Shopping for Bibles

I am far from an expert on anything to do with The Church or the faith.  In fact, the purpose of this little blog is to document and share my process of learning about my faith and becoming closer to Jesus through that learning.  So don't take anything I say as definitive-I may misstate things or interpret them wrong.

One thing that it seems everyone learning about God is a bible.  They are available for free on line and can be gotten relatively inexpensively if you prefer the feel of an actual book in your hands.  They can also be very expensive.

If you search "Bible" on Amazon you get an overwhelming list of all kinds of different bibles with a number of translations.  Its an alphabet soup of KJV, NIV, ESV, ASV, NAV, etc.  Even if you search for Catholic Bible there are a number of accepted translations.  What one is the best to get?

Most of these are "Protestant" versions.  I don't think that makes them "bad" bibles from the Catholic point of view, but they are different in some sort of way.  Maybe some of the passages are different or the interpretations are presented differently.  But different isn't necessarily bad.

I would recommend doing a little research on the particular translation, as I am sure there are some that may cross the line on interpretation, and I am far from the expert on every bible.

Just to put this out there, for Catholics there are several approved translations, but the main ones are the Revised Standard Edition and the New American Version.  So I guess if you are Catholic you should start with those.

But I contend this-The best Bible is the one you will read.  Maybe you found an old King James Version and like the way it feels, so you read that.  Maybe you have a New American Version and like the way the pages smell so you read that.  Maybe you have a Children's Bible and like the pictures so you read that.  In my uninformed and humble opinion the most important part is the reading of God's Word, not necessarily the translation.  Just opening the book and reading the stories will allow God to inspire you, and that's what's really important.

So open the best selling book of all time, The Bible.  And be inspired.

I thought I should include a list of approved bible translations according to the US Council of Bishops.