The Little Rock Catholic Study Bible
The Little Rock Catholic Study Bible, ISBN 9780814636480.
This study Bible contains all the books of the Catholic canon in their normal order. The translation is the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE), the NABRE's standard notes appear at page bottom, and the NABRE's usual book introductions are provided as well. This Bible includes several useful essays and many notes and charts alongside the text in beige boxes. Maps and black-and-white photos are featured as well.
This particular edition is a glued (not sewn), burgundy hardback. It is rather large and heavy (3.88 pounds). The paper weight is 36 gsm.
The text is printed in an approximately 9.5 point font, while the page-bottom notes are about 7.5 points in size.
The text is laid out in a single column, organized into paragraphs. The inner margin is narrow, and the print has a tendency to drop away from the eye into the gutter. The outer margin is wide, and on pages with few references there is plentiful room for taking notes.
No concordance is provided, nor are ribbon markers included. Sixteen glossy color maps are present at the end of the volume. A timeline is printed inside the front and back covers.
The words of Christ are printed in black ink.
Detailed contents
00:00 Introduction
01:48 Layout
03:15 Print characteristics
05:15 Footnotes and references
06:57 More on layout
08:30 Paper qualities
09:24 Book and section introductions
10:52 Notes in beige boxes, photos
11:55 The supplementary material in the back
13:50 Maps
15:23 The head and tail bands and binding
15:55 The Bible lies open in Genesis
16:29 The introductory material
17:16 Contents
19:05 The essays
21:24 The Fundamentalist challenge
24:53 The essays (continued)
26:33 Higher criticism
28:15 Font comparisons
29:36 The NABRE as a translation
32:47 Observations
36:32 Turning pages in Genesis
Пікірлер: 98
You need to know you help me rest at night. The lord is using you in many ways. Don't stop this work. God bless you. I know you love the word of God. Amen
@RGrantJones
2 жыл бұрын
Thank you for that very encouraging comment, Brian! Yes, I do love God's word.
Wow, this has to be BY FAR the most comprehensive discussion of the construction of a book I have ever seen on KZread! I'm impressed you even measures the thickness of the paper to estimate the GSM. But here's another way: multiply the area of a page in square meters by the number of sheets and divide that into the weight of the entire book in grams. The result will be the GSM of the paper. Yes, that would include the weight of the cover, binding and ink as well, but it should be very close to the true GSM of the paper.
Now that you posted the two charts separately, I was able to view them in their entirety! And save them to my desktop! I VERY much appreciate all your efforts to help me. Thanks so much!!
@RGrantJones
2 жыл бұрын
I'm happy to hear it, acardnal!
I was trying to decide whether to get this Bible. This was very helpful. Thank you.
@Thomasrice07
6 ай бұрын
The scholarship upon which their introductions and notes are based is not current. I would recommend the Didache or the Ignatius study bibles.
Thanks for your awesome videos. I love Catholic Bibles. Greetings from Brazil
@RGrantJones
2 жыл бұрын
Thank you for the kind comment, Danilo!
I am appreciating and marveling at your reviews and at the same time with your explanations and every bible you present makes me want to buy them like the one you just reviewed. Congratulations and may God bless you infinitely!
@RGrantJones
Жыл бұрын
Thank you for the kind comment!
I'm excited to hear about the upcoming reading of St John's Gospel on your second channel!
Your bible reviews are the best. Thank you and peace and spiritual blessings be multiplied upon you, Jehovah Bless You.
@R Grant Jones. The Little Rock Bible is an excellent Bible. I use the New Catholic Version which came out in 2021. Love your channel and the videos! Have a great day! God bless my friend.
@RGrantJones
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Johnathan!
@ourcreatorwords933
2 жыл бұрын
hope you give time to see this video kzread.info/dash/bejne/q4drtqmnpMLdaZM.html
@rachelkarslake7787
2 жыл бұрын
Johnathan: A friend recently sent us a copy of the New Catholic Version. I have to say I appreciate the difference in the notes, as compared to the NABRE. They are an improvement, even if they are located at the end of each book.
@johnathanlewis2049
2 жыл бұрын
@@rachelkarslake7787 - Yes it’s the Bible I use for reading and studying
Wonderful review - really enjoyed watching and listening to this. Thank you for your work and sharing this - so appreciated ++
@RGrantJones
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the kind comment, DinoDino!
Good Review. I will watch it again to pick up more of the details that you were pointing out.
@RGrantJones
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for commenting, Rene!
@reneallen8302
2 жыл бұрын
@@RGrantJones you are welcome @R. Grant Jones. You do very thorough job on all of your Reviews. I will keep watching.🌺🌴
Thanks for making these videos. Any chance you could make a video discussing a few strong combinations of bibles with companion textbooks/guides? And maybe comment on those combinations vs. a study bible like Oxford NRSV? Thanks
Thanks for this video. It looks like it has many helpful features, but I don't know why every edition of the NABRE has to have the same notes. It's not as if they defend the Catholic interpretation of scripture or explain the textual and translation choices made by the translators. I also find it objectionable that they treat the historical-critical method and conclusions as fact. I think if they are going to present those ideas, they should at least discuss the objections to them.
@RGrantJones
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for commenting, James! I just hope that the video made the character of notes, introductions, and essays clear enough for people to decide whether they want to purchase it.
@jimmu2008
2 жыл бұрын
I think it will help. I noticed, though, that this video lacked the summary you usually have. Any reason for that?
@RGrantJones
2 жыл бұрын
@@jimmu2008 - I tried to do it differently this time, summarizing while turning pages through Genesis.
@jimmu2008
2 жыл бұрын
@@RGrantJones Thanks. I will listen to that section again.
@ourcreatorwords933
2 жыл бұрын
hope you will give time to see this video kzread.info/dash/bejne/q4drtqmnpMLdaZM.html
They mean fundamental in a different sense in the first part of that text. Leo XIII meant fundamental as in a foundation or basis if I understand correctly. I think that a better Word choice for especially certain groups of fundamentalists would be literalists because there are also varying degrees of the word fundamental based upon context.
Outstanding review as alway. The Bible is massive with a glued spine and a gigantic gutter drop, maneuvering it will be a challenge. I wonder if the imitation leather is also a glued binding. Pope Leo XIII for the win. Thanks for another great review.
@RGrantJones
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for commenting, Priscilla! The description of the "deluxe edition" at Christianbook.com says the spine is sewn, but there's no way to be sure without examining one.
@praysimply
2 жыл бұрын
@@RGrantJones Awesome! The perfect excuse for an early bday present 😅
Thank you Sir
I think this Bible would have been placed on the Index were that still in use today.
Thanks for another helpful vid. FWIW, I noticed from reviews and stills that the heading font and chapter number font are quite different between the New ESV standalone Apocrypha and the new ESV Bible with Apocrypha. I ordered the standalone because of price and I like the heading font better, but don't really like the cover, though not bad. To be super thorough it would be interesting to compare paper opacity/readability between the standalone and Holy Bible with Apocrypha eds. Also thanks for pointing out the differences in Tobit! I wonder if there might be any other differences in the old ESV apocrypha (lutheran ed or otherwise) and the New ESV Apocrypha or the ESV-CE Deuterocanon. (oops, I noticed youtube must've taken me to the "next video" while I was commenting on your ESV Diadem More font comparisons.
I hold with Pope Leo 13th These scholars are not in line with the teaching of the magisterium, nor the popes in the past nor the fathers they are not magisterial, it's their opinion. As I have said before and I say to you again your reviews are the best! 🤟
@RGrantJones
Жыл бұрын
Thanks very much, Larrym., for those kind words!
@peterbrennan1085
Ай бұрын
Little Rock is very heavily historical/critical method as opposed to traditional Catholic Bible study. Not for me and I’ve been in formal Catholic Bible studies for 16 years.
Great job sir.
@RGrantJones
2 жыл бұрын
Thank you, Dani!
@ourcreatorwords933
2 жыл бұрын
hope you give time to see this video kzread.info/dash/bejne/q4drtqmnpMLdaZM.html
The Leo episode was hilarious 😂
@RGrantJones
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for commenting, D. O. The disconnect between this Bible's commentary and that Pope remind me of the song 'Mama Don't': 'Yeah, Mama don't allow no guitar playing 'round here 'Yeah, Mama don't allow no guitar playing 'round here 'I don't care what mama don't allow 'I'll play my guitar anyhow.'
@brackguthrie9470
8 ай бұрын
Was Pope Leo speaking Ex Cathedra or was this just his opinion? Either way, the Church must recognize when historical and scientific truths are made manifest. Otherwise we are the same as fundamentalist extremists.
You mentioned that you have another channel- can you provide the name of that? Awesome video!
@RGrantJones
Жыл бұрын
I have a channel at which I've read a few books of the Bible, but I haven't posted anything there recently. It's located here: kzread.info/dron/6UAzFU6GZgix5ojuRZqNrg.html .
This is an excellent review as always.
Biblical inerrancy is indeed a modern Evangelical Protestant innovation. But classical Christian and Jewish tradition was less strict and more fluid. After the closure of Biblical canon, in subsequent centuries, the Rabbis considered only Torah to be infallible. Prophets and Writings were considered to be inspired but less inerrant (three hierarchies of inspiration in descending order). Many discoveries (2nd & 3rd Isaiah, Torah and Pslams having multiple authors/editors) about the Biblical texts by Protestant scholars were already pointed out in formative period of Rabbinic Judaism. Oxford Jewish Study Bible has some very good essays about it. Christians also differed about the inerrant inspiration of several books of NT. The Orthodox Churches paid less importance to Revelation, and Martin Luther was not sure about the inspiration of some NT books. Also, the issue of Apocrypha book adds another layer of complexity to this question.
Those notes and essays really do seem to be a problem. Anything which isn't narrowly in 100% lockstep with their perceived vision of the author's mind must absolutely be a later interpolation by somebody else. Applying that logic, many of these scholars' own papers shouldn't be attributed to the names on them. After all, they cover different subjects and there's discernable shifts in vocabulary and perspective. Must have been a later redactor. Don't worry, though, even though we have no clue which random person wrote this down, and who changed it later, we can be absolutely certain about the dating- after all, those passages in Daniel clearly prove the author came after the "future events" it talks about. How else could he have known? But despite all that, still recite the Nicene Creed every Sunday. The books may all be late forgeries and deception, chock full of errors, and the anonymous gospel authors were so clearly wrong about so much, but the doctrines in the book are all true! Be sure to tithe in the collection plate! Notes like these have no place in a Bible for anyone who thinks God exists and he can intervene in the world. It's shameful that it can share the shelves with the Catholic Catechism. It's a shame that paperbacks of this crap are what they give to catechumens. New Atheist's Bible: Revised Edition.
@Sybok51288
2 жыл бұрын
Yep, I have nothing grateful to say about my RCIA experience. (i use NKJV, at least I can trust the intellectual integrity of the people behind it that they actually believe in Christianity)
@mb9484
2 жыл бұрын
@@Sybok51288 I'd love an NKJV with the deuterocanon. (No, the weird slapdash hybrid Orthodox Study Bible does not count!)
@Sybok51288
2 жыл бұрын
@@mb9484 yeah i settled for using the original RSV for the deuterocanonical, they also have the Orthodox ones. i tried sharing the link but youtube deltes me. google rsv university of michigan bible and they have it all online. i think even a couple from the ethiopian canon
@mb9484
2 жыл бұрын
@@Sybok51288 Do they have a print version?
@AnthonyKuenzel
2 жыл бұрын
I should say at the outset that I enjoyed R. Grant Jones' review. I have to respond (to the comment here, not the review) and defend the NABRE. Not only is it not the "New Atheist Bible", it is in fact a Bible which steel-man's and then defeats arguments for atheism with archeological notes. The argument offered against the NABRE is not against the translation of the Bible itself, but this archeological approach. It's not for everyone, but I personally tire of this rote criticism when this Bible has been so profound for my faith experience. It's my personal choice for daily reading and I highly recommend it, particularly if you are steeped in the secular world and find yourself discussing issues where all do not automatically agree with the theological foundation from which the Bible starts; you might need those archeological notes after all. As a final thought, I found this article compelling. It is about a Bible reader who found himself to his own surprise engaging daily with "The Message" Catholic Edition of all things: catholicbibletalk.com/2019/04/confessions-of-an-ugly-bible-reader-guest-post-by-timothy/ Every Bible has an audience. A Bible that is different from your preference does not necessarily beget atheism. Maybe you were being tongue-in-cheek and that's cool 😋. I just hear it alot and I guess with the dearth of support for the NABRE I have to chime in. Once the revision in 2025 happens, the 1986 NT portion of this translation will eventually be off the shelves. I'm not so sure it needs to be. Grab one while you can! Thanks for reading.
How does this compare to the Didache Bible, as far as commentary? And does this contain Catechism references like the Didache?
Dr Grant, I have a question that's not on the topic of the review of this Bible, I have a fondness for classical language, and I do listen to the King James on audio and I heard you on your new channel, here's my question if you had a choice of a modern version of the Catholic Bible which translation would you use yourself just curious ?
@RGrantJones
2 жыл бұрын
I would be torn between the RSV-CE and the Jerusalem Bible. If I could have only one, the RSV-CE would likely win out, because it's more literal, and so more useful for study. (I chose the RSV-CE over the RSV-2CE because I prefer the archaic language used when addressing God.) Thanks for the question!
Who knew Karl Marx wrote Bible commentary notes back in his day. It's impressive how they seamlessly incorporate them into the rest of the text. Amazing😉
@RGrantJones
2 жыл бұрын
Lol! Thanks for commenting, Arthur!
@bernardfrancis7895
Жыл бұрын
What is the price of Little Rock Catholic Study Bible.
Sorry if its been asked before, but do you keep all the Bible's you review, or do you sell them on?
@RGrantJones
2 жыл бұрын
I haven't sold any, but I have given a few away over the years.
A word about the Catholic approach to scripture. There are those of us in the Church that believe that there are 2 churches within the One Church. One of them being the end times counter Church or the "conciliar church". Traditional Catholics still believe in the Genesis account of creation and therefore hold a "fundamentalist view". We believe that if the first Chapters of Genesis are not actual accounts then Jesus becomes unnecessary because original sin wouldn't exist. So if you knee cap Christianity in the first book of the Bible the whole thing becomes like any other religion.
@hassanmirza2392
7 ай бұрын
The problem with secular humanist scholarship on the Bible is that it assumes in the first book of Genesis that Israelite religion developed out of Cananite pagan religion. This is their first principle of reading the Bible and doing its analysis. It renders the entire Christian and Islamic traditions useless.
@duke927
6 ай бұрын
You will now see a very irreverent approach to Biblical exegesis. The Historical Critical method Which is man centered, Marxist, “scientific”, and says in so many words that since evolutionary theory must be true the Bible is basically not the word of God but superstition built on myth. This almost unanimous conformity in this field is not really neutral and scientific but has the ultimate goal to destroy faith and render the Bible to just moral platitudes.
Is it just me, or do lots of Catholic bibles have glued bindings, even the non economy ones?
@RGrantJones
2 жыл бұрын
I have that impression too.
@ourcreatorwords933
2 жыл бұрын
hope you give time to see this video kzread.info/dash/bejne/q4drtqmnpMLdaZM.html
Thanks again for a wonderfully informative bible review. I happen to own this bible with a leather cover. Where can I locate your translation charts? You update them periodically. I thought you made them available under the Community Tab but I cannot locate them any more. You mentioned in the video that you have another KZread channel. What is that called?
@RGrantJones
2 жыл бұрын
I haven't posted the charts since last summer. I can still scroll back to them, but it takes some patience. The most recent one was posted 7 months ago. My other channel is called 'The Bible in English.' There's only one video there at present - and it's actually just audio of me reading the Apocalypse in the KJV, with a photo overlaid. I hope to add John's gospel soon. I think a number of people find my voice soporific.
@acardnal
2 жыл бұрын
@@RGrantJones "soporific". I love it! LOL. I think I saw the date of December 2021 as the last update on one of your charts in this video. I would like to get a copy of "Departures from the Masoretic Text" particularly and the "Translation Continuum" chart if I can. Thank you.
@RGrantJones
2 жыл бұрын
@@acardnal - I'll post them to the channel's community tab.
@acardnal
2 жыл бұрын
@@RGrantJones Thanks so much! Be assured they are for my personal reference only and I will maintain attribution to R. Grant Jones.
Is it possible to post links to the two charts in your show notes above?
@RGrantJones
2 жыл бұрын
No, sorry. They don't reside on the net.
Excellent review, sir. You showed remarkable restraint. The NABRE is the English Bible with the most episcopal approbations that has been found by Rome to be entirely unfit for use in public prayer and worship. In my opinion, it is a horrible, no good, very bad Bible. The notes represent the very best of mid century modern scholarship that heavily relies on Critical Biblical Scholarship that struggles to make theological conclusions. Little Rock notes come from an attempt to produce a Bible study in the 1970’s that could engage faithful Catholics. In so doing, they use Bible notes that consider every scholarship but it’s own to be lacking. Unfortunately, now the valiant effort, once guided by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Little Rock, Arkansas, has been sold to Liturgical Press. Many thousands of Boomer Catholics have participated in Little Rock study groups, the strength of which relied on small groups of faithful and prayerful Christians studying God’s Word. Today, thankfully, there are many alternatives for the faithful Catholic seeking to study the Bible.
@RGrantJones
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the kind comment, Gil!
@ourcreatorwords933
2 жыл бұрын
hope you will give time to see this video kzread.info/dash/bejne/q4drtqmnpMLdaZM.html
What's your denomination? Or the one you feel closer to.
@RGrantJones
Жыл бұрын
Krautrick - I'm an Anglican.
I hate single column. 😢
I have a Catholic Family Bible, a large edition, bound in genuine white leather, which was produced as a Catholic version of the sort of King James Family Bible found in many homes at the time. Since the translation of the new Confraternity Bible (so called because it was arranged by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine) was not complete, it uses a mixture of translations. The Confraternity text is used for Genesis to Ruth, the Psalms and the New Testament. The Douay-Challoner translation is used for the remaining books of the Old Testament. It was published by the Good Counsel Publishing Co., Inc. of Chicago. In due course, the translation of the Confraternity Bible was fully completed and this was published in, I think, about 1973. The New American Bible is simply a revision of the Confraternity Bible. It is considered a reliable translation. It is not used in England, mainly because the language is a little too “transatlantic” and the 1966 translation of the Jerusalem Bible has been used in the Lectionary in England, however, this will be replaced, in Advent this year, by the English Standard Version (Catholic Edition). Until now, for teaching and study purposes, the English Church has used the Second Catholic Edition of the Revised Standard Version, since the Jerusalem Bible is not considered to be a direct, literal translation from the original languages. There are rumours that the translators used the very popular original French version of the Jerusalem Bible, translating this into English, while comparing their translation, of course, with the original texts (this has never been established and is denied by the translators!). The New Jerusalem Bible was not considered adequate by the English Bishops Conference and the Revised New Jerusalem Bible was considered even less satisfactory. However, in my view, the original 1966 translation of the Jerusalem Bible, in the version with the full set of translators’ notes, is quite reliable. I prefer reading the Knox translation myself, since it is a direct translation from the Vulgate made entirely by Monsignor Knox himself, without any assistance. Therefore, it does not read as if it has been put together by a committee and the style is uniform from start to finish. As to reliability, it is only as reliable as the Vulgate from which it was translated, of course. I have the three volume version with a full set of translator’s notes, which make it reliable, since Monsignor Knox does point out where the Latin text departs from the original Greek or Hebrew and he also makes it clear where he has used rather more colloquial language in translating from the Latin, although he never departs from the original meaning of the text. However, the language which Monsignor Knox uses is that of an English public school boy of the 1940s, which, of course, is what he was! The English Church did intend to use the Knox translation for the Lectionary, however, the instructions issued by Pope Pius XII in 1943 (in Divino Afflante Spiritu) made this impossible and the 1966 translation of the Jerusalem Bible was used as more closely adhering to the terms of that instruction. However, the Knox translation was used in preparing the new Breviary (‘the Divine Office”) for some of the passages of Scripture. Also, the new Breviary included some texts using the New English Bible (a Presbyterian translation) and the RSV, of course.
Hold on....dating Daniel to the 2nd century BC would make a third of it a prophetic fraud? The prophecies with regards to the 5 kingdoms. He would be prophesying about the greeks a full century after it happened.
Quite bizarre...
Highly suspect and dangerous to the faith in my Catholic opinion (the intro, essays, notes, etc I mean - not the actual translation, which I actually kind of enjoy). I returned mine after one night of reading. 🤮 Would recommend faithful Catholics look at the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, the Didiche Bible, or the Word on Fire Bible instead.
@RGrantJones
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for commenting, krjohnson29!
@ourcreatorwords933
2 жыл бұрын
hope you give time to see this video kzread.info/dash/bejne/q4drtqmnpMLdaZM.html
@KillerofGods
Жыл бұрын
Word of fire bible? Haven't heard of that one.
@krjohnson29
Жыл бұрын
@@KillerofGods 1 year old typo 🤣 "Word ON Fire" 👍
@KillerofGods
Жыл бұрын
@@krjohnson29 Yeah, okay. I found that bible on Google. I appreciate the suggestion, you're the first I've seen recommend it and it looks nice. I'm looking into switching from protestantism into catholicism and trying to find a good study bible, but it seems like most arent as good as the one I have currently. So far I've seen people recommend The Didache Navarre? Iirc Ignatius Haydock bible (an old one before the churches started to get infected with modern politics.) And now I'll check out the Word on fire one. If you have one you'd recommend over the others, feel free to point me in the right direction. I might end up getting one or more of these over the course of my life, who knows. I enjoy reading the bible and want to start learning more about the early church/traditions. I want to get away from the modern viewpoints that I feel are destroying Christianity from within...