Dear Mantis Bible Study,

Over the past year, your software has enriched my life, my understanding of the Scriptures and my appreciation for the Word of God like no other Bible Study tool ever before. That greater understanding of the Scriptures has brought me closer to Christ and for that I am eternally grateful.

As a loyal Mantis Customer who has invested hundreds of dollars into Mantis Bible Study resources (and been rewarded very well for every cent of those investments) I would like to highly recommend (and request) that you contact Ignatius Press and look into making available the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament.

The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible is a wonderful, conservative Bible Study resource that, with the exception of the usual points of doctrinal disagreement, is fruitful and enjoyable for Catholics and Protestants alike (at least according to the reviews on Amazon.com). The primary contributor, Dr. Scott Hahn, having once been a Presbyterian Pastor, Bible Scholar and Teacher brings the fruits of a life-time of both Protestant and Catholic Bible studies to this resource. This resource by Ignatius Press makes use of the writings of the Early Church Fathers as well as Modern (Conservative) Scholarship and everything in between.

I know of many Catholic and Eastern Orthodox iPod Touch and iPhone owners who would be very interested in being able to use this resource on Mantis and will ask some of them to voice interest on this forum if they so choose. It can be hard to find good English Catholic Bible Study resources (especially in an electronic or software format) primarily because (this is just my opinion) many of the commentaries and translations that have been produced in America in the past decades have been produced by some-what (if not very) Liberal scholars or institutions. Therefore, I believe many Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians would be very excited about the prospect of this Conservative resource being usable in the form of the Mantis Bible Study software.

Although for the past year I have benefitted greatly from the many Protestant and non-denominational resources that I have purchased on Mantis, it would prove immeasurably beneficial to me to have this resource by Ignatius Press made available as well to use right alongside those other resources that I have been using thus far.

I have spoken to Ignatius Press and, upon mentioning your company and your software, they sounded interested in Mantis Bible Study software and were very interested in speaking with you to discuss it further. If it is alright with you I will try to get the word out to the above mentioned Catholic and Eastern Orthodox iPod/iPhone owners and will provide a link to this recommendation so they can voice their interest if indeed they have any (and they will).

The book's information follows:
Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament
ISBN: 9781586172503
Published by Ignatius Press in 2010
Notes, Intros, Commentaries, Etc Copyright 2010 by Ignatius Press
Bible Text is the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition

The Publisher's Contact information can be found here:
http://www.ignatius.com/Pages/About/Contact_Us.aspx

More information on this resource:
http://www.ignatius.com/IProducts/29980/new-testament.aspx
http://www.ignatius.com/promotions/catholic-study-bible/
http://www.amazon.com/Ignatius-Catholic-Study-Bible-Testament/dp/1586172506/ref=pd_sim_b_3

Thanks for your time and consideration and thank you for enriching my life with your Bible Study software.
I look forward to your response.
-James

We will definitely look into this. Thanks for suggesting it and giving so many great links.

Just heard about this and wanted to drop in to say I'd buy it in a heartbeat!

My husband is very excited about this and it would be a blessing for both of us (we share an account).

Full disclosure: My husband is the OP!

This was recently mentioned to me and I think its a great idea!
I plan to get this study bible at some point anyway but if I could get it for my iPod it would be even better and my preferred option

I would love to see Mantis for droid, as well as the Ignatius Study Bible!!!

Burggraf, if this works out, could we expect to see the RSV-CE2 (or 2nd CE) available as a seperate bible translation for purchase as well?

I'm not familiar with this one. We have the RSV and NRSV -- what is the RSV-CE2?

Before I speak from memory alone, let me read up on the differences and get back to you on that later.

I would buy this in a heartbeat. It would almost be a case of "ask your price". It is in electronic format as you can buy it for the Kindle. I have written to the publisher to see if it is in any other format, but no reply. It's $13 for the Kindle and at the moment only the NT is published.

God Bless,

Richard.

Clicked the Subscribe button.

We are actually currently working on this.

Burggraf,
I'm sorry I've gone so long without replying about the RSV-CE but shortly after our exchange a couple months ago we got the word from the Air Force that we had to move and we've just recently settled down in our new home.

Regarding the RSV-CE and the RSC-CE2, the former is simply a Catholic Version of the RSV that made it a point to bring Jesus back into the Old Testament as, in some cases apparently, the original RSV was so literal of a translation (which I like) that it failed to translate Old Testament passages that refer in part to Christ in a way that makes the reference to Christ apparent. The latter, CE2, simply has updated footnotes and has tweaked some of the archaic language. I can't say I'm an expert on all the changes but I'll post some other explainations below:

From the main summary on Ignatius' Website:
A completely new typeset and designed edition of the popular Ignatius Revised Standard Version Bible, with minor revisions to some of the archaic language used in the first edition. This revised version is a contemporary English translation without dumbing-down the text. This second edition of the RSV doesn’t put the biblical text through a filter to make it acceptable to current tastes and prejudices, and it retains the beauty of the RSV language that has made it such a joy to read and reflect on the Word of God. Now the only Catholic Bible in standard English is even more beautiful in word and design!

From a Catholic Blogger:
In other words, this new RSV edition conforms to Catholic standards of translation and scholarship. While the original RSV-CE was great, this edition seems to be even better. No inclusive language, no “you can’t find Christ in the Old Testament” assumptions, no “radical higher critical scholarship outweighs 2000 years of tradition” translation principles, and so forth.

From Wikipedia:
The RSV-CE was based on the 1962 printing of the Protestant RSV (see Revised Standard Version#Later editions). The editors of the Catholic Edition made no changes to the Old Testament text; all they did was include the seven Deuterocanonical works in their traditional Catholic order. At the end of each testament, an appendix of explanatory and interpretive notes was added. In the Psalms, they preserved the numbering of the Protestant edition (which reflects the Hebrew system), but they placed in brackets the Catholic system of numbering, which is based upon the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate. However, some minor changes were made to the New Testament in places that had variant readings more in line with Catholic understanding and tradition. Some of the more important changes were the use of the phrase "full of grace" in the angel's greeting to Mary in Luke 1:28, the restoration of the story of the woman caught in adultery (John 7:53-8:11) and the inclusion of the longer ending to the Gospel according to Mark (16.9-20). Other verses or phrases with questionable authenticity that had been footnoted in the Protestant edition were restored in the Catholic Edition (Luke 22.19-20; 24. 5, 12, 36, 40, 51-52) In other places, some word changes were made, and some texts were exchanged with footnotes. Furthermore, the footnotes regarding the value of New Testament coins were rewritten in terms of how long it took the average worker to earn the money (the denarius was no longer defined as twenty cents but as a day's wage). The book of Revelation, called "The Revelation To John", had added as a subtitle ("The Apocalypse") The differences between the 1962 Protestant RSV New Testament and the Catholic Edition New Testament were listed in an appendix to the RSV-CE. This appendix, however, is partially outdated, as some of the changes were introduced into the Protestant Second Edition of the RSV New Testament in 1971 in preparation for the issuance of the RSV Common Bible.

Many of the changes made were also made in later versions of the regular RSV but seeing as the Ignatius Study Bible was made to be used with the RSV-CE2 (or at least the RSV-CE) I think it would be a good idea to include it and of course it would only solidify the interest and excitement of Catholics who are already interested in having the Study Bible on Mantis.

As for the NRSV, the differences are too numerous to list. It is not a Catholic favorite and was rejected by the Church for liturgical use and by most scripture scholars because it takes gender-neutral language a bit too far (blessed is "the one" who comes in the name of the lord instead of "He" even though we know it refers to Jesus).

Also, the NAB, although generally accepted and approved by the US Bishops Conference, is not a favorite among Catholic Theologians or Scripture Scholars and is never used by the Vatican when quoting scripture (the Vatican always uses the RSV-CE). How the NAB got the votes it needed to squeeze by and get approval from the Bishops Council is a mystery to many. It seems to come under fire for an overly liberal use of gender inclusive language and its notes are also called into question regarding their orthodoxy and fidelity to Christian theology. As one Catholic from Brooklyn once joked "I hear they've signed Christopher Hitchens, Bart Ehrman, and Dominic Crossan to do the notes for the next yearly NAB revision." I'm sure that's an exaggeration but the point is, the best Catholic Bible is the RSV-CE, either the 1st or Ignatius' 2nd edition.

If either was available as a seperate translation I'd certainly buy it but if I have to use the Ignatius Study Bible notes with the current RSV I have on mantis it certainly won't be the end of the world.

Great to hear you're already working on reformating, BTW. I appreciate you guys making this available for us!

Do you have an ETA for this project? Also, did you consider making the RSV-2CE translation available with it?

Sorry, I'm not sure of the status of either of these. You should probably check back right after the first of the year.

[quote]
Posted By James924 on 12/17/2010 08:44 PM
Do you have an ETA for this project? Also, did you consider making the RSV-2CE translation available with it?
[/quote]

Any news here?

We're still working on this -- sorry no ETA yet, but hopefully we'll have it soon.

Can we assume work on this will be continued after you finish work on the android version/PC/mac versions (or which ever is actually your current project)?

Going to add my voice to this request too. Agreed the Android project and desktop project, oh and the iPad project must all be resoruce consuming, by Ignatious Study Bible would be great and a first amongst the mobile Bible apps - except Kindle (though not really an bible study app).