Spencer Four Gospels

The Spencer Four Gospels represents an early stage of a major American Catholic New Testament rendered directly from the Greek. Its scope is limited to the Four Gospels, with a complete New Testament following later. The source language is Greek and the base text the Greek New Testament, making it a fresh translation rather than a revision of an existing English version, and its philosophy is that of a formal Catholic translation from the original language. Its historical importance lies in its timing: English Catholic translation, long anchored in the Latin Vulgate and the Douay-Rheims tradition that descended from it, was at this point beginning to move beyond exclusive dependence on the Vulgate. The Gospels volume thus stands as a transitional witness within Catholic biblical scholarship in English, anticipating later Catholic versions prepared from Greek and Hebrew sources.