Over 100 Christian Leaders Claim that the TNIV Bible is Not Trustworthy
JBMW
Recently, the International Bible Society (IBS) and Zondervan Publishing announced their joint decision to publish a new translation of the Bible, known as Today's New International Version (TNIV). The TNIV makes significant changes in the gender language that is in the NIV. The TNIV raises more concern in this regard than previous Bible versions because, riding on the reputation of the NIV, the TNIV may vie for a place as the church's commonly accepted Bible. We believe that any commonly accepted Bible of the church should be more faithful to the language of the original.
We acknowledge that Bible scholars sometimes disagree about translation methods and about which English words best translate the original languages. We also agree that it is appropriate to use gender-neutral expressions where the original language does not include any male or female meaning. However, we believe the TNIV has gone beyond acceptable translation standards in several important respects:
- The TNIV translation often changes masculine, third person, singular pronouns (he, his and him) to plural gender-neutral pronouns. For example, in Revelation 3:20, the words of Jesus have been changed from "I will come in and eat with him, and he with me" to "I will come in and eat with them, and they with me." Jesus could have used plural pronouns when He spoke these words, but He chose not to. (The original Greek pronouns are singular.) In hundreds of such changes, the TNIV obscures any possible significance the inspired singular may have, such as individual responsibility or an individual relationship with Christ.
- The TNIV translation obscures many biblical references to "father," "son," "brother," and "man." For example, in Hebrews 12:7, the NIV says "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?" But the TNIV translates Hebrews 12:7, "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their parents?" The reference to God as Father is lost. In numerous other verses male-oriented meanings that are present in the original language are lost in the TNIV.
- The TNIV translation inserts English words into the text whose meaning does not appear in the original languages. For example, in Luke 17:3, the translators changed "If your brother sins, rebuke him" to "If any brother or sister sins against you, rebuke the offender." The problem is, the word "sister" is not found in the original language, nor is "against you," nor is "offender."
Thus, in hundreds of verses, the TNIV changes language with masculine meaning in the original Greek to something more generic. It does this in many ways, such as changing
- "father" (singular) to "parents";
- "son" (singular) to "child" or "children";
- "brother" (singular) to "someone" or "brother or sister," and "brothers" (plural) to "believers";
- "man" (singular, when referring to the human race) to "mere mortals" or "those" or "people";
- "men" (plural, when referring to male persons) to "people" or "believers" or "friends" or "humans";
- "he/him/his" to "they/them/their" or "you/your" or "we/us/our"; and
- switching hundreds of whole sentences from singular to plural.
We wonder how the TNIV translators can be sure that this masculine language in God's very words does not carry meaning that God wants us to see.
Gender problems are not the only serious problems with the TNIV. For example: How do the TNIV translators know that changing "Jews" to "Jewish leaders," for example in Acts 13:50 and 21:11, does not make a false claim, and obscure a possible corporate meaning? How do they know that changing "saints" to "those" in Acts 9:13 or to "believers" in Acts 9:32 or to "God's people" in Romans 8:27 does not sacrifice precious connotations of holiness which the Greek word carries? To justify translating "saints" as "believers" because it refers to believers is like justifying translating "sweetheart" as "wife" because that's who it refers to.
Because of these and other misgivings, we cannot endorse the TNIV as sufficiently trustworthy to commend to the church. We do not believe it is a translation suitable for use as a normal preaching and teaching text of the church or for a common memorizing, study, and reading Bible of the Christian community.
Daniel L. Akin, Dean, School of Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY
Gregg R. Allison, Professor, Western Seminary, Portland, OR
Kerby Andersen, President, Probe Ministries, Richardson, TX
Neil T. Anderson, Founder and President Emeritus, Freedom in Christ Ministries
Hudson T. Armerding, Past Chairman, National Association of Evangelicals, Quarryville, PA
Edward G. Atsinger, III, President & CEO, Salem Communications Corporation, Camarillo, CA
Frank M. Barker, Jr., Pastor Emeritus, Briarwood Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, AL
Tim Bayly, Senior Pastor, Church of the Good Shepherd, Bloomington, IN
Ted Baehr, Chairman, Christian Film & Television Commission, Camarillo, CA
H.F. Bayer, Professor, Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, MO
Alistair Begg, Senior Pastor, Parkside Church, Chagrin Falls, OH
Joel Belz, Founder and Chairman, World Magazine, Asheville, NC
Ron Blue, Ronald Blue & Company
James A. Borland, Professor, Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA
Harald Bredesen, Pastor at Large, St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Westport, CT
Bill Bright, Founder and Chairman, Campus Crusade for Christ, Orlando, FL
Tal Brooke, President and Chairman, SCP, Inc., Berkeley, CA
Harold O.J. Brown, Professor, Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte, NC
Larry Burkett, Founder, Crown Financial Ministries, Gainesville, GA
A.B. Caneday, Professor, Northwestern College, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Bryan Chapell, President, Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, MO
E. Ray Clendenen, Executive Editor, Bibles and Reference Books, B&H Publishers, Nashville, TN
C. John Collins, Professor, Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, MO
Charles Colson, Founder, Prison Fellowship Ministry, Merrifield, VA
William Cook, Professor, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY
Jack Cottrell, Professor, Cincinnati Bible Seminary, Cincinnati, OH
Darryl DelHousaye, Senior Pastor, Scottsdale Bible Church, Scottsdale, AZ
Dennis H. Dirks, Dean, Talbot School of Theology, La Mirada, CA
Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Teacher and Author, Life Action Ministries, Niles, MI
James Dobson, President, Focus on the Family, Colorado Springs, CO
Daniel Doriani, Dean of Faculty, Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, MO
Ligon Duncan, Senior Ministe,r First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, MS
Michael J. Easley, Senior Pastor-Teacher, Immanuel Bible Church, Springfield, VA
Tom Elliff, Senior Pastor, First Southern Baptist Church, Del City, OK
Stuart W. Epperson, Chairman, Salem Communications Corp., Winston-Salem, NC
Jerry Falwell, Chancellor, Liberty University Pastor, Thomas Road Baptist Church, Lynchburg, VA
Steve Farrar, President, Men's Leadership Ministries, Frisco, TX
Ronnie W. Floyd, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Springdale, AR, The Church at Pinnacle Hills, Rogers, AR
John M. Frame, Professor, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, FL
Jack Graham, Senior Pastor, Prestonwood Baptist Church, Prestonwood, TX
Elisabeth Elliot Gren, Christ Church, Hamilton, MA
Wayne Grudem, Professor, Phoenix Seminary, Scottsdale, AZ
Joshua Harris, Executive Pastor, Covenant Life Church, Gaithersburg, MD
Jack Hayford, Founding Pastor, The Church on the Way, Van Nuys, CA, Chancellor, The King's College and Seminary
C.E. Hill, Professor, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, FL
Roland S. Hinz, President, Hi-Favor Broadcasting (Spanish Language), Los Angeles, CA
Howard G. Hendricks, Professor, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, TX
Ken Hemphill, President, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, TX
H. Wayne House, Professor, Faith Seminary, Tacoma, WA
R. Kent Hughes, Senior Pastor, College Church, Wheaton, IL
Susan Hunt, Author, Atlanta, GA
W. Bingham Hunter, Pastor/Bible Teacher/Author, Chicago, IL
David Jeremiah, Pastor, Shadow Mountain Community Church
Peter Jones, Professor, Westminster Theological Seminary, Escondido, CA
Mary Kassian, Author & Teacher, Alabaster Flask Ministries, Edmonton, Canada
Charles S. Kelley, Jr., President, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, New Orleans, LA
Rhonda H. Kelley, Professor, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, New Orleans, LA
D. James Kennedy, Senior Pastor, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Tim Kimmel, Executive Director, Family Matters, Phoenix, AZ
Chuck Klein, National Director, Student Venture, Orlando, FL
George W. Knight, III, Professor, Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Taylors, SC
Bob Lepine, Director of Broadcasting, FamilyLife, Little Rock, AR
Robert Lewis, Teaching Pastor, Fellowship Bible Church, Little Rock, AR
H.B. London, VP of Ministry Outreach/Pastoral, Focus on the Family, Colorado Springs, CO
Crawford W. Loritts, Jr., Assoc. USA Director, Campus Crusade for Christ, Atlanta, GA
Erwin W. Lutzer, Senior Pastor, Moody Church, Chicago, IL
John MacArthur, Pastor-Teacher, Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, CA
James MacDonald, Pastor, Harvest Bible Chapel, Rolling Meadows, IL
C.J. Mahaney, Senior Pastor, Covenant Life Church, Gaithersburg, MD
Bill McCartney, President, Promise Keepers, Denver, CO
Josh D. McDowell, Josh McDowell Ministry, Dallas, TX
James Merritt, President, Southern Baptist Convention, Snellville, GA
R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY
Joel Nederhood, Pastor, Director of Ministries, Emeritus The Back to God Hour
Niel Nielson, President, Covenant College, Lookout Mountain, TN
Marvin Olasky, Editor-in-Chief, World Magazine, Asheville, NC
Stephen F. Olford, Founder and Chairman, The Stephen Olford Center for Biblical Preaching, Memphis, TN
Raymond C. Ortlund, Jr., Senior Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, August, GA
J. I. Packer, Professor, Regent College, Vancouver, B.C.
Janet Parshall, Nationally Syndicated Talk Show Host, Janet Parshall's America, Arlington, VA
Dorothy Kelley Patterson, Professor, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, NC
Paige Patterson, President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, NC
John Piper, Senior Pastor, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, MN
Randy Pope, Pastor, Perimeter Church, Duluth, GA
Vern Poythress, Professor, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, PA
William Pugh, National Director, Athletes in Action, Xenia, OH
Dick Purnell, Director, Single Life Resources, Cary, NC
Dennis Rainey, Exec. Director, Family Life, Little Rock, AR
W. Duncan Rankin, Professor, Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, MS
Robert E. Reccord, President, North American Mission Board, SBC, Apharetta, GA
Sandy Rios, President, Concerned Women for America, Washington, D.C.
Pat Robertson, Founder and President, Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN)
Adrian Rogers, Pastor, Belleview Baptist Church, Cordova, TN
Gary Rosberg, President, America's Family Coaches, Des Moines, IA
Barbara Rosberg, Vice President, America's Family Coaches, Des Moines, IA
Phillip Graham Ryken, Senior Minister, Tenth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, PA
Thomas Schreiner, Professor, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY
Dal Shealy, President, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Kansas City, MO
Paul Sheppard, Senior Pastor, Abundant Life Christian Fellowship, Menlo Park, CA
R. C. Sproul, Chairman, Ligonier Ministries, Lake Mary, FL
Randy Stinson, Exec. Director, Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, Louisville, KY
Charles R. Swindoll, Senior Pastor, Sonebriar Community Church, Frisco, TX Chancellor, Dallas Theological Seminary
Joni Eareckson Tada, Founder & President, Joni & Friends, Agoura, CA
Terry Taylor, President Emeritus, U.S. Navigators
Derek W. H. Thomas, Professor, Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, MS
John F. Walvoord, Chancellor, Emeritus Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, TX
Bruce Ware, Professor, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY
Stu Weber, Pastor, Good Shepherd Community Church, Gresham, OR
William C. Weinrich, Professor, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN
Dean O. Wenthe, President, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN
Donald E. Wildmon, President, American Family Association, Tupelo, MS
Bruce Wilkinson, Global Vision Resources, Norcross, GA
P. Bunny Wilson, Fellowship West International Ministries, Pasadena, CA
