable, but this is the dumb blond (see--exclusionary language has a way of achieving great clarity) of the Bible Translations of the Bible. I highly recommend the Douay Rheims, or the Jerusalem Bible. This one deserves shoulder pads with spikes in them. Further I have very good acuity in vision, and I have trouble with the tiny script used for the annotations. The font is very thin as well, and does not stand up on the page in low lighting, such as in the Cathedral. Better typesetting would have also helped this book. They are very insightful at times, but when you really want to see them, your cannot.
Rating: 
Summary: A reasonable edition
Review: First of all, I found this edition to be a reasonable study edition for anyone interested in personal study. The introductions and reading guides are quite useful, as are the footnotes. The footnotes are on the same page as the text which makes them very convenient. Also, the lectionary readings for all the Sundays and major feasts are included, a useful plus. Second, although I do not want to get controversial here, I want to comment on a previous review which confusingly refers to the Douay-Rhiems(DR) version as an acceptable alternative. This version is not available in its original form, except perhaps in some reference libraries. I presume the reviewer is referring to the Challoner (~1750) revision to the DR, which is commonly available. The Challoner revision was already described as "inadequate" by the Catholic Bible Association(CBA) in the early 1940's, so recommending it in 2001 is strange. Since then, much better Catholic Bibles have appeared, including this one. Response to subsequent review: The reviewer is mistaken. The original DR version is truly not in print anywhere. If she will review the publication information on the edition she is refering to, I am certain she will find it is not the original. Most probably it is the Challoner revision. Or she can read the article in the 1913 edition of the Catholic Encyclopedia. Since she provided neither a publisher nor a date for me to check on, I cannot comment any more specifically than this.
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Summary: Thank God
Review: I agree with another review - that this Bible provides a wonderful introduction to the Hebrew and Christian scripture. It also gives an excellent background of the texts. I hightly recommend this Bible.
Rating:
Summary: Rates excellent in readability and annotation.
Review: I am in the process of becoming a Catholic, and I want to read, and study, the Bible - particularly the Catholic version, which includes more books in the Old Testament than the Protestant versions. I appreciate that this is a translation from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, rather than a paraphrase or modernization of previous translations. It includes a fair amount of clear commentary by theologians and biblical scholars, including reading guides for each book. I find the comments on history and culture help make the text understandable. Footnotes are included at the page bottoms, eliminating the distraction of constantly flipping back and forth. For those, like me, in bifocals, the typeface is slightly larger than many editions I've seen, adding to readability. I recommend this version to any serious bible student.
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Summary: The Catholic Bible
Review: I am just merely responding to the person who wrote that the Douhay-Reims Bible is no longer available. It is available and in print and a very good bible to read. I cannot truly rate this book as I have not read it, but wanted to correct the information that the person before me erroneously stated. Thank you.
Rating:
Summary: The Catholic Bible
Review: I am just merely responding to the person who wrote that the Douhay-Reims Bible is no longer available. It is available and in print and a very good bible to read. I cannot truly rate this book as I have not read it, but wanted to correct the information that the person before me erroneously stated. Thank you.
Rating:
Summary: Not the Best
Review: I gave this bible 2 stars because it is the "official" translation used at Mass in the USA. And that's the only reason. The notes definitely are mild historical/critical in nature with no "life application" (How does this verse, passage, book help me to live for God). It is typical of what we receive in our parish homilies - beige. No fire. Academic. After reading the notes one could wonder why the Bible is such a best seller. I think it was an honest attempt to make the Bible accessible to more people in the parishes. I think the editors would have done far more good had they used the style of the "Life Application Bible" series and just 'tweaked' it for the Catholic audience. If your studying the BIble academically this version may help you a bit. If you are approaching the Bible to have an encounter with God - and your new to Bible Study - perhaps The Life Application Bible would be of greater service.
Rating:
Summary: Not the Best
Review: I gave this bible 2 stars because it is the "official" translation used at Mass in the USA. And that's the only reason. The notes definitely are mild historical/critical in nature with no "life application" (How does this verse, passage, book help me to live for God). It is typical of what we receive in our parish homilies - beige. No fire. Academic. After reading the notes one could wonder why the Bible is such a best seller. I think it was an honest attempt to make the Bible accessible to more people in the parishes. I think the editors would have done far more good had they used the style of the "Life Application Bible" series and just 'tweaked' it for the Catholic audience. If your studying the BIble academically this version may help you a bit. If you are approaching the Bible to have an encounter with God - and your new to Bible Study - perhaps The Life Application Bible would be of greater service.
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