Amy Welborn and The Cafeteria Is Closed have pointed out the perfect Bible for these self-centered times: The Personal Promise Bible!
It's personalized … but not like your parents' family Bible. Instead, it inserts your first name (over 7,000 times), last name (50 times), spouse's name (150 times), city and state/province/country (35 times each) directly into the Scripture text, to yield results like:
"Even when Brendan was dead in his trespasses, God made him alive together with Christ (by grace Brendan has been saved)" – Ephesians 2:5
They make a special point to mention that the edition for married couples now includes a personalized Song of Songs. I won't quote that part… my wife would kill me.
But as Fr Finigan points out at The Hermaneutic of Continuity , why only personalize the nice parts? Why not:
"Pour out thy indignation upon Brendan, and let thy burning anger overtake him. May his camp be a desolation, let no one dwell in Brendan's tents." – Psalm 68:24-25
Fr Finigan explains that:
…there's an important Catholic/Protestant doctrinal divide here. If our justification is imputed, and we are saved once and for all, then only the nice verses apply to us. But as Catholics, we believe that justification is an interior healing that carries on through life, can be lost through sin, and restored through the sacraments.
He then goes on to quote the Council of Trent's Decree on Justification: regarded as probably the finest statement of the Council of Trent, and poorly understood by Catholics and Protestants alike.
By the way, that mighty council was convened 461 years ago today.
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