Click here for sample verses from the New Community Bible.
Title: The New Community Bible, with revised Text, Introductions, Commentary, Illustrations, Calligraphy, Lexicon and Maps
Date: © The Bombay Saint Paul Society 2008. First Revised Edition 2011
Imprimatur: (undated,) by 3 Bishops, a Secretary General, a Chairman of Doctrinal Commission. ´Imprimi potest` by a Provincial Superior of SSP
Publisher: Mumbai (India): St Pauls – The Bombay Saint Paul Society.
Contents: Complete Catholic Bible with introductions and commentaries on each book. Translated from unspecified Hebrew and Greek.
Images: Cover, Title page
Location: Collection Bibelarchiv- Birnbaum. Karlsruhe, Baden. Germany
Comments: Hardbound 8vo. XXII and 2282 pp. »The New Community Bible is based on the Third Revised Edition of the Christian Community Bible« (published in the Philippines since 1988). It is especially intended for Catholics on the Indian subcontinent. A typical page of the NCB has 3 items, viz., the text, the commentary and a box placed in between containing cross references.
The Most Rev. M. Soosa Pakiam, Chairman of the Biblical Commission, wrote in his Preface, dated December 8, 2007, amongst other things,
»A unique feature of the New Community Bible for India consists in its many references to the deep spiritual message and biblical values found in the Scriptures of other great Indian religions.«
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Birnbaum´s remark: A non-Catholic reader might be puzzled about this statement. How can a pagan religion (Hinduism, Brahmanism) contribute deep spiritual (?) messages and biblical values (?) to a reader to whom is promised he surely will find all freedom, wisdom and truth (=dis-concealment) in the Jewish Messiah? Even if these messages and values are only referred to in the commentaries! I understand a "deep spiritual message" is a message conveyed by the Spirit of the Biblical God, not one issued from an unclean spirit of a religion. – This Bible has in consequence received massive criticism for its syncretic comments (not the translation) when it was first published in 2008. Nevertheless the original Preface has been retained with a small chance in wording for this 2011 revised edition.
