Douay Bible
The original Douay Version, which is the foundation on which
nearly all English Catholic versions are still based, owed its
existence to the religious controversies of the sixteenth century.
Many Protestant versions of the Scriptures had been issued and
were used largely by the Reformers for polemical purposes. The
renderings of some of the texts showed evident signs of
controversial bias, and it became of the first importance for the
English Catholics of the day to be furnished with a translation of
their own, on the accuracy of which they could depend and to which
they could appeal in the course of argument. The work of preparing
such a version was undertaken by the members of the English
College at Douai, in Flanders, founded by William Allen
(afterwards cardinal) in 1568. The chief share of the translating
was borne by Dr. Gregory Martin, formerly of St. John's College,
Oxford. His text was revised by Thomas Worthington, Richard
Bristowe, John Reynolds, and Allen himself -- all of them Oxford
men. A series of notes was added, designed to answer the
theological arguments of the Reformers; these were prepared by
Allen, assisted by Bristowe and Worthington.
The object of the work was, of course not limited to controversial
purposes; in the case of the New Testament, especially, it was
meant for pious use among Catholics. The fact however, that the
primary end was controversial explains the course adopted by the
translators. In the first place they translated directly, not from
the original Hebrew or Greek, but from the Latin Vulgate of St.
Jerome. This had been declared authoritative for Catholics by the
Council of Trent; but it was also commonly admitted that the text
was purer than in any manuscripts at that time extant in the
original languages. Then, also, in the translation, many technical
words were retained bodily, such as pasch, parasceve, azymes, etc.
In some instances, also where it was found difficult or impossible
to find a suitable English equivalent for a Latin word, the latter
was retained in an anglicized form. Thus in Phil., ii, 8, we get
"He exinanited himself", and in Heb., ix, 28, "Christ was offered
once to exhaust the sins of many". It was considered that an
ordinary reader, finding the word unintelligible, would pause and
inquire its meaning and that this was preferable to satisfying him
with an inadequate rendering. In other cases latinisms seem to
have crept in unawares, as in Luke, x, 1, "Our Lord designed also
other seventy-two" or in Phil., ii, 10, "In the name of Jesus,
every knee bow of the celestials, terrestrials and infernals". The
proper names are usually (though not always) taken from the
Vulgate; but the word Dominus is rendered throughout Our Lord. The
general result was a version in cumbersome English, so full of
latinisms as to be in places hardly readable, but withal scholarly
and accurate.
In the year 1578, owing to political troubles, the college was
temporarily transferred from Douai (which was then in the
dominions of the King of Spain) to Reims, and during its sojourn
there, in 1582, the New Testament was published, and became
consequently known as the "Rheims Testament". It contained no
episcopal imprimatur, but a recommendation was appended signed by
four divines of the University of Reims. The Old Testament was
delayed by want of means, until the whole Bible was eventually
published in two quarto volumes, in 1609 and 1610, by which time
the college had returned to Douai, and the recommendation was
signed by three doctors of that university. Thus the New Testament
appeared nearly thirty years before the Anglican "Authorized
Version", and although not officially mentioned as one of the
versions to be consulted, it is now commonly recognized to have
had a large influence on the King James Version (see Preface to R.
V., i, 2; also, Carleton, "Rheims and the English Bible"). The
Reims Testament was reprinted twice at Antwerp -- in 1600 and 1621
-- and a fourth edition was issued at Rouen in 1633. Then it was
allowed to rest for over a century, before a fifth edition
appeared, with some slight changes, dated 1728, but without any
place of publication stated. It is believed to have been printed
in London and was edited by Dr. Challoner (afterwards bishop), and
Father Blyth, a Carmelite. The Douay Bible was never after this
printed abroad. A sixth edition of the Reims Testament was printed
at Liverpool in 1788, and a seventh dated Dublin, 1803, which was
the last Catholic edition. Several Protestant editions have
appeared, the best known being a curious work by Rev. William
Fulke, first published in 1589, with the Reims text and that of
the Bishops' Bible in parallel columns. A Protestant edition of
the Reims Testament was also brought out by Leavitt of New York,
in 1834.
Although the Bibles in use in the twentieth century by the
Catholics of England and Ireland are popularly styled the Douay
Version, they are most improperly so called; they are founded,
with more or less alteration, on a series of revisions undertaken
by Bishop Challoner in 1749-52. His object was to meet the
practical want felt by the Catholics of his day of a Bible
moderate in size and price, in readable English, and with notes
more suitable to the time. He brought out three editions of the
New Testament, in 1749, 1750, and 1752 respectively, and one of
the Old Testament in 1750. The changes introduced by him were so
considerable that, according to Cardinal Newman, they "almost
amounted to a new translation". So also, Cardinal Wiseman wrote,
"To call it any longer the Douay or Rheimish Version is an abuse
of terms. It has been altered and modified until scarcely any
sense remains as it was originally published". In nearly every
case Challoner's changes took the form of approximating to the
Authorized Version, though his three editions of the New Testament
differ from one another in numerous passages. The best known
version published in England in modern times was perhaps
Haydock's, which was first issued at Manchester in fortnightly
parts in 1811-12. The Irish editions are mostly known by the names
of the bishops who gave the imprimatur: as Dr. Carpenter's New
Testament (1783); Dr. Troy's Bible (1791); Dr. Murray's (1825);
and Dr. Denvir's (1836) -- the last two of which have often been
reprinted, and were circulated largely in England and Ireland.
Around the turn of the century, the issue of the sixpenny New
Testament by Burns and Oates of London, by its large circulation,
made the text adopted therein -- Challoner's of 1749 -- the
standard one, especially as the same was adopted in Dr. Murray's
and Dr. Denvir's Bibles. In America an independent revision of the
Douay Version by Archbishop Kenrick (1849-59) was much used.
BERNARD WARD
Transcribed by Michael C. Tinkler
From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright � 1913 by the
Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright � 1996 by
New Advent, Inc.
Taken from the New Advent Web Page (www.knight.org/advent).
This article is part of the Catholic Encyclopedia Project, an
effort aimed at placing the entire Catholic Encyclopedia 1913
edition on the World Wide Web. The coordinator is Kevin Knight,
editor of the New Advent Catholic Website. If you would like to
contribute to this worthwhile project, you can contact him by e-
mail at (knight.org/advent). For more information please download
the file cathen.txt/.zip.
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