FINAL COVERAGE – ReEdFR1C0 - Part 1 God’s will for us.
God’s will for us. Mary also exemplified this when she said: I am the handmaid of
Lesson 7: Faith
7.1 Concept of Faith
Faith is basically the response of man to the Revelation of God. Faith is the
acceptance of the word of another, trusting that one knows what the other is
saying and is honest in telling the truth. The basic motive of all faith is the
authority of someone who is speaking.
For most people, faith is simply believing in God who calls us to share in His
divine life. Thus faith is a personal response as disciples of Christ, accepting Him
as our Lord and savior.
As a theological virtue, faith enables the person to believe what God has
revealed is true because of the authority of God who can neither deceive nor be
deceived.
Faith can also be understood as an attitude, activity and process by which
we freely commit our entire selves to God.
7.2 Dimensions of Faith
Faith is a reality touching our whole lives – our minds (convictions), our
hands and will (committed action) and our hearts (trust). The objective aspects of
Christian faith exemplified in Doctrine (the Creed), Morals (the Commandments)
and Worship (the Sacraments) also manifest faith as an integral whole. Christian
faith, then, is not something fragmented, but a living way of life that INTEGRATES
our MIND, WILL and HEART with its doctrine, morals and worship.
7.2.1 Believing (Faith is Belief – INTELECTUALIST FAITH)
Faith involves our basic convictions as Christians. It is not mere a head
knowledge of some abstract truths. Rather, it is a personal knowledge, encounter
with, and loving acceptance of Jesus Christ as my Lord and my God (Jn. 20:28)
7.2.2 Doing (Faith is Doing – PERFORMATIVE FAITH)
St. James wrote: What good it is, my brothers says he has faith but does not
have good works? (James 2:14) Faith, then, is a commitment to follow (obey)
the Lord, be it done to me according to your word (Lk. 1:28)
7.2.3 Entrusting or Worshipping (Faith is Entrusting - FIDUCIAL FAITH)
Beyond believing and doing, faith is also entrusting oneself into God’s
hands. Abraham, our father in faith, at God’s command left everything to set out
to a foreign land. Everything is possible to one who has faith (Mk. 9:24) Faith,
then, is from the heart – the loving, trusting and hoping in the Lord. We celebrate
this trust in prayer and worship.
7.3 Sources of Faith: Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scriptures
The Deposit of Faith is the entire body of Catholic revelation contained in
Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, which Christ passed on to His Church
through the Apostles. Paragraph 86 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)
relates that all magisterial teaching "is drawn from this single deposit of faith."
Paragraph 10 of Vatican II's Dei Verbum teaches that the Magisterium, or "living
teaching office of the Church ... is not above the word of God, but serves it ... and
with the help of the Holy Spirit, it draws from this one deposit of faith everything
which it presents for belief as divinely revealed."
In 1870 Vatican I spoke solemnly of this deposit: "The holy Spirit was
promised to the successors of Peter not so that they might, by his revelation,
make known some new doctrine, but that, by his assistance, they might
religiously guard and faithfully expound the revelation or deposit of faith
transmitted by the apostles."
Tradition is the living transmission of the message of the Gospel in the
Church. The oral preaching of the Apostles and the written message of salvation
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (Bible) are conserved and handed on as
the Deposit of Faith through the Apostolic Succession in the Church. Both the
living Tradition and the written Scriptures have their common source in the
revelation of God in Jesus Christ.
The Catholic Church teaches the following Sacred or Apostolic Tradition:
“In keeping with the Lord’s command, the Gospel was handed on in two
ways:
- orally ‘by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their
preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established, what
they themselves had received - whether from the lips of Christ, from his way of
life and his works, or whether they had learned it at the prompting of the Holy
Spirit’1;
- in writing ‘by those apostles and other men associated with the apostles
who, under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, committed the message of
salvation to writing’
This living transmission, accomplished in the Holy Spirit, is called Tradition,
since it is distinct from Sacred Scripture, though closely connected to it. Through
Tradition, ‘the Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and
transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes. The
sayings of the holy Fathers are a witness to the life-giving presence of this
Tradition, showing how its riches are poured out in the practice and life of the
Church, in her belief and her prayer.
Protestants deny Tradition as a source of revelation. They teach that the
Christian faith is based on the Bible alone, called in Latin sola scriptura. The
Catholic Church teaches that the Bible and Tradition are complimenting sources
of divine revelation.
Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together,
and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the
same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing, and
move towards the same goal. Each of them makes present and fruitful in the
Church the mystery of Christ, who promised to remain with his own ‘always, to
the close of the age. Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in
writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit.
It further recognized that the "meaning of the sacred dogmas" contained in
the "divine deposit committed to the spouse of Christ" must never be abandoned
"under the pretext or in the name of a more profound understanding." "Guarding
the Deposit of Faith is the mission which the Lord has entrusted to his Church and
which she fulfils in every age. (Matthew 28:18–20 - Our Lord's Great Commission
of the Apostles)
7.3.1 On Sacred Scripture
The Sacred Scripture is the written Word of God. As such, it is meant to be
lived. Not everything one encounters in life can be explained and solved form
without. Man needs the Word of God to perceive and evaluate his experiences in
the light of his faith in God’s loving plan. Reading and studying the is the work of
a lifetime. The more one approaches the Word of God, the more he becomes
attuned to God’s will, guiding him through life, giving meaning and direction to
life. For God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Ps. 119:105).
7.3.2 Etymology and Meaning of the Sacred Scripture
The word Bible started in Alexandrian Library in Macedonia. The word
Bible comes from the Greek word ta biblia, later translated into a Latin noun
biblia which means the books for the Bible is a collection of books that Christian
regard as inspired by God, acollection that spans many centuries.
However the word books was not applied to the collection of sacred
writings within the Bible itself. Most of the time sacred writings were called
graphai (writings), translated into Latin as scripturae which means scriptures.
The Sacred Scriptures or Bible is a collection of ancient writings about God
(Yahweh), his involvement in human history (history of the People of Israel) and
man’s response to God’s love.
The Jews more often call the collection the Miqra, meaning “a reading,” or
Tanak, an acronym of the letters TNK, representing the three divisions of the
collection: Torah (Law), Nevi’im (Prophets), and Kethuvim (Writings). Jews and
Christians believe that God’s people first transmitted God’s word orally. These
oral traditions were eventually put into writing, adapted, or expanded, in order to
reflect the communities’ fresh experiences of God. The term “Scripture” is also
sometimes used for such writings.
Other Names of the Bible
1. holy writings
2. the sacred letters (St. Justin)
3. the sacred books (St. John Chrysostom)
4. writings (Pope Boniface)
5. scripture (Dn. 9:2)
6. the book of the Covenant (St. Irenaeus)
7. Word of God (Vatican II)
7.3.1.2 Purpose and Importance of the Sacred Scripture
The following are the Purpose why the Bible was written.
 1. The Bible was written to record the history of the Israelites
2. To preserve the stories of the events related to the covenants between
God and man
3. To recall and commemorate the intervention of God and man
4. To hand down the religious teachings and beliefs together with religious
rites and practices to succeeding generations
5. To preserve the prophecies and fulfillment for such prophecies regarding
the Messiah
The Bible is Important because:
1. It provides direction and meaning to man’s life. Your word is a lamp to
my feet, a light to my path (Ps. 119:105)
2. It is a source of nourishment and strength for the Church (Jn. 6:63,68)
3.It safeguards and preserves the authentic Good News of Christ
prophesied in the Old Testament (gal. 1:6-9).
4. It firmly, faithfully and without error teaches the truth which God, for the
sake of our salvation (DV, 11)
5. Since the Scripture is inspired by God, it is useful for refutation, for
correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God
maybe competent, equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:16-17).
7.3.1.2 Original Language of the Bible
The two books of the Old Testament – Wisdom and II Maccabees – were
written in Greek. The rest of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew language.
The New Testament was written in Greek, with the exception of Matthew’s
Gospel which – according to unanimous testimony of Christian antiquity – was
written in Hebrew or Aramaic.
7.4 Biblical Inspiration
It refers to the special impulse and guidance of the Holy Spirit through
which the books of scripture were composed and so can be called the Word of
God (cf. Jn 20:31; 2 Tim3:16; 2 Pet 1:19-21; 3:15-16).
What God has to say is found in what has said by the human writers, who
were genuine authors and not mere stenographers copying down what God had
said (Concise Dictionary of the Theology, p.121). It simply means that God is the
principal author and human authors as secondary authors become his
instruments in the process of writing, leaving the human authors to use their own
style in writing the books.
The text of the Bible had been written down under the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit. God inspired the authors of Scripture. The authors had the freedom to
choose the words they wrote, including the stories and incidents they choose to
share. As the Second Vatican Council explained, God chose the authors of the
Bible: and they were employed by Him while they made use of their powers and
abilities, so that with Him acting in them and through them, they as true authors,
consigned to writing everything and only those things He wanted (Dei Verbum,
11).
Since God is the principal author, the Scriptures could not have any mistake
and error because it presents only the truths for our salvation. This is called
Biblical Inerrancy, which is the major consequence of biblical inspiration – the
saving truth of the scriptures.
7.5 Biblical Canonicity
The word canon comes from the Word kaneh meaning a reed that can be
used as a ruler. The Greek equivalent word is kanon which means a measuring
rod. Gradually, the word came to mean as a norm or standard to determine, rule
or measure other things. Applied to the Sacred Scriptures, the term refers to the
list of books authoritatively recognized by the Church as inspired and normative
for its teaching and practice.
Protocanonical, (Greek> protos, first) refers to the thirty-nine Old
Testament Books accepted as inspired and canonicals and that their canonicity
was established first.
Deutero-canonical is a catholic terminology referring to those seven
books found in the Greek (Septuagint) version of the Old Testament but not in
the canon of Hebrew Scriptures. The seven books are Judith, 1 Maccabees, 2
Maccabees, Sirach, Tobit, Wisdom and Esther. Protestants call them
(inaccurately) the Apocrypha, while Catholics refer to them as the deuterocanon.
The Church at the Council of Rome in 382, decided upon a canon of 46 Old
Testament books and 27 in the New Testament. This decision was ratified by the
councils at Hippo (393), Carthage (397, 419), II Nicea (787), Florence (1442), and
Trent (1546).
Martin Luther included them in his first German translation, published the
Council of Trent. They can also be found in the first King James Version (1611)
and in the first Bible ever printed, the Gutenberg Bible (a century before Trent).
In fact, these books were included in almost every Bible until the Edinburgh
Committee of the British Foreign Bible Society excised them in 1825. Until then,
they had been included at least in an appendix of Protestant Bibles. It is
historically demonstrable that Catholics did not add the books, Protestants took
them out.
Apocryphal Latin apocrypha (scripta) ‘hidden (writings) or not genuine –
The real meaning of apocryphal is ‘having little or no authenticity’. It is a term
used by the Protestants to describe the Old Testament Books or sections of books
written in or translated in Greek (from ca. 200 B.C. to possibly late as A.D. 40),
printed in Catholic Bibles but omitted in Protestant Bibles
In the Council of Trent (1545-1563), the Catholic Church confirmed her
authorization of all the Books in the Bible, and these seven Books of Tobit, Judith,
Wisdom, Sirach, 1 & 2 Maccabees and Baruch were included as Deuterocanonical
Books.
7.6 The Formation of the Sacred Scriptures
The Bible is both a human and a divine production. It was written by God,
and it was written by various people over the course of more than a millennium.
The Bible was not neatly planned book by its human authors, nor did it come out
as a single completed work printed for Jewish people. It grew out of Israel’s
experience of God’s gradual revelation of Himself – from His promise to Abraham
to His personal appearance in Jesus of Nazareth. Its stages of growth are long and
complex.
Despite its human aspect, the Bible is unlike any other book. The Bible
does not merely give us information about God or provide inspiring examples of
virtue and sound spiritual wisdom. It does this, but it goes much further. The
words of Scripture are alive, not only because they still apply to our
circumstances, but even more because in the pages of the Bible we meet a living
Being, the same God who first inspired its authors. To read the Bible is to
encounter the presence of God. The great medieval theologian St. Bonaventure
explained what this means for reading the Bible:
The source of sacred Scripture was not human research but Divine
Revelation. This revelation comes from the Father of Light… From
him, through Jesus Christ his Son, the Holy Spirit enters into us… It is
impossible, therefore, for anyone to achieve this understanding
unless he first receives the gift of faith in Christ. This faith is the
foundation of the whole Bible, a lamp and a key to its understanding
(Prologus, Opera omnia 5).
Stage 1 – God’s Actual Revelation
The first sage was God’s actual revelation of Himself in the history of His
people. For instance, when he made His promise to Abraham, saved His people
from slavery of Egypt, made a covenant with them in the desert, helped them
conquer the Promised Land are some concrete experiences and many other that
followed make up the beginning of the Bible.
Stage 2 – Oral Stage
The Jewish people naturally desired to communicate and preserve their
memorable experiences with God. They had no plans though, in producing the
Bible as we understand the term now. They simply communicated these
experiences orally in prose, poetry, songs, sermons, epics and other forms of
communication common to them. The more important ones they memorized and
recited as part of their special celebrations whenever they were gatherings for
important occasions. This stage is the oral tradition of the Divine Revelation, the
longest of all stages od scriptural development.
Stage 2 – Writing and Editing Stage
Gradually, some Jewish writers wrote a few accounts of some important
events in their history. They started the writing stage. The historical climate of
this first writing venture is noteworthy. It was at this period when the country
had reached the peak of their power. Accordingly, it first written records were
about the existing court histories of the kingdom. Then came the tracing of the
nation’s roots to the patriarchs and still farther, to the first people on earth, and
to God, the Father of all mankind. Oral tradition continued side by side with the
written accounts since people could not read: writing was still a very slow and and in Luke 22:20 Jesus proclaimed a “new covenant.” The Septuagint rendered
cumbersome process at that time. It was common then that one important event the Hebrew word for covenant (berit) with a word more often translated as
had several oral accounts and few written ones circulating in the different part of “testament” (diathēkē). Irenaeus of Lyon (130–200 CE) was the first to speak of
the country. an “Old Testament” and a “New Testament.” Today, some Christian scholars
prefer to speak of the “First Testament” in order to avoid the implication that the
7.7 The Division of the Sacred Scriptures Hebrew Scriptures are outmoded or obsolete; rather, they are the foundational
The Bible is divided into two parts: Old Testament and New Testament. The revelation for understanding the New Testament.
former are books written before the coming of Christ and the latter becomes the
testimony of salvation brought about by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
The various divisions of the Biblical books are of rather recent origin. The
Jews divided their sacred books into sections. The chapter division, as found in
the Bible today dates from the thirteenth century and is the work of Stephen
Langton, a professor at the University of Paris and later Archbishop of
Canterbury. The present verse division was first introduced by the Dominican,
Santes Pagnino (1528), and his system is still in use in most books of the Old
Testament. The modern verse division in the New Testament is the work of
Robert Estienne, a Paris printer of the sixteenth century. The chapter and
divisions are of great value for the purposes of reference but frequently break up
the sequence of thought.

7.8 The Division of the Bible

The Canon of the Old Testament or the Jewish Scriptures

The Canon of the Old Testament or the Jewish Scriptures is a collection of
religious books written in Hebrew for over 900 years which was accepted by Jews
The Books of the Old Testament
and Christians as inspired and canonical. It contains histories of heroes, events,
code of laws orations (speeches), reflective literature (wisdom) and poetry
(psalms). It also records and interprets the history of the preparation of the A. Pentateuch (Abbreviation) C. Poetical Books
coming of Christ and establishment of His Church. There are 46 books in the Genesis Gn (Gen) Job Jb
Catholic, Easter and Orthodox and Anglican Bibles and 39 in the Protestant Bible. Exodus Ex Psalms Ps
Leviticus Lv (Lev) Proverbs Prv
The Hebrew Bible—Christian Old Testament Numbers Nm (Num) Ecclesiastes Eccl
The Jewish Tanak and the Christian Old Testament contain many of the Deuteronomy Dt Song of Songs Sg
same books remain and as distinct collections. “Old Testament” is a Christian Wisdom Wis
term. Paul referred to the Scriptures of Israel as the “old covenant” (2 Cor. 3:14), B. Historical Books Sirach Sir
 Joshua Jos Mark Mk
Judges Jgs D. Prophetic Books Luke Lk
Ruth Ru Isaiah Is John Jn
1 Samuel 1 Sm (1 Sam) Jeremiah Jer
2 Samuel 2 Sm (2 Sam) Ezekiel Ez B. The Acts of the Apostles Acts
1 Kings 1 Kgs Lamentations Lam
2 Kings 2 Kgs Baruch Bar C. The Epistles
1 Chronicles 1 Chr Daniel Dn
2 Chronicles 2 Chr Hosea Hos 13 Pauline Epistles 8 Catholic Epistles
Ezra Ezr Joel Jl
Romans Rom Hebrews Heb
Nehemiah Neh Amos Am
First Corinthians 1 Cor James Jas
Tobit Tb Obadiah Ob
Second Corinthians 2 Cor First Peter 1 Pt
Judith Jdt Jonah Jo
Galatians Gal Second Peter 2 Pt
Esther Est Micah Mi
Ephesians Eph First John 1 Jn
1 Maccabees 1 Mc (1 Mac) Nahum Na
Philippians Phil Second John 2 Jn
2 Maccabees 2 Mc (2 Mac) Habakkuk Hb
Colossians Col Third John 3 Jn
Zephaniah Zep
First Thessalonians 1 Thes Jude Ju
Haggai Hg
Second Thessalonians 2 Thes
Zechariah Zec
First Timothy 1 Tim
Malachi Mal
Second Timothy 2 Tim
Titus Ti
Philemon Phlm

D. The Book of Revelation Rev

The Canon of the New Testament or the Christian Scriptures
7.9 The Versions of the Bible
It is collection 27 pieces of writings, written in colloquial Greek in less than
Versions of the Bible are translations of the Bible into other languages.
100 years after Christ. It serves as a Missionary Handbook that proclaims Jesus of
The following are the most important versions or translations of the Bible.
Nazareth, the Good News and the birth, growth and teachings of the Christian
Church. It is a written record of the effect Jesus had on those who believed in Him
7.9.1 The Hebrew Bible
to be the promised Messiah.
The Hebrew Bible is the sacred and holy scripture for Judaism. Much of
the Christian Bible is based upon the Hebrew Bible’s teachings, and that the
The Books of the New Testament Christian Bible cannot be understood without referring to these teachings. The
Hebrew Bible is also known as the Hebrew Scriptures, Old Testament, or the
A. Gospels (Abbreviation) Tanakh.
Matthew Mt
 The name “Tanakh” or “Tanak” is an acronym for the three different The Letter of Aristeas (between 130 and 70 BCE) narrated the myth of
divisions of the Hebrew Bible. These three divisions are the Torah, the Nevi’im, seventy-two translators, six from each of the twelve tribes, summoned from
and the Ketuvim, which give us the “T”, “N'', and “K” in the word respectively. At Palestine to Alexandria by the Hellenistic king, Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285–246),
its core, the Hebrew Bible recounts the origins of ancient Israel and its people's to produce a Greek version of the Torah. This translation came to be called the
relationship with God throughout human history. Septuagint, meaning “Seventy” (abbreviated LXX).
The first major part of the Tanakh is named the Torah. The name comes The Septuagint contains all the forty-six books of the Old Testament. It
from the Hebrew word meaning “law” or “instruction”. The Torah is made up of was used by the Apostles and early Christian
the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The second Church and helped greatly in the spread of
section of the Tanakh is the Nevi’im or “prophets” translated from Hebrew. This the revealed truths among the Greek
section of the Hebrew Bible can itself be broken down into two key parts: the pagans. Many Jewish and pagan converts
Former Prophets (books such as Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings) and the obtained their first knowledge of the Bible
Latter Prophets (made up of the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the through the Septuagint.
Twelve—a single book recounting the stories of 12 other prophets).
Finally, the Hebrew Bible includes the Ketuvim, named for the word Vulgate. The Latin Vulgate, the
meaning “writings” in Hebrew. It records the history of the Jews and their actions accepted or commonly used text, is the
within the covenant relationship with God. It contains 11 books across a variety work of St. Jerome (383-405). The New
of literary genres and styles, from history to poetic verse. The poetic books of the Testament is St. Jerome’s revision of the Old
Ketuvim are the books of Psalms, Proverbs, and Job focusing on wisdom and Latin text made with the help of ancient
commitment to God. The Ketuvim also contains the Megillot scrolls (each of Greek manuscript. Most of the books of the
which corresponds to a particular Jewish holiday or festival), the prophecy of Old Testament area a direct translation of
Daniel, and the history books of Ezra-Nehemiah and Chronicles. These final books the original Hebrew, while the rest are the
focus on events occurring during the Babylonian captivity and exile of the ancient Old Latin
Jewish community, along with their subsequent return home. text. The
Council
of Trent
made the
7.9.2 Catholic Bible Translation Vulgate
the official text of the Catholic Church, and our
Septuagint. The oldest Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament is present edition was brought out by Clement
known as the Septuagint. It refers to a collection of Greek translations produced VII in 1592.
by numerous scribes over the course of a few hundred years and, in all likelihood,
composed in different locations. Today, the term is usually used to refer generally The Rheims-Douay Bible. The most
to the various Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible, as well as some additional widely used English Catholic translation (from
books, such as Tobit, Maccabees, and Sirach, to name a few. In the early Christian the Latin Vulgate) of the Bible is the Rheims-
church, the Septuagint was used as the primary basis for the Old Testament. Douay Bible or Douay Version. The English
translation of the Bible was made by Gregory the Martin and the work was The Jerusalem Bible (JB). The Jerusalem Bible, completed in 1966, is very
revised by William Allen and Richard Bristow. The New Testament was published similar to the Revised Standard Version 2nd Edition in that it is a modern English
at Rheims in 1582, and the Old Testament at Duoay in 1609-1610. The language language translation. It was produced under the direction of the Dominican
of the text was modernized by Bishop Chalonner (1749-1752). scholars at the renowned Ecole Biblique de Jerusalem.

The Westminster Version. Father Cuthbert Lattey, S.J., the founder of the USCCB Approved Translations of the Sacred Scriptures
Catholic Biblical Association of Great Britain in 1940 and Fr. Joseph Keating, S.J., a for Private Use and Study by Catholics
member of the Executive Committee of the Catholic Truth Society both Jesuits
were co-editors of the Westminster Version. It is a new critical Catholic The 1983 Code of Canon Law entrusts to the Apostolic See and the episcopal
translation of the New Testament made directly from Greek It is a private and not conferences the authority to approve translations of the Sacred Scriptures in the
an official version of the Bible. Latin Catholic Church (c. 825, §1). Prior to 1983, Scriptural translations could be
approved by the Apostolic See or by a local ordinary within a diocese. What fol-
The Confraternity of Christian Doctrine Edition of New Testament. This is lows is a complete list of the translations of the Sacred Scriptures that have re-
not a translation but a revision of the Challoner-Rheims Version undertaken by a ceived the approval of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops since
group of Catholic scholars under the patronage of the Episcopal Committee of the 1983.
Christian Doctrine. It aims to bring the language of Challoner’s version into In addition to the translations listed below, any translation of the Sacred
conformity with modern English and to render accurately the divine message in Scriptures that has received proper ecclesiastical approval ‒ namely, by the Apos-
the language of our own day. tolic See or a local ordinary prior to 1983, or by the Apostolic See or an episcopal
conference following 1983 ‒ may be used by the Catholic faithful for private
The Revised Standard Version (RSV). This was a joint translation project prayer and study.
between American Protestants and Catholics with the Catholic Church completing
the translation of the Apocrypha. This translation is considered the most accurate 1) Books of the New Testament,
modern translation but still contains Thee and Thou when referring to God. This Alba House
translation along with the New American Bible was approved for liturgical use in 2) Contemporary English Version -
the United States. New Testament, First Edition,
The Second Revised Standard Version. This version is almost identical to American Bible Society
the regular Revised Standard but updates the language by getting rid of Thee and 3) Contemporary English Version -
Thou. Book of Psalms, American Bible Society
4) Contemporary English Version -
The New American Standard Version (NAB). This version is the most Book of Proverbs, American Bible Soci-
common American translation. It was written for an eight grade reading level and ety
contains the most “modern” language of the primary Catholic translations. The 5) The Grail Psalter (Inclusive Lan-
New American Bible is available in more versions than any other Catholic Bible. guage Version), G.I.A. Publications
6) New American Bible, Revised
Edition (NABRE)
 7) New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, National Council of
Churches
8) The Psalms, Alba House
9) The Psalms (New International Version) - St. Joseph Catholic Edition,
Catholic Book Publishing Company
10) The Psalms - St. Joseph New Catholic Version, Catholic Book Publishing
Company
11) Revised Psalms of the New American Bible (1991)
12) So You May Believe, A Translation of the Four Gospels, Alba House
13) Good News Translation (Today's English Version, Second Edition), Amer-
ican Bible Society
14) Translation for Early Youth, A
Translation of the New Testament for
Children, Contemporary English
Version, American Bible Society
7.9.3 Protestant Bible Translation
The Wycliffe Bible Version (WYC). Wycliffe is
the name now given to group of Bible translations
into Middle English that were made under the
direction of John Wycliffe. These Bible translations
were the chief inspiration and chief cause of the
Lollard movement, a pre-Reformation movement
that rejected may of the distinctive teachings of the
Roman Catholic Church.
Wycliffe was convinced that the English people needed a Bible that they
could understand in their own language. In 1380, he completed the first English
translation of the New Testament, and two years later the entire Bible was
completed. The translation followed the Latin so closely that the meaning in
English was often obscured.
The "Early Version" of the "Wycliffe Bible", hand-printed about 1382, has
long been criticized by Bible historians as too literal, often unintelligible, cumber-
some, at best a deeply flawed 1st attempt. In fact, much of the Gospels and the
Apocalypse were transferred without significant
change from the "Early Version" to the "Later Ver-
sion", and closely resemble the "Wycliffe-Purvey"
text. The "Later Version" became the foundation
upon which the King James Version (KJV) was built.
The King James Version or Authorized Version (KJV
or AV). It was published in 1611 in the reign of King
James I. The Authorized Version is not a new
translation but a revision of an English Bible known
as the Bishop’s Bible and published in 1568. The
translation is often colored by anti-Catholic
prejudice which in certain instances leads to
outright falsifications of the text. The purity of its
English, however, has made it the Bible of English
Protestantism.
The Revised Version (RV). The Revised Version (1881-
1885) is a modern critical version undertaken t the instance of
the British Parliament (a group of English and American
Protestant scholars. The committee departed in at least thirty-
six thousand instances from the text of 1611.
Below are the common Protestant Bibles used today.
Here is the list of more best-known translations along with a
brief description of each.
1) Amplified Bible (completed in 1965)
2) Christian Standard Bible (Completed in 2017)
 3) Holman Christian Standard Bible (Completed in 2004)
4) The King James Bible (Completed in 1611)
5) The Living Bible (Completed in 1971)
6) The Message (Completed in 2002)
7) English Standard Version (Completed in 2001)
8) New Living Translation (Completed in 1996)
9) New International Version (Completed in 1978)
10) New King James Version (Completed in 1982)

Why the Scripture Is Not Enough For Catholics?

The Catholic Church and her members know that the Scripture is important,
but it is not the only way God’s Revelation has been passed down to us. Sola
Scriptura” is a Latin phrase meaning, “only Scripture” or “Scripture alone.”
Christians who subscribe to a sola Scriptura believe that the Bible is the only
authoritative source of revelation.
The Church understands that God’s Revelation has come down to us in
ways that are not limited to the Bible. St. John (Jn. 21:25) writes that Scripture
does not contain everything about Christ. Besides the Bible, matters of faith
revealed to us by God have also been passed down through Tradition. Tradition is
the living transmission of the message of the Gospel in the Church.