Now how many have read and compared the Catholic Bible and the King James Bible?

Question

I have and although our Catholic Bible has more books and minor differences I can say that truthfully they are basically the same otherwise. Has anyone else read both and do you agree?

For those who agree they are mostly the same,can we stop arguing over whose Bible is better or true?

Answer 1

I have read both, have both on my shelf the catholic and the new king james,

your right its pretty much the same set of fairy tales,

thanks@

Answer 2

--Is Catholic--

I do not agree. Primarily because it is really all about the footnotes and the explanations (commentary, glosses, etc.) that go with the various bibles. Additionally there are important differences in the translations especially when you look at doctrinal points, especially older bibles.

Additionally and very important. Vatican 2 Dei Veribum says that scripture MUST be read within the Spirit which it was written and since the Spirit is the same Spirit as the Church's, scripture must be read within the Church. This means that if scripture is translated by a non-Catholic, with a non-Catholic theological bent, the produced translation, since it was not read and translated within the Spirit of the Church, is partial removed from the Spirit and thus has problems. Now the common lay person might not notice this, but if you are working with scripture at a high theological level, you will notice areas where the sentence structure and word choices are different between the Catholic and Protestant versions of scripture and can lead to different conclusions. Again, this is much more prevalent in older versions of scripture, the modern ones are influenced a bit different. When it comes to which bible translation should be used, you want to look for ones that maintain the typology across the books of the bible. This requires that the translations be more literal than anything else. There are good Protestant bibles out there, but it is important to remember that they were not created within the Spirit of the Church, and necessarily contain some differences, even if they appear to only be minor.

Additionally, you should be aware that the KJ is based on the Catholic D-R but later D-Rs were based on the KJ so there is interesting things occurring within those as they inform and correct each other.

Answer 3

Dear Debra,

In my collection of more than 40 Bibles I have The Precise Parallel New Testament which has 8 versions including the Greek text (I can't read it unfortunately). It has an old Catholic version (Rheims) as well as a modern version (New American). It also has the Amplified, NIV, NRSV and NASB and it has a very interesting chart to show where each of the translations came from. I also have a copy of the Jerusalem Bible. I have a Jewish Old Testament and there are a few differences but nothing major..

The differences between the versions are minor. My first Bible was a King James and I enjoyed it but I used to get so confused with the out of date Thees and Thous..

For the past several years I have been reading a Bible from cover-to-cover every year, this year I'm reading The Daily Bible in Chronological Order (NIV). The NIV is my favorite version for reading but I use several versions for study.

I do have a few Bibles with the Apocrypha in case I want to read that, however I really wasn't impressed when I read the book of Judith about 10 years ago. A Catholic neighbor of mine decided that she wanted to open her Bible each day and read whatever was on the page she opened to. She happened to come across Judith and asked me about it.

I wasn't in the least bit impressed by it. It did not sound like it was of divine inspiration but rather like it was written by man. After that I checked Evidence That Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell to learn about the Apocrypha.

So to answer the question, except for the Apocrypha and an imprimatur, I think not only the King James but the Catholic and other so-called Protestant versions are very much the same. A Catholic friend of mine recently told me that when she was growing up her priest told her that the KJV was from the devil and to stay away from anybody who used it! Your question has made me realize that "Protestant" is not the best description but it is the one that comes first to mind. It does fit somewhat better than to say "non-Roman Catholic".

Answer 4

I have both and I read both. I find the King James Bible has really good foot notes but, nothing can replace the books that are in the Catholic Bible that are not in the King James one.

Answer 5

As a catholic I have read both and I do not see a lot of difference. I personally use the new Jerusalem bible.

Answer 6

If the Catholic Bible has more books and minor differences, then according to the KJV, it is not a true bible. I believe the bible says not to add any more books or verses to the bible. So, if that's the case (that the Catholic bible is different), then it is not a true bible.

Answer 7

You are right; they are different translations of exactly the same material. In fact, I own a copy of the King James translation of the Bible which includes the Apocrypha, so it has the same number of books as the "Catholic Bible."

Answer 8

I took a look somewhere in the 'removed' section of the bible, and didn't really care for it.. I like vikings and weapons. There's just not enough fighting in the bible.

We want to know how people argued and what changed as a result. Not just everyone agreeing with eachother. The only way people change through the course of history is if someone else lets them.

Answer 9

Are you referring to the Douay version or gnostic gospels? I have read parts of the Douay; but, after having come across some serious research, I've become convinced it's a counterfeit written by the Jesuit order.

Answer 10

I read both and yeap they are kinda like the same, but there are many differences.... I can point them out, but would take me some time to go get them and write them down! I read about 40 different versions of the bible!

Answer 11

i too have both - only because people kept saying "ours" was so different - the only thing IMO that was different was the wonderful detailed footnotes and the lack of thee's and thou's type words. some of the scriptures might be slightly numbered differently but nothing of major consequence.