Vatican Offers Rich Online Source of Bible Commentary

Catholic World News ^ | 12/12/07

[marshmallow]

Vatican, Dec. 12, 2007 (CWNews.com) - The Vatican Congregation for the Clergy has unveiled a powerful new web site, linking Bible texts with commentary from the Church fathers, doctors of the Church, councils, catechisms, and other magisterial documents.

The Biblia Clerus site links each passage of the Bible-- Old and New Testaments-- with commentary taken from a rich variety of sources. In an introductory note Cardinal Claudio Hummes, the prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, explains that the site provides "Sacred Scripture, its interpretation in light of Sacred Tradition and the teachings of the Magisterium, with appropriate theological commentary and exegesis."

The sources of the commentary-- many of them provided in full on the site-- include the works of the apostolic fathers, saints, Popes, and councils. The site also provides links to the Code of Canon Law (and the Code for the Eastern Church), and to the catechisms of the Council of Trent, St. Pius X, and the 1997 edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Although designed for priests, the Biblia Clerus site is available to the general public. The entire contents of the site can be downloaded.

[marshmallow]

A great reference, as so many of the Vatican sites are.

[Between the Lines]

linking Bible texts with commentary from the Church fathers, doctors of the Church, councils, catechisms, and other magisterial documents.

Bookmarked!

This should be a great resource for Protestants like myself which have a hard time following the flow of Catholic doctrine and thought. Thanks for posting it!

[Alex Murphy]

Ping to read later

[swmobuffalo]

Cool!

[livius]

It’s an interesting idea, but it needs work. It appears to be based on a French initiative (some things appear in French) and it’s a little hard to figure out its structure.

The default is the leaden NAB translation, although if you scroll all the way to the bottom, you can select the RSV, and then all the texts that appear will be from that version.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

bkmk

[Salvation]

More info at the Vatican. Hooray.

And who says that Catholic don’t read the Bible?

[joebuck]

"The default is the leaden NAB translation"

You're right, the NASB is leaden and not my first choice for general Bible reading. BUT, I use it exclusivly for word studies and close textual exposition because it always comes out closest to the original text. Have you checked out the English Standard Version? (ESV) It has become my favorite for general reading. Very close word for word but it reads much better and is more poetic than NASB. Some call it the updated RSV but I never read the RSV so can't comment on that. Most people who like the RSV like it.

[A.A. Cunningham]

because it always comes out closest to the original text.

Apparently you've never read the Douay-Rheims.

[joebuck]

"Apparently you've never read the Douay-Rheims."

Why in the world would I want a twice translated text?

[Campion]

The NAB and the NASB aren't the same thing. The NAB is the default American Catholic translation. The NASB is a Protestant translation.

[joebuck]

"The NAB is the default American Catholic translation. The NASB is a Protestant translation."

So THAT's where the apochrypha went. ;-) Thanks for that heads up. The only Catholic bible I'm familiar with is the New Catholic Edition because my wife is a Catholic (Christmas/Easter variety) and that's the translation of her Bible. I plan to do a study of Catholic text in the future. Do Catholics use the Septaugint as their OT text? The more I study the more I think the Septaugint may be the most accurate OT version.

[monkapotamus]

Ping.

http://www.clerus.org/bibliaclerus/index_eng.html

BIBLIA CLERUS READING THE WORD OF GOD WITH THE CHURCH : This program offers Sacred Scripture, its interpretation in light of Sacred Tradition and the teachings of the Magisterium, with appropriate theological commentary and exegesis. The downloadable version allows you to connect Sacred Scripture to the complete works of many Doctors of the Church, Councils, Encyclicals, teachings of the Popes, Catechisms, as well as commentaries from secular literature, etc. Note: At the moment, the content may differ according to the language used. You are invited to expand your inquiry by researching in other languages.
Biblical Text Search a Biblical text and its commentary This allows you to locate specific references to Sacred Scripture made by Doctors of the Church and the Magisterium.	Liturgia Commentary on the Sunday liturgy This allows you to cross-reference liturgical texts to homilies of the Church Fathers.
Download or update Biblia Clerus This allows you to download the entire content of this site onto your computer, or upgrade from the CD version.	The texts of the Magisterium and commentaries This contains the principal texts of the Magisterium of the Church, as well as commentaries by the Popes.
Canon Law and commentaries This contains the current and earlier versions of both the Latin and Eastern Codes of Canon Law, in parallel and with their fonts.	Clerus.org This provides access to the electronic library of the Congregation for the Clergy, conferences, scholarly analysis, etc.

[jo kus]

Thanks for the source - although much is in Latin...

Regards

[Puddleglum]

very nice - thanks for posting this reference.

[Hardshell]

Now if they’d only link to John Gill........

[maryz]

because it always comes out closest to the original text.

If you know the original languages, why do you bother with a translation?

[joebuck]

"If you know the original languages, why do you bother with a translation?"

One does not need to be conversant with the original languages to use a Greek/Hebrew reverse interlinear Bible and Lexicon. Try it.

[Campion]

Do Catholics use the Septaugint as their OT text?

Byzantine Catholics often do.

The best two Catholic (English) translations are the Jerusalem Bible (not the New Jerusalem) and the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (again, not the New Revised Standard anything). IMO, of course.

[maryz]

I do know some Hebrew (I had 10 years of it), and the NAB translation of the Psalms at least strikes me as, well, “original.”