Difference between revisions of "Confraternity Bible"

From Conservapedia
Jump to: navigation, search
(Category (case))
(removing some too-obvious bias)
Line 1: Line 1:
The '''Confraternity Bible''' refers to the [[English]]-language [[Bible]] widely used in [[Catholic]] churches in the United States between 1941 and 1970.  The Confraternity New Testament was translated from the [[Latin Vulgate]]. The [[New Testament]] portion of the first editions of the Confraternity Bible is the Confraternity version in modern English issued in 1941, while the [[Old Testament]] portion (at least in the early editions) is the Challoner revision of the [[Douay-Rheims]] Bible, which is not in modern English.  For this reason, the Confraternity Bible is sometimes called the Douay-Confraternity Bible.  A Confraternity translation of the Old Testament was never wholly completed, because in 1943 a Papal encyclical letter was issued from the [[Vatican]] that Catholic translations of the Bible should begin to translate from the original languages rather than from the Latin Vulgate.  Some Confraternity Bibles exist with some of the Old Testament books being modern translations completed from their original languages after 1941 and some of them from the Douay-Rheims.
+
[[Image:Confraternity New Testament.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Scepter Publishing]]'s 2006 rerelease of the 1941 Confraternity New Testament]]
  
Most of the new post-1941 translations of Old Testament books which made their way into some versions of the Confraternity Bible were used unchanged in the [[New American Bible]], while the New Testament was translated anew for the NAB.  The release of the NAB in 1970 caused the Confraternity Bible to quickly fall into disuse, and it is quite hard to find today, although fondly remembered by older Catholics who used it during the mid-20th Century and also favored by [[Traditionalist Catholic]]s who view the NAB (with its [[politically correct]] "gender-inclusive" language) as too [[liberal]].  A pocket-sized Confraternity New Testament is currently in print, ISBN 0-933932-77-4, Scepter Publishers.
+
{{EnglishTranslations}}
  
==References==
+
The '''Confraternity Bible''', or the '''Holy Bible, Confraternity Version''', is a blanket title given to various English language Bible translation compilations, which were periodically released by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine starting in 1941 and culminating in, but not completely inclusive of, the release of the 1970 [[New American Bible]].
* [http://www.bible-researcher.com/confraternity.html The Confraternity Version (1941) - bible-researcher.com]
+
  
[[Category:Bible Versions]]
+
In 1941, a revision of [[Richard Challoner]]'s Version of the [[Douay_Rheims_Bible#Challoner_Revision|Rheims New Testament]], Edited by Catholic Scholars under the Patronage of the Episcopal Committee of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, and titled "The New Testament, Confraternity Version", was released.  In the years to follow, this release was accompanied by subsequent entire-canon Bibles, in various formats, that contained this specific revision of the New Testament, unchanged, along with a hybrid assortment of both untouched books from Challoner's Douay Old Testament, and newly revised Old Testament books from the original languages, as promulgated by Pope Pius XII. 
 +
 
 +
A revision of Challoner's Douay Old Testament was never fully completed, and it is not known how much of it had been completed when work immediately and completely shifted to translation from the original languages following Pope Pius XII's [[Divino Afflante Spiritu]],  an encyclical letter issued on September 30, 1943, which stressed the importance of diligent study of the original languages and other cognate languages, so as to arrive at a deeper and fuller knowledge of the meaning of the sacred texts.
 +
 
 +
Because of the hybrid nature of what would become the various versions of the Confraternity Bible, it has been referred to in the past, more descriptively, as the Challoner-Confraternity, or Douay/Douai-Confraternity, referencing the fact that it was made up of part Old Testament books from the Challoner Douay Old Testament, and also books translated or revised by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.
 +
 
 +
The New Testament portion of the Confraternity Bible revised Challoner's translation in several ways:
 +
*It modernized the style of Challoner's eighteenth century English.
 +
*It translated from critical editions of the Latin [[Vulgate]], rather than from the Clementine edition.
 +
*When Greek idioms were literally translated into the [[Vulgate]], it paraphrased the Greek idiom, rather than translating direct from the Latin.
 +
*In general, it was a freer translation than Challoner's, and more paraphrastic.
 +
*It restored the paragraph formatting of the first edition of the [[Douay-Rheims Bible]], which had been removed in the [[Douay Bible#Challoner Revision|Challoner Revision]].
 +
 
 +
Because it was intended to be used in the liturgy, the translators did not introduce any rendering that would depart from the text of the [[Vulgate]].
 +
 
 +
The Book of Psalms contained in a Confraternity Bible could be one of three versions:  The Douay-Rheims Challoner Psalms, the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) Psalms of 1941, or the CCD "Olinger" Psalms of 1950.
 +
 
 +
The CCD Psalter of 1941 was based on the "Vulgate" or "Gallican" Latin version of the Psalter, and based on the Douay-Rheims-Challoner version of the Bible.  The CCD "Olinger" Psalms, of 1950, were translated by Eberhard Olinger, OSB, and were based on the new Latin version of Pius XII, the "Novum Psalterium", which appeared in 1945.  This version of the Psalter also eventually appeared in the 1970 [[New American Bible]].
 +
 
 +
The new translations of the books from the Old Testament in the Confraternity Bible formed the basis of what would become the 1970 New American Bible, except for the Book of Genesis.  The Confraternity version of Genesis was completely revised before the release of the NAB.
 +
 
 +
The Old Testament books that had been translated anew from the original languages, remained virtually unchanged under the new NAB title, with only relatively minor revising done to normalize the anglicized form of formal names throughout the entire text.
 +
 
 +
The Challoner-Confraternity version continues to be popular with traditional Catholics.
 +
 
 +
Scepter Publishers [http://www.scepterpublishers.org/] have put the New Testament back into print ISBN 0-933932-77-4.
 +
 
 +
==External links==
 +
 
 +
* [http://www.thedcl.org/store/confra-preface.html Preface to the Confraternity New Testament] at The DCL.
 +
 
 +
[[Category:Bible versions and translations]]

Revision as of 00:29, November 10, 2008

File:Confraternity New Testament.jpg
Scepter Publishing's 2006 rerelease of the 1941 Confraternity New Testament

Template:EnglishTranslations

The Confraternity Bible, or the Holy Bible, Confraternity Version, is a blanket title given to various English language Bible translation compilations, which were periodically released by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine starting in 1941 and culminating in, but not completely inclusive of, the release of the 1970 New American Bible.

In 1941, a revision of Richard Challoner's Version of the Rheims New Testament, Edited by Catholic Scholars under the Patronage of the Episcopal Committee of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, and titled "The New Testament, Confraternity Version", was released. In the years to follow, this release was accompanied by subsequent entire-canon Bibles, in various formats, that contained this specific revision of the New Testament, unchanged, along with a hybrid assortment of both untouched books from Challoner's Douay Old Testament, and newly revised Old Testament books from the original languages, as promulgated by Pope Pius XII.

A revision of Challoner's Douay Old Testament was never fully completed, and it is not known how much of it had been completed when work immediately and completely shifted to translation from the original languages following Pope Pius XII's Divino Afflante Spiritu, an encyclical letter issued on September 30, 1943, which stressed the importance of diligent study of the original languages and other cognate languages, so as to arrive at a deeper and fuller knowledge of the meaning of the sacred texts.

Because of the hybrid nature of what would become the various versions of the Confraternity Bible, it has been referred to in the past, more descriptively, as the Challoner-Confraternity, or Douay/Douai-Confraternity, referencing the fact that it was made up of part Old Testament books from the Challoner Douay Old Testament, and also books translated or revised by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

The New Testament portion of the Confraternity Bible revised Challoner's translation in several ways:

  • It modernized the style of Challoner's eighteenth century English.
  • It translated from critical editions of the Latin Vulgate, rather than from the Clementine edition.
  • When Greek idioms were literally translated into the Vulgate, it paraphrased the Greek idiom, rather than translating direct from the Latin.
  • In general, it was a freer translation than Challoner's, and more paraphrastic.
  • It restored the paragraph formatting of the first edition of the Douay-Rheims Bible, which had been removed in the Challoner Revision.

Because it was intended to be used in the liturgy, the translators did not introduce any rendering that would depart from the text of the Vulgate.

The Book of Psalms contained in a Confraternity Bible could be one of three versions: The Douay-Rheims Challoner Psalms, the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) Psalms of 1941, or the CCD "Olinger" Psalms of 1950.

The CCD Psalter of 1941 was based on the "Vulgate" or "Gallican" Latin version of the Psalter, and based on the Douay-Rheims-Challoner version of the Bible. The CCD "Olinger" Psalms, of 1950, were translated by Eberhard Olinger, OSB, and were based on the new Latin version of Pius XII, the "Novum Psalterium", which appeared in 1945. This version of the Psalter also eventually appeared in the 1970 New American Bible.

The new translations of the books from the Old Testament in the Confraternity Bible formed the basis of what would become the 1970 New American Bible, except for the Book of Genesis. The Confraternity version of Genesis was completely revised before the release of the NAB.

The Old Testament books that had been translated anew from the original languages, remained virtually unchanged under the new NAB title, with only relatively minor revising done to normalize the anglicized form of formal names throughout the entire text.

The Challoner-Confraternity version continues to be popular with traditional Catholics.

Scepter Publishers [1] have put the New Testament back into print ISBN 0-933932-77-4.

External links