One for All

One of the oldest of ecumenical dreams has been a Bible that both Roman Catholics and Protestants could use in common. Last week the dream came true, in part, as Thomas Nelson & Sons published in the U.S. a Catholic edition of the Protestant Revised Standard Version of the New Testament, prepared by a team of British Biblical scholars. The Catholic RSV contains a letter of approval by Boston's Richard Cardinal Cushing and a warm preface by the late Albert Cardinal Meyer of Chicago, will be supplemented next year by a Catholic Old Testament.

A modernization of the King James Version that preserves as much of its stately prose rhythms as scholarly accuracy and modern English usage will permit, the RSV is probably the most widely used Protestant Bible in the U.S. today. The Catholic RSV differs in fewer than 50 passages from the Protestant edition, includes a twelve-page appendix of notes explaining difficult lines. Most of the changes were made to preserve familiar phrases that have been hallowed by Catholic tradition or to emphasize a point of doctrine. In Luke 1:28, where the Protestant RSV has the Angel Gabriel addressing Mary as "Hail, O favored one," the Catholic version says "Hail, full of grace"--the traditional beginning of the "Hail Mary" prayer. In 17 passages, the Catholic RSV refers to the "brethren" of Jesus rather than to his "brothers."

The much disputed final eleven verses of Mark, describing the Resurrection, are relegated to a footnote in the Protestant RSV. The Catholic edition restores them to the text, although a note explains that the passage is not found in all ancient manuscripts. Most Biblical scholars believe that the lines are a later addition to the original Gospel.

Protestant scholars agree that there is some scholarly justification for the Catholic changes, and admit that occasionally the Catholic notes are better than their own. Where the Protestant RSV says that the familiar Biblical coin the denarius was worth about 20-c-, the Catholic edition more meaningfully explains that it was a day's wage for a laborer in New Testament times.

Since the Confraternity Bible (TIME, May 28) is the official version for the Catholic Church in the U.S., the new RSV will only be used for private study and for interfaith discussion. Nonetheless, Cardinal Meyer wrote, it "should help usher in a happier age when Christian men will no longer use the Word of God as a weapon, but rather, will find God speaking to them within the covers of a single book."

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