Tuesday, March 31, 2009

The Ignatius Bible Revised Standard Version- Catholic Edition: Published by Ignatius Press

To view the photos at their full size click on "see full album". Then move your mouse over the photo, your mouse pointer will look like a little magnifiglass, then click the photo. The photos at their full size are pretty detailed. These photos were taken the date I published this article. I've owned this Bible for almost a year, and it still looks brand new. I've been using this Bible several times a week, along with my Chronological Study Bible for study. I'm impressed that this tiny Bible has held up so well.

About the binding & cover
The cover is made from Bonded Leather, Bonded leather is tiny bits of leather reformed to make one sold sheet of leather. Bonded leather doesn't last as long as Genuine Leather. But does certainly out last paperbacks, & has a nice leathery feel. This is a travel size Bible, as you can see from the photos there is a zipper along the sides to protect the pages from getting bent, or torn. This makes carrying the Bible in my purse a lot easier. I also like that the publisher added a Miraculous Medal for a zipper pull (Very Cute Idea)

Whats in side?
The text size isn't too small, please note that this is in comparison to other small travel Bibles. The paper is thin, I wouldn't recommend using high lighters in this Bible. I use Crayola color pencils they have a smother edge & don't rip the pages. I am kind of disappointed that there isn't any subject headers for each chapter, like in many Bibles. But there are spaces in between each subject so you could write you own titles if you have a small hand writing.

In the front of this Bible you'll find
  1. Table contents
  2. Tables explaining the weights & measures of the Bible
  3. Places to write family records/history
  4. A page explaining the abbreviations that you'll find at the bottom of some pages.
  5. The Imprimatur, which show that the Catholic Church approves this translation.
  6. An introduction the RSV-CE
  7. The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verum 18 nov 1965.

In the back you'll find
  1. Appendix 1 explanatory notes for the New testament. (The Old Testament Appendix is placed at the end of the Old Testament)
  2. Appendix 2 list the changes in the RSV the New testament for the Catholic Edition
  3. The Last three pages are of Catholic Prayers and Devotions (I really love this Idea)

About this Translation.
The Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition is widely used by conservative Catholic scholars and theologians, and is accepted as one of the most accurate and literary Bible translations suitable for Catholic use. This translation uses some archaic language. This translation does not use gender-inclusive language. The Revised Standard Version stands within the tradition of the Authorized King James Version, which was updated in 1885 in the UK as the Revised Version, with an American edition known as the American Standard Version published in 1901. The latter version was revised in 1952, and known as the Revised Standard Version. The National Council of Churches, publishers of the Protestant RSV Bible, made arrangements with the Catholic Biblical Association of Great Britain to print a Catholic RSV Bible. In 1965, the RSV-CE New Testament was published and in 1966, the full RSV-CE Bible. The editors of the Catholic Edition made no changes to the Old Testament text; all they did was include the seven Deuterocanonical works (also known the Apocrypha) in their traditional Catholic order. There are certain passages in the New Testament that were changed to fall inline with the Latin Vulgate. For a full list of these changes check Appendix 1 in the back of the Bible.

In the Footsteps of Paul: Experience The Journey That Changed The World

In the Footsteps of Paul: Experience The Journey That Changed The World By Ken Duncan is a interesting book & with amazing high quality photos. I would not recommend this book for study though, it has very little study information. I wish the author would have added more historical & biblical content. There are short passages of scripture, short inspirational saying & quotes on each page. But the book leaves you wanting to learn more about the historical & biblical aspects of the places. I really feel the author could have done a lot better with the content. That said this book has beautiful high quality photos of the places where the Apostle Paul went during his travels. The photos make this book worth owning. Its amazing to see the places that Paul went or “may have went according to the book” in his travels. This book would make an exultant tabletop or photo book because of the amazing photos. Another good aspect of this book this that my mother flipped over it, she looked through the whole book when the came to visit. For this reason I would recommend this book as a mother's day or birthday gift. The book its self is large, heavy & well made with thick paper. It is a hardback book. I was really surprised at the size & weight but it this adds to the book's charm.

This book can be found at the link below.