New American Bible
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In 1970, the New American Bible, or Saint Joseph Edition of the Bible (NAB) was first published. It is an English Bible translation that was produced by members of the Roman Catholic biblical scholars in cooperation with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The original languages were translated into English by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine according to the principles of Vatican II for use in the liturgy.
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Second version
In 1986 some traditionally familiar phraseology was restored to the New Testament. This included some inclusive language rejected by the Vatican.
Third version
In 1991 it was again amended to create more inclusive language in the New Testament and in the Psalms. The Vatican rejected it as the basis of the revised Lectionary for the Roman Catholic dioceses in the United States because of its use of vertical inclusive language (God and Christ) and some uses of horizontal inclusive language (human beings instead of men).
Fourth and most current version
In 2000 the 1991 New American Bible with Psalms and revised New Testament was modified by a committee of the Holy See and the Bishops for use in the Latin-Rite Catholic liturgy. This is the current text of the Lectionaires of the United States Catholic Church. The Holy See tolerated some use of inclusive language, such as where the speaker intended to address a mixed audience (such as “brothers and sisters”), but rejected the changes relating to God or Christ. Additionally, the Church rejected substituting inclusive language for the word "man" in cases where it carried theological and anthropological significance (Psalm 1:1, referring to Adam and Christ).
Criticism
The New American Bible has been lauded by modern Catholics and approved by the American Catholic Church; however, it has been derided by traditional Catholics for a number of reasons. For one, it uses gender-neutral language in many places, and therefore the NAB seen in the lectionary differs from the regular NAB since the Vatican does not allow gender-neutrality.
The notes especially have been criticized by traditionalists because of their perceived liberal and higher critical interpretation of passages, such as those which are believed to prophesy the coming of Christ. Authorship of many books is also questioned (e.g. the Pentateuch, Daniel, and some of Paul's letters). Many traditionalists therefore reject its use and call on Catholics to use more conservative interpretations, such as those in the Douai-Rheims Bible and the Ignatius Study Bible series.
External link
- The New American Bible - online access
- The New American Bible: Is It Good For Catholics? - by Ben Douglass & Jacob Michael (traditionalist criticism of the NAB)
- Bible Researcher's Site on the NAB - discusses the liturgical issues in the NAB.