Bible Software Review
Collegeville Catholic Reference Library 2.1
CD-Rom Edition (PC), Liturgical Press, Collegeville: MN, 2002, $149.95.
Para leer esta reseña en español clic aquí
Most evangelical Spanish speaking pastors have to minister in areas where the majority of people belong to the Roman Catholic Church. Also it is likely that a good number within their congregation are converts from Catholicism. How is it possible for such pastors, trained in evangelical institutions, to understand Catholicism better and so help their congregation and community?
One common answer is to read books by evangelical writers critically analysing Catholicism. But for those wanting a more balanced understanding of Catholic thinking it is better to read good quality Catholic literature. This software provides such a resource in an easy to use format. It is a suitable addition to an evangelical pastor’s electronic library.
The publishers are Liturgical Press in conjunction with Logos Bible Software. Liturgical Press, is connected with St John’s Abbey and University , Minnesota , USA , and is one of the main Catholic publishing houses with titles in Spanish as well as English. It has been publishing for 80 years and a free book describing that history (in English) is available here.
Logos Bible Software is the largest of the Bible software companies and it’s program is centred around a powerful library search engine, which provides an effective way of researching hundreds of books. The software allows several books to be opened and interconnected on the screen. For instance, a Bible commentary can be placed alongside the text of scripture. As the text of scripture is changed so automatically does the commentary. For dictionaries, simply by moving a mouse over a Bible reference causes the verse or passage to be shown in another window. Logos uses Spanish as its main second language, and the option of a Spanish interface is standard in its program.
The interesting fact about this combination of publisher and software company is that Logos has a conservative evangelical ethos. However it has previously published Catholic resources such as the Early Church Fathers Catholic Edition, Catholic Principles for Interpreting Scripture, Introductory Bibliography for the Study of Scripture as well as the New Jerusalem Bible and the Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition .
To date all of Logos’ Catholic resources, including the one under review, are in English.
The Collegeville Catholic Reference Library consists principally of four Catholic dictionaries. Each dictionary has about 1000 pages in its paper edition and retails individually at about $80. There is also a Bible commentary on the entire Catholic bible (that is including the Apocrypha), along with the New American Bible (Revised), and a dictionary of Latin religious phrases.
This product is aimed primarily at priests, Catholic seminarians and laity wishing to understand better Catholic doctrine and practice. The main dictionaries are standard academic reference works and are cited for instance in the bibliography for a Masters Catholic Theology degree
Resources in the Collegeville Catholic Reference Library
For evangelicals one noticeable thing about Catholic materials is that they tend to be focused in a different way from Protestant ones. In this case, apart from the one on theology, these are dictionaries whose titles would not normally be found in an evangelical seminary, such as one on sacramental worship and another on Latin theological phrases.
The one which has attracted most attention amongst reviewers has been, The New Dictionary of Catholic Social Thought. This includes topics on ethical issues such as abortion, homosexuality and euthanasia. It is relevant for the evangelical pastor for there are common grounds of thought, for instance on abortion, and also substantial points of difference, for instance on birth control.
The New Dictionary of Theology is probably the most interesting title for evangelical pastors to read. There are explanations of distinctive Catholic doctrines such as purgatory, Mary and indulgences which can be difficult to understand.
The most unfamiliar title for evangelicals would be The New Dictionary of Sacramental Worship. Protestant sacramental theology and practice centres on baptism and the Lord’s Supper. But this dictionary is centred around the seven sacraments of Catholic theology with all their implications, as for example, in the case of marriage as a sacrament.
In terms of personal commitment to Christ The New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality is probably the most useful of all the publications. It contains a number of interesting articles, as can be seen for instance in the section on Beauty:
Beauty is a name for God. It not only unveils something about divine nature but also expresses something of the relationship God shares with humankind. Beauty is delight and also compassion. God rejoices in human goodness and suffers with human pain. A poignant example is the Cuzco cross created in Peru . It features a human figure with disproportionately large hands and feet nailed to the cross, connecting the redemptive activity of Jesus with the plight of the worker whose body is stretched beyond its limits. It symbolizes beauty found in truth.
The publication entitled Consecrated Phrases: A Latin Theological Dictionary also makes interesting reading with some powerful expressions such as Deo optimo maxim (To God, the best, the greatest) and Deus semper maior (God is always greater) and some rather unusual explanations for a theological dictionary, such as “A tergo - From behind: Usually refers to the position in sexual intercourse in which the male lies behind the female).”
Possibly one of the most surprising resources in terms of its content is the Collegeville Bible Commentary. It is often assumed by evangelicals that Catholics do little Bible Study but this is a popular commentary with explanations and applications of all the Biblical text. What is surprising however is to find that the commentary uses liberal and modernist form and redaction criticism. Hence the commentary on Genesis employs Wellhausen’s JEDP model, and the one on John assumes, the last chapter to be a late addition.
The Commentary is useful for indicating the way Catholics read their Bible. For instance the passage in John 6:53 about eating the body and blood of Christ, which is normally interpreted by evangelicals in a metaphorical way as referring to having an intimate faith in him, is explained in terms of the Mass:
Our homilist is clearly speaking now of sacramental nourishment, of the food and drink that one eats and feeds upon, of the Eucharistic nourishment provided by the flesh and blood of the Son of Man.
The Bible version used for the Commentary is the New American Bible (Revised) and this is included in the software. All of these resources are within the Logos library structure. Additional electronic books that might be needed can be purchased from Logos. They offer over 8000 titles from over 100 publishers.
Standard Catholic documents such as the Catechism or the formulations of Vatican I and II are not included. But they are available through other companies such as, Welcome to the Catholic Church.
Evaluation
Positive:
- Each of the resources is good quality reference material.
- The program covers the main areas of Catholic thought, spirituality and theology.
- Utilizes an excellent Bible software, Logos which has a Spanish interface, and enables texts to be researched very quickly.
- The cost of the resources is more than half the cost of paper versions of the books.
Negative:
- The Dictionaries, Bible Commentary and Bible are in English.
- Only evangelicals with a good grasp of the Bible and theology would find this resource useful, otherwise it could lead to confusion in their thinking.
- Basic texts of Catholic documents such as Vatican II are not included.
Conclusion
This software is good value for money, and will help the evangelical pastor appreciate Catholic thinking while ministering within a Roman Catholic community. For the Seminary student the dictionaries are of hgh academic quality and would be appropriate for their studies. It is the best electronic resource available for those wishing to understand Catholic doctrine and practice.
Summary of resources
- The Collegville Bible Commentary, Dianne Bergant, Robert J. Karris, eds., Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2002.
- Consecrated Phrases: A Latin Theological Dictionary, James T. Bretzke S.J., Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1998.
- New American Bible (Revised). Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Board of Trustees, Catholic Church. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, & United States Catholic Conference. Administrative Board, 1986, 1996.
- The New Dictionary of Catholic Social Thought, Judith A. Dwyer, ed., Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2000.
- The New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality, Michael Downey, Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2000.
- The New Dictionary of Sacramental Worship, Peter Fink, S.J., ed., Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1990.
- The New Dictionary of Theology, Joseph A. Komonchak, Mary Collins, Dermont A. Lane, eds., Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2000.
System requirements
- Pentium 133 MHz (Pentium 300 MHz processor recommended)
- Operating System: MS Windows 98/Me/Windows 2000/XP/Vista, does not work with Windows NT
- Memory: Windows 98/Me: 64 MB; Windows 2000/XP: 64 MB (128 MB recommended)
- Hard Drive Space: 60 MB RAM
- CD-ROM drive
David E. C. Ford
Professor of New Testament, Fundación Universitaria Seminario Bíblico de Colombia, Medellín, Colombia