Today's New International Version New Testament

Today's New International Version (TNIV) is an English translation of the Holy Bible. It is a revision, but not a replacement, of the popular New International Version. The first full edition was published in February 2005, with the New Testament alone having been previously published in March 2002. The rights to the text are owned by the International Bible Society (IBS), while Zondervan Publishing holds exclusive printing rights to the TNIV in North America.

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 TNIV Controversy

When TNIV was launched first in 2002, its publication caused considerable controversy, especially among American conservative Protestants. Some 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 grammatically plural (but semantically singular) "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. This is true if a reader does not understand the meaning of the historical singular "they" of this translation and misses its reference back to the singular "anyone" earlier in the verse. 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 evangelical leaders and biblical scholars, including John Piper, James Dobson, R. C. Sproul, and Wayne Grudem have openly voiced their rejection of the TNIV. Additionally, the Presbyterian Church in America and the Southern Baptist Convention have both passed resolutions ([1], [2]) denouncing the translation. Other scholars and leaders have openly endorsed the TNIV, including Craig Blomberg , Rick Warren, Gordon Fee, John Stott and Lee Strobel.

See also

• New International Version Inclusive Edition
• Colorado Springs Guidelines

External links

• TNIV Website
• TNIV Resource Center – Understanding the Problems with TNIV
• The Gender-Neutral Bible Controversy
• BBC news story on the launch of the TNIV New Testament