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Title: NIV Pocket Thin New Testament for Children by Zondervan Publishing House ISBN: 0-310-92001-9 Publisher: Zondervan Publishing Company Pub. Date: 01 February, 1987 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $3.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3 (19 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Critics of the TNIV are "Much Ado about Nothing"
Comment: The TNIV has come under much criticism from the evangelical world, including a boycott by the Southern Baptist Convention and attempts to have the translation removed from Christian book stores. This ire is "much ado about nothing" and indeed reflects the desperation of those who would resort to censorship in their efforts to promote their viewpoint.
What is the issue? Simply that the TNIV uses what is called "gender neutral language," which is the use of more inclusive language when the original language of Scripture calls for this. For example, in Matthew 4:4, according to the NIV, Jesus said: "Man does not live on bread alone..." Now when Jesus was making the point that spiritual sustenance from God's Word is needed even more than physical sustenance, obviously He wasn't implying that only men--and not women--have need of God's Word. In the patriarchal culture of Christ's time here on earth, in which women were regarded as property (though, significantly, not by Jesus), people would use masculine words when referring to all of humankind. Today, in our society which is unevenly making progress towards a conscious equality of all humanity, using a word such as "man" or "mankind" can imply that only males and not females are in mind. Exclusive application to men was not Jesus' intent in this verse--He was just using the idiom of the day. Well, as the preface to the TNIV says, the first priority of translators is "faithfulness to the meaning of the biblical writers" and therefore "the work of translating the Bible is never finally finished" due to the continual changing of idiom and meaning in any language. Therefore, for the sake of accuracy to the meaning of Jesus' words, the TNIV translates Matthew 4:4 as, "People do not live on bread alone..." In similar fashion, the TNIV will translate a verse such as Romans 12:1 as "brothers and sisters" instead of just "brothers."
This is the extent of the "liberal" changes found in the TNIV which are being so vehemently decried. The TNIV does NOT call God "mother," as some would imply (though the Bible includes numerous mothering images for God: Isaiah 66:13, Matthew 23:37-38, etc.)
I for one am thankful for translations such as the TNIV and organizations such as Christians for Biblical Equality which seek to make the full meaning of God's Word available in contemporary language and understanding. "Liberalism" in an area is not a wrong when the conservatives are defending something that God Himself is not even defending. Perhaps critics of the TNIV ought to check to see if they are fighting on the correct front.
Rating: 5
Summary: Helpful update to the NIV
Comment: This revision of the NIV is helpful and makes the world's most popular English translation more contemporary, easier to read and usually, more accurate.
It is written in the language most people speak, though at times this may not be the language we are used to reading. Some uses of plurals sound correct when spoken, but may at first appear a little odd when you read them. However, it is most likely that eventually this will seem normal in print as well.
To assist us in understanding the Bible, it is helpful to have translations like the TNIV which focus on getting the meaning across and also translations like the NASB which focus more on following the form of the original language.
I am eagerly awaiting the Old Testament update of the NIV. If it is as good as the New Testament part, this may well become the standard English bible for the first part of the 21st Century.
For an understanding of translating the bible into contemporary English, and especially the philosophy of the NIV and TNIV translators, I recommend The Challenge of Bible Translation, edited by Strauss, Voth and Scorgie.
Rating: 1
Summary: Troubling...
Comment: I have studied Koine (or Biblical) Greek for nearly a year now and have seen the importance of using what God has given us when it comes to the Bible. In my opinion, Christians are far too lax about translation accuracy. The only thing people are worried about is 'updating' the Bible to fit the culture. I see nothing whatsoever wrong with updating word usage--- I see everything wrong with trying to make the Bible say something it does not actually say.
Greek is an extremely specific language!!! There is just no way around that. Therefore, to suggest that you can translate the same word as 'man' and then as a more 'gender neutral' term is absolutely ludicrous because Greek simply does not work that way-- nouns can only be masculine, feminine or neuter and if you translate a masculine/feminine noun as neuter simply to make it 'work' in a gender neutral Bible, you are not only losing much of God's intended meaning, you are also doing poor scholarly work.
Personally, I think it's just plain dumb to suggest that because the nouns in the Bible are predominantly male we need to change that to keep from offending anyone. Good grief.. just get over it and read with the idea of 'humankind' as understood. Besides, many other things in our society are similar, such as calling boats and such 'she'. Good grief, do we need to start calling all of them 'it's' too?
There is no need or excuse to sacrifice Biblical accuracy for personal desires. That is wrong, unbiblical and it shows how far the Church has sunk into our culture. By the way... I am a WOMAN who has no issue with seeing 'man' throughout the Bible.
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Title: How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Gordon D. Fee, Douglas Stuart ISBN: 0310384915 Publisher: Zondervan Publishing Company Pub. Date: 08 May, 1993 List Price(USD): $14.99 |
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Title: The Meal Jesus Gave Us by N. T. Wright, Tom Wright ISBN: 0664226345 Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is by N. T. Wright ISBN: 0830822003 Publisher: InterVarsity Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language by Eugene H. Peterson ISBN: 1576832899 Publisher: Navpress Publishing Group Pub. Date: 01 July, 2002 List Price(USD): $39.99 |
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Title: New Testament Exegesis: A Handbook for Students and Pastors by Gordon D. Fee ISBN: 0664223168 Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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