Christian Community Bible (Catholic Pastoral Edition)

"Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path." - Psalm 119:105

  I have a lot of Protestant Study Bible. This is the only Roman Catholic Bible that I have. This is sort of the Philippine or Asian edition Bible for Catholics. This was conceptualized by Fr. Bernardo Hurault, a Claretian priest and a Bible scholar, who spent most of his years in the Philippines by helping out on Bible translations on the different Filipino dialects, specifically, Ilongo and Cebuano. This Bible is really for English speaking Filipinos, and Asians. My copy is the twelfth edition in the year 1994. This is the copy that my late aunt bought. I just kept it because my other aunt just set it aside, and to not let it be dusty I took care of it. This was produced by St. Paul Bookstore, and Claretian publication was also a co-publisher. The Nihil Obstat is Fr. Efren Rivera, OP, and the Imprimatur is from the CBCP, Bishop Cirilo R. Almario, Jr. The English used here is not Old English, and the words are not archaic. Because this Bible is meant to be understood by Filipinos whose second language is English. This Bible is hard cover.

This Bible is complete with Deuterocanonicals. I like this Bible because it has a guide, if it's your first time to read the Bible. It also includes summaries and dates of Sacred History of the Old Testament, and important dates in the New Testament. It has Gospel index, and an explanation of the Order of the Books, as well as why the Apocryphals (hidden or secret books) are included, as how the Protestant likes to refer to the Deuterocanonicals. Inside this Bible is also a photo of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and a painting of a typical Filipino family. Other additions are maps, and the 4 week Psalter.

Another feature of this Bible is the commentaries, that makes it also a good Study Bible. If you are confused with the text you are reading, you can refer to the commentaries below.

(Note: This Bible is not recommended by some because the commentaries is sort of like from a Liberal Catholic point of view. The recommended Bible to me when I went to a Roman Catholic Bookstore, St. Paul Bookstore was the New American Bible)