Catholicism
by John W. Moore

    Prior to the invention of Gutenberg's press in 1456, the Bible was inaccessible to the "common man." The Catholic Church had largely kept the Bible from being translated into the vernacular of the people. Latin was the language of the church and Jerome's Vulgate (ca. 405) became the accepted or "popular" translation. Following the publication of Luther's German Bible (1522 and 1534), the Counsel of Trent (1546) decreed that the Vulgate was to be the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church. The decree was due in part to the Catholic position on being the ". . . guardian of faith, to see that the faithful are not misled by unsound editions."(1) Nevertheless, in Rheims during the year of 1582, the Catholic Church published the New Testament in English, which was translated from the Vulgate. In 1609, the Old Testament followed, being translated at Douai. In 1749, these versions were combined and revised by Bishop Challoner (known as the Challoner-Rheims version). Nearly two hundred years later in 1941, a revision of the Challoner-Rheims version of the New Testament was published in Patterson, New Jersey. This version was based on the Latin Vulgate and known as the Confraternity Edition of the New Testament. The Old Testament followed in four volumes (1952-69). The entire publication became known as the Holy Bible: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, published by St. Anthony Guild Press, 1941-69. However, not until 1943 was Roman Catholic "laity" encouraged to read and study the Scriptures. In the famous encyclical issued by Pope Pius XII, Catholics were not only encouraged to read the Bible, but a translation from the original languages was recommended as well.(2) What soon followed are the now widely-recognized Jerusalem Bible of 1966 (JB), The New American Bible of 1970 (NAB), and the New Jerusalem Bible of 1986 (NJB).

    It is important to examine the theological ideology of Catholicism's view of the Bible. Presuppositions can affect how one translates words and phrases from the original to English, and Catholic translations are not without exception. There are various occasions in which the JB, NAB, and NJB translations reflect a decidedly "Catholic" slant. Unrelated to translation, yet just as important to some, are footnotes and study helps parallel to the text, which also steer one to traditional Catholic beliefs (i.e. Papal authority, primacy of Peter, adoration of Mary, etc.). Yet even more disturbing than a so-called Catholic slant to various words and comments is an erroneous foundational view that "divine truths are contrived in scripture and tradition"(3) (emphasis mine, JWM).

    The Catholic Church espouses the view that "the scriptures alone do not contain all the truths which a Christian is bound to believe, nor do they explicitly enjoin all the duties which he is obliged to practice."(4) In all fairness, Catholicism clearly believes in the inspiration of the Bible and professes to reverence its sacred text.(5) However, what is unclear is the extent to which they believe in the inspiration of Scripture. A Roman Catholic and Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame says: "The Bible is the Word of God, but it was the church which uttered the word. It is the church which gives the believer the Bible . . . ."(6) This posture is also evidenced in so-called canonical criticism where ". . . Catholic scholars have typically maintained that the Canon derives its authority from official recognition by the church."(7) Therefore, since the Bible came after the establishment of the church; and, to a Catholic, tradition is as authoritative as Scripture, one must be alert to Catholic mistranslations of the sacred text and exegetical fallacies in the footnotes. Catholicism's view of the Bible is out of harmony with plain Bible teaching regarding the origin, preservation, authentication, and authoritative nature of Scripture. Jesus taught that the apostles would be guided into all truth (John 16:16). Jude wrote that the faith had been delivered (Jude 3). Paul revealed that every word was inspired and all sufficient (2 Tim. 3:16,17). Peter explained that God's Word endures forever (1 Pet. 1:23-25) and did not originate with man (2 Pet. 1:20-21). While it is true that the church existed before the written revelation of Christ, it is not true that the church is responsible for the origin of that written revelation. God, through human instrumentality and power of the Spirit, produced the inerrant Word. That Word is preserved in over 5,000 manuscripts and must be viewed and carefully translated for what is in reality - the Word of God. A bright warning flag of "Proceed With Caution" should then be waved before all who would study from a Bible whose committee of translators hold such anti-Biblical beliefs.


(1) James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers: Being A Plan Exposition and Vindication of the Church Founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ, 110 rev. ed., (Baltimore, MD: John Murphy Co., 1917), p.92.

(2) Philip Wesley Comfort, The Complete Guide to Bible Versions (Wheaton, IL: Living Books, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1991), p.81.

(3) John L. McKenzie, The Roman Catholic Church (Garden City, NY: Image Books, Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1971), p.266.

(4) Gibbons, p.89

(5) Ibid., p.94.

(6) McKenzie, P.264

(7) Harry Y. Gamble, The New Testament Canon: Its Making and Meaning (Philadelphia, Fortress Press, 1985), p.84.

This item originally appeared at swsbs.edu