End Times and Current Events

New Bible edition changes words ‘booty,’ ‘holocaust’
Alterations to New American Bible designed to reflect modern understandings

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/41873135/ns/today-books/?gt1=43001 (http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/41873135/ns/today-books/?gt1=43001)

CHICAGO — A new edition of one the most popular English-language Bibles will offer substitutes for words such as "booty" and "holocaust" to better reflect modern understanding, a Catholic group said Wednesday.

Nearly 50 scholars from all faiths and a committee of Roman Catholic bishops have labored since 1994 over the first fresh edition of the New American Bible since 1970, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said.

The annual best-seller to be issued by a dozen publishers beginning next week on Ash Wednesday "is a beautiful translation — it's a new way to look at an old love," said Mary Sperry, who oversees Bible licensing for the bishops.

The changes go beyond a few words being altered, and include freshly written notes that should help readers better understand the Catholic church's interpretation of biblical concepts, Sperry said. The Book of Psalms contains more than 70,000 words, both text and notes, she said.

The revisions more accurately reflect translations of ancient Hebrew and Greek versions of the Old Testament and the constant evolution of modern-day language, Sperry said.

For example, the word "holocaust," which for most people refers to the World War II genocide of Jews, was changed to "burned offerings," which clarifies the original, positive idea of making offerings to God.

"Booty," which has come to have a sexual connotation, was changed to "spoils of war," and "cereal," which many think of as breakfast food, became "grain" to reference loads of wheat.

In a change in a passage in Isaiah 7:14 that foretells the coming of Jesus and his birth to a virgin mother, the 1970 edition's reference to "the virgin" will become "the young woman," to better translate the Hebrew word "almah."

"The bishops and the Bible are not signaling any sort of change in the doctrine of the virgin birth of Jesus. None whatsoever," Sperry added.

The new edition will revert to more poetic versions of Psalm 23 to have it read, "I walk through the valley of the shadow of death," instead of "dark valley." And "I will dwell in the house of the Lord for years to come" was changed to "for endless days," which Sperry said carried a more profound and hopeful meaning.

The current edition of the New American Bible sold more than 1 million copies last year, mostly in the United States, the Philippines, India and Africa. The new version could spark a pickup in sales, Sperry predicted.

The edition will be available in many formats: as a family hardback, a basic paperback, as an "e-book," as an "app" for cell phones, and in a Braille version.

Catholics are getting real giddy to buy another book they are not allowed to read by them selves.

Yeah, both my Grandmother and Granddad on my dads side are Professing Catholics. Though it seems like she reads her Bible Occasionally, but I don't know how much by herself. I don't really speak to them anymore, (They don't really want much to do with me after my dads death). Though she reads books such as "Tobit" & "Judith" which are not Scripture, at least not Gods. Maybe a certain Serpents they are...

It seems as though my family knows more about their scripture than the average Catholic, but it could have something to do with the small town they live in too. That or they just know it because of hearing it so much.

I have very few, if any family and relatives that are Catholic - however, most of them, it seems, seem to think highly of them. And to boot, numerous pastors et al that I have encountered have shown good respect for John Paul II and the church itself. I mean all I hear from them is, "But they give away alot of money and do alot of good works for society". But when I tell them of their heresies like their mary worship, belief in purgatory, infant baptism, their communion rituals with the breaking of the wafer(or whatever it's called), they're like, "But that's OK, because it's merely an unusual ideosicresy, which we all have". One family member even commented to me how John Paul II did the right thing by shielding those pedifile priests b/c supposedly, he wanted to protect the image of the church. ::)

IMHO, the new versions that have been brought into the church have brought along alot of demonic baggage. So it's as if they don't know why, for example, Catholics are good people. No, I'm not going to judge them or anything, because for years and years, I thought John Paul II and Catholics were these very wonderful people.