RSV-CE by Saint Benedict Press
The Tyndale family of Bibles are the most influential in the history of English Bible translations. 90% of William Tyndale’s Bible is re-used by the King James Version. The KJV, in turn, was revised in 1885 as the Revised Version, which was again revised in 1901 as the American Standard Version, which has spawned the modern Tyndale Bibles.
One of these is the Revised Standard Version. From its inception in 1946, and especially the publication of the Old Testament in 1952, it has been attacked by Evangelicals for being theologically liberal. For instance, where the New Testament writers quote the Old Testament, the RSV do not “follow” the NT rendering, in some cases contradicting it. The most common example is Isaiah 7:14, quoted by the author of Matthew in 1:23:
| Isaiah 7:14 | Matthew 1:23 |
| Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Imman'u-el. | "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel" (which means, God with us). |
For this and other reasons, the RSV has been abandoned by conservatives, who created their own revision of the ASV in 1971 called the New American Standard Bible. Liberal Christians also weren’t satisfied with the RSV, especially concerning its patriarchal language, and was replaced by the New Revised Standard Version in 1989. The RSV was revised again, by some Evangelicals, into the English Standard Version in 2001.
And so the RSV was consigned into history, abandoned and forgotten. It celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2002 and Oxford released a special edition of the RSV, but was hardly a success. The RSV seemed to be on its last legs. Then came an unexpected reprieve.
On the other side of Christendom, the Vatican promulgated the Liturgiam Authenticam in 2001, requiring tighter rules on proper translation of liturgical texts. A consequence of this the rejection of “gender inclusive” Bible translations in Catholic liturgy. The most commonly used English Catholic Bibles (New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition) have, to a lesser or greater extent, ran afoul of the Vatican, and priests and laity have looked elsewhere for an acceptable replacement.
Tranditionalists insisted that the English church return to the Douai-Rheims, an older translation from the late sixteenth century. More sober Catholics are un-persuaded and kept looking. The Catholic Church in America, who have been using the NAB, commissioned a revision of the NAB that removed “troubling” renderings, and have been using it till today. Unfortunately it is not available to the laity, who make do with the illicit NAB. A few suggested the Knox Bible, but were thankfully ignored. Non-North American Catholics traded in their NJBs for the older Jerusalem Bible. And for some Latin-American and Philippine Catholics, the Christian Community Bible or the GNB-CE is adequate.
And then there was the Ignatius Bible. Actually, it’s just a repackaged RSV-Catholic Edition with a new cover. The RSV had (with minor revisions) been previously accepted by the Catholic hierarchy in 1966, shortly after the Second Vatican Council. The RSV-CE was generally ignored by most Catholics, who either went with the newer NRSV-CE, the Catholic-produced NAB, or the NJB; but enjoyed modest sales throughout the late twentieth century.
Shortly after Liturgiam Authenticam, sales of the RSV-CE picked up. What was once denounced by conservative protestants have now been enthusiastically embraced by conservative Catholics. Sensing a good opportunity, other publishers have also started printing their own RSV-CE to break the Ignatius monopoly. Oxford University Press came out with a variety of RSV-CE bibles, while Saint Benedict Press have started a line of high quality RSV-CE’s of their own.
Some examples of changes in the RSV-CE*
| Bible verse | RSV | RSV - CE |
| Matt 1:19 | divorce her | send her away |
| Luke 1:28 | O favored one | full of grace |
| Romans 9:5 | Christ. God who is over all be blessed for ever. | Christ, who is God over |
| 1 Thess 4:4 | how to take a wife for himself | how to control his own body |
Ignatius Press upped the ante by revising the RSV-CE, removing all the archaic language, fiddling with some words to make the language more in tune with Catholic theology (cup to chalice), etc. This Second Edition of the RSV may be considered as an “ESV for Catholics” inasmuch as the ESV is a modern Evangelical (and Calvinist?) revision of the RSV.
The immediate future the RSV looks bright, at the expense of the NAB and NRSV-CE, which are bleeding readers from the LA fallout. In the long term, it’s still a bit of a mystery. When the re-revised NAB finally reaches the laity, will they change bibles again? Will a wholly new Catholic translation come out and render all current options obsolete?
For my part, as a fan of this venerable translation, I cannot help but be optimistic. Sure, I have two NRSVs and I use them more. But the RSV has an elegance that cannot be matched by any of its modern descendants (even the RSV-2CE). And with good quality RSV-CE bibles available, I look forward to buying one before it finally bites the dust.
(Note: Today is National Bible Sunday in the Philippines.)
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