Customer Reviews:
 Excellent August 24, 2006
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
The book arrived in excellent/brand new condition and I was very
satisfied with this transaction.
Includes a Useful Dictionary of Catholic Terms. December 22, 2004
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The Fireside Bible (ISBN:1556654901) is a nice copy of the
New American Bible (NAB) for Catholics, and it includes some very
useful supplimental appendicies. Because of its thick cover, the
bible itself is quite durable by bible paper standards. There is
no red-lettering, but each book within the bible is marked on the
side by black tabs. At the begining, the book has a short
summary of the origin of the bible and a history of its
translation into English. And at the back, the book has a
156 page dictionary of Catholic terms. This dictionary includes
entries for theological terms, apostles, gospel writers, and
other important religious figures, with references to scripture
readings.
 Good Translation, Great Notes June 11, 2002
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This modern American Catholic translation is very readable and somewhat literal, which is admittedly to my preference. (Even as a Roman Catholic, one of my favorite translations in English is the NASB.) At times, however, the translators in order to keep this from the stiffness found in academic study translations seemed to slip into near colloquialisms. Somewhere in this translation I read "ignoramus." It was a little distracting. And in I Cor. 9:26 just the other day I was similarly distracted by Paul's "I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing" where a less comical image in the RSV is of Paul futilely "beating the air." I would personally prefer a retention of some of the archaic speech where the modern speech upsets the cadence of the Scripture. But the purpose of this translation seems to have been an attempt to strike a balance between accessibility and literalness. Generally, I believe the translators met that goal.The notes. Ahhhhh. The notes. Of interest especially for the Roman Catholic, and also for the general Catholic and high Protestant are the wonderful notes. Many fundamentalists who don't accept the Elohist/Yahwist schools of Old Testament study, and the "Q" Gospel source theory will be upset by the copious, legible notations, text breaks and subject headings, and expository book introductions. For me, they make the Sacred Scripture come to life by breathing context into the writings. It is this particular translation of the Sacred Scripture with its notes and study aids that finally allowed me to make my first productive reading of Leviticus and Numbers. Where before I had dutifully plowed just to plow, this time I came away learning and cross-referencing and stopping to ponder the mercies of a God who gave us a fantastic type of His Son in Moses, the great "Legislator" (as Josephus would title him).
A wonderful Bible!!! August 18, 2001
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This Bible has been great! It has taken a lot of use for the last few years and held up nicely. Dictionary in the back is very helpful as well as the three year cycle of readings. You'll be happy with this Bible.
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