Why Should You Read Only the Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible

The Douay-Rheims Bible is a scrupulously faithful translation into English of the Latin Vulgate Bible which St. Jerome (342-420) translated into Latin from the original languages. The Vulgate quickly became the Bible universally used in the Latin Rite (by far the largest rite of the Catholic Church).

St. Jerome, who was one of the four great Western Fathers of the Church, was a man raised up by God to translate the Holy Bible into the common Latin tongue of his day. He knew Latin and Greek perfectly. He was 1500 years closer to the original languages than any scholar today, which would make him a better judge of the exact meaning of any Greek or Hebrew word in the Scriptures. Besides being a towering linguistic genius, he was also a great saint, and he had access to ancient Hebrew and Greek manuscripts of the 2nd and 3rd centuries which have since perished and are no longer available to scholars today. St. Jerome's translation, moreover, was a careful, word-for-word rendering of the original texts into Latin.

The Latin Vulgate Bible has been read and honored by the Western Church for fifteen-hundred years! It was declared by the Council of Trent to be the official Latin version of the original. Hear what the Sacred Council decreed: "Moreover, the same Holy Council . . . ordains and declares that the old Latin Vulgate Edition, which, in use for so many hundred years, has been approved by the Church, be in public lectures, disputatious, sermons and expositions held as authentic, and so no one dare or presume under any pretext whatsoever to reject it." (Fourth Session, April 8, 1546). As Pope Pius XII stated in his 1943 encyclical letter Divino Afflante Spiritu, this means the Vulgate is "free from any error whatsoever in matters of faith and morals." And the Douay-Rheims bible is a faithful, word-for-word translation of the Latin Vulgate Bible of St. Jerome.

In their translation, the Douay-Rheims translators took great pains to translate exactly. Contrary to the procedure of the modern Bible translators, when a passage seemed strange and unintelligible they left it alone, even if obscure, and "let the chips fall as they may." The modern Bible translators, on the other hand, will often look at an obscure passage, decide what they think it means, then translate in words that bring out that meaning. The result is that the English is usually (not always!) easier to understand, but it is not necessarily what the Bible says; rather, it is their interpretation and understanding of what the Bible says. Moreover, the Holy Ghost may have hidden several additional meanings in the passage. Those meanings may well be completely translated out!

Sometimes the question is raised: Why translate from a translation (the Latin Vulgate) rather than from the original Greek and Hebrew? This question was also raised in the 16th century when the Douay-Rheims translators (Fr. Gregory Martin and his assistants) first published the Rheims New Testament. They gave ten reasons, ending up by stating that the Latin Vulgate "is not only better then al other Latin translations, but then the Greek text itself, in those places where they disagree." (Preface to the Rheims New Testament, 1582). They state that the Vulgate is "more pure then the Hebrew or Greek now extant" and that "the same Latin hath bene barre better conserved from corruption." (Preface to the Douay Old Testament, 1609).

The present Bible is the Challoner revision (1749-1752) of the Douay-Rheims Bible. Catholics owe the saintly Bishop Richard Challoner (1691-1781) a great debt of gratitude for undertaking this work. Challoner was one of those courageous priests who traveled around offering Mass secretly for small groups during the religious persecutions in England. Such Catholics needed a Bible, and had needed one for 100 years. The Douay-Rheims Bible had been printed a few times on the Continent but had never really spread to England. Some Catholics in England were even reading the King James version--a situation which Bishop Challoner knew had to be rectified.

Some of the passages in the original Douay-Rheims Bible were needlessly obscure. As an extreme example, Ephesians 6:12 read, "For our wrestling is not against flesh and bloud: but against Princes and Potestats, against the rectors of the world of this dankness, against the spirituals of wickedness in the celestials." The spellings were archaic, and the verses were not set off by new lines for clarity. Challoner rectified these problems, checking carefully against the Clementine Vulgate and the original-language texts. On the whole, Bishop Challoner's revisions were minor. He replaced certain anglicized Latin words and archaic words and expressions, rearranged the word order of the sentences, and yet maintained the overall word-for-word accuracy of the 16th/17th-century Douay-Rheims Bible.

The Challoner revision of the Douay-Rheims Bible was a godsend. It became the standard Catholic Bible in English until the mid-20th century (when the Confraternity Bible was published). It continued to be called the "Douay-Rheims" because of its similarity to the original Douay-Rheims Bible. The great work English Versions of the Bible, by Frs. Pope and Bullough, states that English-speaking Catholics the world over owe Dr. Challoner an immense debt of gratitude, for he provided them for the first time in history with a portable, cheap and readable version of the Bible, which has stood the test of 200 years of use. Moreover, it is more accurate than any modern Bible because it is based on ancient texts, no longer extant, which were "captured" and "frozen," so to speak, by St. Jerome (342-420) in his Latin Vulgate. The Douay-Rheims is thus the most reliable English-language Bible there is. We look forward to the day when the Christian world will rediscover this fact and come to a renewed appreciation of the monumental work of St. Jerome, of the Douay-Rheims translators and of Bishop Richard Challoner--men who were raised up by God to make the Bible available to the English-speaking world.
Douay Rheims Bible Product Details

Douay-Rheims Bibles by Baronius Press

ITEM NUMBER	TITLE	PRICE	HOW TO ORDER
1001875	Douay-Rheims Bible, Black Leather Hardcover	$54.95	ORDER HERE
1001876	Douay-Rheims Bible, Black Leather Flexcover	$54.95	ORDER HERE
1001952	Douay-Rheims Bible, Burgundy Leather Flexcover	$54.95	ORDER HERE
1001954	Douay-Rheims Pocket Bible, Black Leather	$44.95	ORDER HERE
1001956	Douay-Rheims Pocket Bible, Burgundy Leather	$44.95	ORDER HERE
1001957	Douay-Rheims Psalms + New Testament, Black Leather	$29.95	ORDER HERE
1001958	Douay-Rheims Psalms + New Testament, Burgundy Leather	$29.95	ORDER HERE
1001926	Daily Missal - 1962 Latin Mass Edition, Black Leather Flexcover	$54.95	ORDER HERE
1011028	The Catholic Holy Bible, New American Bible - Black Bonded Leather	$39.95	ORDER HERE
1011029	The Catholic Holy Bible, New American Bible - Burgundy Bonded Leather	$39.95	ORDER HERE
1011030	The Catholic Holy Bible, New American Bible - Black Flexcover (Imitation Leather)	$29.95	ORDER HERE
1011031	The Catholic Holy Bible, New American Bible - Burgundy Flexcover (Imitation Leather)	$29.95	ORDER HERE
4001147	Why Be Catholic? - 2-DVD Set Ð Fast-paced information-packed series on the biblical and historical evidence for the truth of the Catholic, presented by best-selling author and Suitable for personal or group study. 2-DVD Set	$34.95	ORDER HERE
4001148	Where is in that Bible? 2-DVD Set Ð Dynamic presentation on the riches of Sacred Scripture. Journey through twenty key biblical subjects with your host, best-selling Catholic author and speaker Patrick Madrid.	$34.95	ORDER HERE
8001710	Does the Bible Teach Sola Scriptura? Audio CD Ð Regarded by many as their all-time favorite Catholic/Protestant debate on the important subject of ÒSola ScriptureÓ (by ÒScripture AloneÓ).	$15.00	ORDER HERE
8001665	The Bible Only Debate - Audio CD - An apologetics classic that took place before an audience of nearly 600 people at a Fundamentalist Baptist church in Denver, CO.	$25.00	ORDER HERE
8001240	The Living Gospel - CD-ROM Ð An outstanding animated interactive storybook in English/Spanish. Children ages 4-11 become active participants in the Life of Jesus. Designed for all branches of Christianity. Contains 11 interactive chapters, all four Gospels. Covers the main events of JesusÕ life.	$29.95	ORDER HERE
1111082	Douay-Rheims Bible, Large Print Black Leather Hardcover	$69.95	ORDER HERE
1111083	Douay-Rheims Bible, Large Print White Leather Hardcover	$69.95	ORDER HERE

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Family Record Edition Bible

Family Record Edition Bible
- Douay Rheims Version -

White padded cover; satin-stained page edges; 12-page family record section;
The Celebration of the Eucharist described and illustrated in full color; The Way of the Cross,
by L. Raymond Jones plus The Life of Christ and The Blessed Virgin Mary
with reproductions of the great masterpieces of religious art.
This Douay Rheims Version is one of the most beautiful
and faithful translations of the Latin Vulgate text ever produced.

Stock # 2720
Size: 8 3/4" x 11 3/4" x 2 1/2"
Price: $39.95
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The Douay-Rheims Bible - Hardbound
By: Loreto Publications

The Douay-Rheims Bible - Hardbound. The best, most accurate, safest English translation that you can use.
A careful word-for-word translation of the Latin Vulgate Bible
(the official Bible of the Church) - plus of the original New Testament Greek.
This version is a joy to read, is full of surprises and really makes the Bible come alive! Contains those familiar,
profound and commanding Bible passages which say to all, "This is Sacred Scripture!"

Price: $45.00
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* Beautiful Douay translation ("Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee" rather than "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.") * All single word entries in bold, to easily distinguish from Biblical citations * Key words are cross-referenced * Parallel Gospel/Epistle passages flagged * Massive: 1255 double-column pages * 4 1/2 lbs. * High quality acid-free reference-book paper * Smyth-sewn binding for years of use * Shrinkwrapped for extra protection *

"Priests have long been hoping for a Catholic Concordance. Here is one -- and a good one." --Ecclesiastical Review, 1942 "For many years there has been a wide, urgent demand for an English work ... which provides the reader with every passage of the Bible containing a given word. But the labor involved is so nearly prohibitive that the demand has remained unsatisfied all these years. Now at long last comes the volume named above....It will assist many a person -- general reader, student, controversialist, writer, preacher. It will even be a help to those who wish to meditate upon the sacred text; and it will spread acquaintance with both the Old Testament and the New."--Catholic World "1942 marks the publication of the first English concordance to the Bible based on Catholic translations and specifically intended for Catholic use...Every layman and priest who has occasion to cite passages from Holy Writ, certainly every library of any importance, should find this literary tool indispensable." --Commonweal "Not only a concordance but also to a great extent a thesaurus of the Douay Bible...will be regarded as a godsend to preachers, professors, students, and to all."--Sign "Quite complete. A comparison of listings with those in two well-known [non-Catholic] concordances indicated that the authors have done their work well."--Ecclesiastical Review "With two columns to a page...one does not have to reach for his magnifying glass. The key words printed in bold type jump forward like old friends to greet one. At the end of the book is a concordance of all the numbers (numerals) found in the Bible."--Orate Fratres * Beautiful Douay translation ("Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee" rather than "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.") * All single word entries in bold, to easily distinguish from Biblical citations * Key words are cross-referenced * Parallel Gospel/Epistle passages flagged * Massive: 1255 double-column pages * 4 1/2 lbs. * High quality acid-free reference-book paper * Smyth-sewn binding for years of use * Shrinkwrapped for extra protection * As with all our books: no-questions-asked money-back guarantee

Alphabetical, topic-by-topic selection of passages from the Bible, originally compiled to help priests prepare sermons. Over 1,900 topics and 18,000 actual Bible verses! Unlike other concordances, this one quotes the actual passages in full. Unparalleled introduction to Bible reading. A quick way to learn just what the Bible says on a host of topics. Truly a one volume Bible study course and a great aid to unlocking the true Catholic meaning of Scripture. Great for reference. Belongs in every Catholic home. A gem!
TAN - 848 Pp. HB., Impr.
ISBN 286
Only $35.00
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Movie Book: "The Passion"
A very impressive book!
Actual photos from Mel Gibson's film "The Passion of the Christ"
Includes corresponding Scriptural passages, taken from the Douay-Rheims Bible.

Family Record Edition Bible - Douay Rheims Version -

Family Record Edition Bible
- Douay Rheims Version -