Today's New International Version New Testament

Today's New International Version (TNIV) is a Protestant translation of the Holy Bible into the English language. It is a revision by the International Bible Society of the New International Version, but is intended to supplement the previous version rather then replace it.

Among the differences between the NIV and the TNIV is the use of more gender neutral language, referring in some places, for example, to "children of God" instead of "sons of God" and changing phrases like "a man is justified by faith" to "a person is justified by faith." Male references to God, however, are not modified. This is similar to the approach taken in the New Revised Standard Version.

Also, some references to Jews, are altered so as to sound less anti-Semitic. For example, in the Gospel of John (e.g. John 18:36) when, in the belief of the TNIV translators, the context calls for "the Jews" (Greek, hoi ioudaioi) to refer to "the Jewish leaders," not the Jews, as a whole. This has contributed to criticism of the translation as untrue to the original documents. Supporters often regard these changes as bringing the translation closer to the intent of the original scriptures.

The New Testament of the TNIV was published in March 2002. The entire TNIV Bible is to be available in 2005.

The TNIV Controversy

When TNIV was launched first in 2002, its publication caused considerable controversy, especially among American conservative Protestants. Many see the publication of a gender-inclusive bible as a betrayal, since Zondervan Publishing House had promised earlier (in a press statement in 1997) not to tamper with the existing NIV to include gender-neutral language. Although TNIV's word choices are much less liberal than some of the more extreme Biblical translations, TNIV has received much more attention than other comparable projects, mainly because the original NIV has been the best-selling English Bible version in the United States for many years.

Certain evangelicals feel that changing the original Greek masculine gender to something more generic seriously distorts the meaning of the Scriptures. Critics point out there are many places where the singular generic "he" is replaced with the plural "they" or "them." For instance, the TNIV version of Revelation 3:20 reads, "I will come and eat with them, and they with me." The removal of "him" and "he", they claim, drains this passage of the individual nature of the relationship between a person and Christ. In hundreds of other places, TNIV substitutes something less specific when the original Greek text has masculine third person singular pronouns (he, his and him, or a man).

A number of prominent Church leaders, particularly from the Southern Baptists, Presbyterian and Evangelical Churches, have openly voiced their rejection of the TNIV.

See also

• New International Version Inclusive Edition
• Colorado Springs Guidelines

External links

• TNIV Website (http://www.tniv.info)
• TNIV Resource Center (http://www.cbmw.org/tniv/) – Understanding the Problems with TNIV
• The Gender-Neutral Bible Controversy (http://www.bible-researcher.com/links12.html)
• BBC news story on the launch of the TNIV New Testament (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1788237.stm)