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New TNIV Bible Translation Center of Controversy
By Bob Smietana
CHICAGO, IL (April 26, 2002) - In 1428, John Wycliffe was declared a heretic for
translating the Bible into English. His sentence? His body was to be burned
and his ashes scattered on the waters, far away from the consecrated ground
of a church cemetery.
Lucky for him, he was dead - Wycliffe died of a stroke in 1384. William
Tyndale was not so lucky. He was burned at the stake in 1536 for the same
crime.
By 1952, when the Revised Standard Version was introduced, only the
Bibles were burned. Translators were, however, accused of being communists
and investigated by the U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee.
All of that makes the furor over the Today's New International
Version (TNIV) of the Bible seem a bit tame. The TNIV, released in
April, is a revision of the New International Version, the
best-selling English Bible (with more than 150 million copies in print).
Translators used what they call "gender accurate language." Instead of
using "he" and "man" as generic terms for people, the TNIV uses "they" or
"human beings." In most cases, the TNIV also uses "brothers and sisters"
instead of "brothers." All male references to God and to Jesus remain
unchanged.
Conservative groups, such as Focus on the Family, Word Magazine and
the Committee for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood claim that the translators
of the TNIV have "taken liberties with God's word" and that the TNIV
distorts the meaning of the Scriptures for the sake of "political
correctness."
Don Madvig, a retired Covenant minister, is vice president of the Committee
for Bible Translation (CBT), the group that translated the TNIV (and NIV).
Madvig says the changes reflect modern English usage and stresses that the
TNIV is not "gender neutral," as some of its critics have claimed.
"The TNIV does not use gender neutral language." Madvig says. "Masculine
terms are used for men and boys, just as feminine terms are used for women
and girls. 'Gender accurate' is the more appropriate term to use. What we
have done is to avoid the generic use of masculine terms whenever the
reference is clearly to both men and women."
Scott Bolinder, a member of Thornapple Covenant Church in Grand Rapids,
Michigan, is executive vice president of Zondervan, the company that
publishes the TNIV. He says that the translators have tried to produce the
most accurate translation possible. He says that critics' charges that the
TNIV "takes liberties with God's word" are simplistic.
"Number one," says Bolinder, "God didn't write the Bible. He wrote it
through human beings. Most of those human beings didn't speak English. So
what people have to remember is that God's word was imparted to human
beings who wrote them down in Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic. Now, if you want
to be accurate about that, then the only way to access the Scriptures is to
learn Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic, and most people aren't going to do that."
Instead, says Bolinder, most Christians - whether they speak English,
Lingala (a trade language in Africa), French or Spanish - rely on
translators to help them access the Scriptures. "It boils down to that
translators are human beings, says Bolinder, "and you have decide whether
to trust them or not to trust them."
Both Madvig and Bolinder argue that the translators involved in the TNIV
are trustworthy. Madvig points out that all of the translators have a high
view of scripture, and most are conservative evangelicals. Not all of the
translators would agree that women can be pastors, something that Madvig
says makes the charge of "political correctness" look like nonsense.
Randy Stinson of the Committee for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood says that
the fact the translators are conservative evangelicals makes the changes in
the TNIV even more disturbing from his point of view. Stinson says that the
changes in language, like using "they" and "people" instead of "he" and
"man," have altered the meaning of the biblical texts. That's problematic,
because of the belief that the Bible is inspired by God. And the Bible is
much more serious than just an average historical document because "for us
that means every single word is inspired," says Stinson. "Every word is
important."
Still, says Stinson, he and other critics of the TNIV believe the
translators are reputable scholars. "We have great respect for the scholars
on the CBT," he says. "We disagree with their work."
For a more in-depth exploration of the translation controversies, read a
special report contained in the May issue of The Covenant Companion,
available for online subscription on the home page of this web site.
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