Subject: Do you own a TNIV? |
Bible Note: Tim, while I certainly hope you're right in saying that the motives of the TNIV translators were pure, I'm not so sure that they weren't working under some duress exerted by those who write their paychecks. When the boys in the front office say, "Give us a new, gender-neutral version or get off the team" there could well be on the part of the translation team, human nature being what it is, some degree of compromise of principle. After all, it was common knowledge shared by a large number of people, among whom it most certainly must have included the translation team, that a five-year-old agreement was still in effect between Evangelical church and seminary leaders and the translation committee and publisher not to publish and distribute a gender-neutral translation in the United States. In doing so, both the translation committee and the publisher reneged on their promise and, in the eyes of a great number of people, lost their credibility. When I learned the details of this sorry mess, I came to a personal decision to boycott Zondervan by not buying any more of their publications and to stop using the NIV, which I never was particularly in love with anyway. Money makes the publishing world go round, even publishers of Bibles, and the loudest protest is heard in the silence of the cash register when it ceases to ring up sales. --Hank |