Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
Some scholars say "Today's New International Version'' Bible does away with God's intention for the relationship between men and women. Others praise its inclusiveness.
By TIM GRANT, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 11, 2002
According to Scripture, a "man" is justified by faith. People should love their "brothers." And the peacemakers will be called the "sons" of God.
But a new translation of America's best-selling modern Bible will change the masculine wording to reflect that a "person" is justified by faith, peacemakers are "children" of God and we should love our "brothers and sisters."
It's called "Today's New International Version," or TNIV. And it has sparked criticism and praise even though the New Testament translation won't be in bookstores until April and the Old Testament will take until 2005 to complete.
The TNIV is a revision of the wildly popular New International Version, or NIV, which has sold more than 150-million copies since 1978. Both are published by Zondervan of Grand Rapids, Mich., the world's largest Bible publisher.
Zondervan and members of the International Bible Society made headlines on Jan. 18 with the announcement that they'd secretly teamed up to produce what they call a "gender-accurate" translation of the Bible. They did so after having promised in 1997 to abandon the controversial project.
Within two weeks of Zondervan's public statement, 26 evangelical Christian scholars condemned the TNIV. The translation was "gender-neutral," not "gender-accurate," they said. And some words even lost their meaning when they were no longer male-specific.
"We cannot endorse the TNIV translation as sufficiently accurate to commend to the church," said a statement from the group, which included two Southern Baptist Convention seminary presidents and a past president of the Evangelical Theological Seminary.
They made their decision based on a review of the text by six translators working for the Kentucky-based Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. That group -- dedicated to "(setting) forth the Biblical view of the relationship between men and women," according to its Web site -- identified about 100 of what they termed inaccuracies in the TNIV.
For example: "The Son of Man" in Hebrews 2:6 is changed to "human beings." The "men" of Acts 20:30 are now referred to as "some" who will arise. And in John 19:12 the "Jews" who condemned Christ become "Jewish leaders," eliminating the possibility that common Jewish people were responsible for his death.
"This particular version is not as bad as the one they proposed in 1997, but we still think this one is bad," said Randy Stinson, executive director of the CBMW. The group's Web site says the roles of men and women "are ordained by God as part of the created order, and should find an echo in every human heart."
"We've never condemned the NIV. We're not trying to convince people to get rid of their NIV. And we're not trying to discredit the good work the IBS has done in the past. What we're saying is the work they've produced with the TNIV is problematic."
The new translation is not being universally panned. Retailers are excited about it, said Bill Anderson, president of the Christian Booksellers Association.
"I was just at a trade show in Indianapolis where 5,000 people attended from 47 states and 21 countries and I did not hear controversy, but rather a readiness to carry this new TNIV translation.
"The Bible is still the No. 1 best seller. I don't think that controversy particularly helps nor hinders Bible sales. If anything, it does create some talk or buzz amongst people and therefore increases awareness in the marketplace."
Larry Lincoln, director of communications for the International Bible Society, said only 7 percent of the original NIV was changed in the new translation and only 1 percent of those changes relate to gender.
Non-gender related changes include a passage in which Mary, once "with child," becomes "pregnant." The new version will continue to refer to God as "He."
Lincoln rejects the critics' claim that this new translation is a response to political correctness.
"The people who produced this Bible have no political agenda," Lincoln said. "We're concerned about a generation of people who are turning their backs on the Bible and don't see it as relevant. We're recognizing this need due to changes in the language."
The IBS, based in Colorado Springs, Colo., owns the copyright for the NIV and TNIV. They hired members of the Committee on Bible Translation, an independent body of English-speaking Christian scholars, to do the translations. IBS works with Zondervan to publish the work.
In 1997, IBS agreed to halt its plans to produce such a revision of the NIV after meeting with Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention, who criticized the word changes.
But last month, the society reversed its position and announced it would move forward with the new translation.
"Our heartfelt desire and prayer is that further division within the body of Christ be avoided," said a letter to Baptist leaders from IBS president Peter Bradley.
"We believe there is a profound need for this text among a generation of people who may never otherwise look to God's word."
Translators have always adapted the Bible to the kind of language people are using and their work has not always been well-received.
One of the earliest translators, William Tyndale, was burned at the stake in 1536 for rewriting the Greek and Hebrew Holy Scripture in popular language. However, the venerable King James version, with its elaborate "thee" and "thou" Old English wording, became the standard for three centuries when it came out in the 1600s.
The Living Bible was heavily criticized in the 1960s by those who felt the King James version was the sacred word of God. Also, because the Living Bible was translated by one man, Ken Taylor, some felt it introduced his own ideas.
The NIV, produced by a committee of scholars, became the best-selling modern English translation when it was published in the 1970s.
Today, all or part of the Bible is available in about 70 English translations. What makes the TNIV significant is that it's the product of a Bible publisher that commands 43 percent of the North American marketplace.
Zondervan publisher and vice president Scott Bolinder thinks the TNIV is a major move toward adapting the Bible to the 21st century.
"This is a big deal," Bolinder said. "This is our first revision since 1984. We're serious about this and we expect it to have a big impact. We expect very shortly after the release of the full Bible that the TNIV will become one of the top three translations."
Bolinder said the print run would be in six-figures.
"We're not apologetic," he said. "We are bullish about our mission to reach as many people as possible with the power of the word of God."
Doug Ross, president of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, also has high hopes for TNIV sales.
"I think this new translation will enjoy very good sales. I think the translation is right where people would like it to be.
"Publicity is publicity. Sometimes publicity creates a dialogue so that more people know it exists and want to see for themselves. The damage (that is) done is to the unskilled consumer who begins to question all Bible translations."