The Christian Community Bible is a translation of the Christian Bible in the English language originally produced in the Philippines. It is part of a family of translations in multiple languages intended to be more accessible to ordinary readers, particularly those in Third World countries. The primary features of these translations are the use of the language of ordinary people and the inclusion of extensive commentaries aimed at helping its readers to understand the meaning of the biblical texts.

Version in English

History

The Christian Community Bible began to be produced in 1986 when Rev. Alberto Rossa, a Claretian missionary in the Philippines, saw the need for an English version. With the help of the French priest Bernard Hurault, the translation was finished in 18 months. The work was published in 1988. The editors of the Christian Community Bible consider it to be a very accurate translation from the Hebrew and Greek biblical texts. New editions are currently coordinated by the Pastoral Bible Foundation and are currently published by Claretian Publications (also known as Claretian Communications).

Features

The editors of the Christian Community Bible have slightly reorganized the

books of the bible A biblical canon is a set of texts (also called "books") which a particular Jewish or Christian religious community regards as part of the Bible. The English word ''canon'' comes from the Greek , meaning "rule" or "measuring stick". The use o ...

with respect to the usual Catholic canon. While the New Testament books are found in the same order as they are found in other bibles, this is not the case for the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

(the Hebrew Bible and the deuterocanonical books). According to the introduction to the seventeenth edition: "Here we kept, in broad outlines, the distribution of the books according to the three categories present in the Jewish or Hebrew bible". The result is that the Christian Community Bible's order is a blend of the Jewish and Catholic order (here represented by the Douay–Rheims Bible). The King James Version is also listed for comparison purposes:

Versions in other languages

There are versions of the Christian Community Bible in 10 languages:

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

(''Kitab Suci Komunitas Kristiani''), Chinese (''mùlíng shèngjīng''), Cebuano (''Biblia sa Kristohanong Katilingban''), chavacano, French (''Bible des Peuples''), Ilonggo (''Biblia Sang Katilingban Sang Mga Kristiano''), Korean,

Quechuan Quechua (, ; ), usually called ("people's language") in Quechuan languages, is an indigenous language family spoken by the Quechua peoples, primarily living in the Peruvian Andes. Derived from a common ancestral language, it is the most widely ...

, Spanish (''Biblia Latinoamericana'') and

Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Tagal ...

(''Biblia ng Sambayanang Pilipino'').

Chinese

The ''Pastoral Bible'' was published in 1999 in traditional Chinese (subsequently also available in simplified Chinese). Since its publication, this translation has been in the centre of a controversy regarding the translation process and the content of its commentaries. Because of the criticisms, some regard this translation as being a poor translation unsuitable for lay people without extensive prior theological training; at the same time, despite these criticisms, there are also people who recommend this translation to lay people.

French

The ''Bible des Peuples'' (literally "Bible of the Peoples") is a version translated by Bernard and Louis Hurault and published in 1998. The version is still considered controversial by some in the Jewish community because of

replacement theology Supersessionism, also called replacement theology or fulfillment theology, is a Christian theology which asserts that the New Covenant through Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ has superseded or replaced the Mosaic covenant exclusive to the Jews ...

overtones in its notes. A previous version in French language, called ''Bible des Communautés chrétiennes'' (literally "Bible of the Christian Communities"), was translated by Bernard and Louis Hurault and published in 1994. Its imprimatur was rescinded in 1995 amid accusations of having

anti-semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

overtones in its commentaries.

Spanish

The ''Biblia Latinoamérica'' (literally "Latin America Bible") was begun in 1960 by Rev.

Bernardo Hurault Bernardo Hurault (15 August 1924 in Paris – 14 December 2004 in Concepción, Chile) was a French Claretian priest and biblical scholar, and originator of the Christian Community Bible translations. Biography Hurault was the priest and tr ...

in Chile and published in 1972. Hurault decided that a Bible that can be understood by ordinary poor people is needed, and that this Bible should include commentaries to help its readers understand it. He began translating from Hebrew and Greek to Spanish, incorporating his own homilies and questions from his own congregation as commentaries. This edition was deemed unfit for liturgical use in Argentina (by the CEA). The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith along with the bishops of Argentina ordered the elimination or extensive revision of notes, introductions and photographs of a contentious and misleading, often politically driven (see Liberation theology), character.

Notes

References

External links

Online version
{{English Bible translation navbox Bible translations into English Catholic bibles