The Christian Community Bible

The Christian Community Bible presents the biblical texts in modern yet simple English within the level of understanding of the common people, without sacrificing the accuracy of the translation. Important details and nuances of the original texts have been preserved.

The goal, the mission, the dream of the pastoral bible is that people who read it will easily understand the word of God, which is sometimes quite complicated. Our first purpose is to be accurate in the reading of text that was intended for ordinary people from the beginning—and to render that in a language that people can really understand. So sometimes we might have to say in three words what can be said in one word, just to make sure that the people will understand the meaning of it.

 We also want to give people a feeling of belonging to the Catholic Church, bringing in the big tradition of the church through the centuries, so that readers will grow in their understanding of what the church means to them. This is the purpose of the pastoral commentaries in the Bible, which we consider to be “from below,” from the life of the people.

At the beginning of the bible, we have a short note explaining to the reader that the Word of God is a mystery. It tells the reader, don’t get discouraged if you don’t understand all of this at the beginning, but keep reading and discoveries will be made. 
|
The introduction also asks readers to interpret the Word of God in community. We don’t have a direct line with God—it must pass through the community. So when we build a Christian community, we discover what the Word of God means in our lives. This is why we have the word “community” in the title.

Fr Alberto Rossa, Claretian missioner and publisher