Let There Be Light

Roman Catholics and Protestants cannot even agree on the Bible. Their deep difference of view was highlighted again this month with the publication of two new editions, one Catholic, one Protestant.

The Catholic Biblical Association's new translation of the Book of Genesis (St. Anthony Guild Press; $1) is the first part of a new translation of the Bible. For Catholics, it is quite daring. It is the first Catholic Bible in English to be drawn directly from the original languages rather than from the official Catholic text, the Latin Vulgate completed by St. Jerome in the year 405, and the first to use the "better understanding of Hebrew and of the science of textual criticism . . . since the time of St. Jerome." But the new text is accompanied by very conservative Biblical criticism.

The Westminster Study Edition of the Bible (Westminster Press; $10), prepared by scholars from five Protestant denominations, sticks to the traditional King James wording--but is far from conservative in commenting on it.

Say the Catholic editors: "The Pentateuch [first five books of the Bible] is substantially the work of Moses. It is a closely knit literary unit and was originally conceived as one work written for a single purpose." Say the Protestant editors: "The Pentateuch did not receive its final form until about 400 B.C. . . . The contents of Genesis preserve no hint as to the names of its authors and editors . . . Whoever the author of Genesis was, he must have had ancient sources at his disposal, for no one man could have been witness to all the events described. This means that the present book is a composite work drawn from various sources."

There is even disagreement on the Bible's very first verse, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Say the Protestants: "The fuller Biblical doctrine that God created the world out of nothing is not here developed." Say the Catholics: "Both the Hebrew word and the context show that a real creation, i.e., a making out of nothing, is meant."

At long last, the Catholics have recognized and adopted the beauty of the King James phrasing. Example: "God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light." The older Catholic Bible in English, the Douay, had the far less lovely: "And God said: Be light made. And light was made."

Protestant fundamentalists are more conservative than the Catholics in their Biblical criticism. On Oct. 7, 38 fundamentalist editors will publish the Pilgrim Edition (Oxford University Press; $4.50). They use the King James translation and make flatly fundamentalist comments. Sample: "We can agree . . . with the suggested date of approximately 4000 B.C. for the creation of man."

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